Thames&Hudson

This book is an inspirational exploration of the signs and symbols of a wealth of global cultures from ancient times to the present day. It brings together some of the world's most potent sacred images under three categories — peoples, religions and mysteries. Through an incredibly rich array of fascinating images drawn from ritual, myth and the natural world, Sacred Symbols reveals the quintessence of a multiplicity of beliefs and experiences. It is the perfect introduction to the timeless wisdoms of humankind.

Shopping is an event which implies much more than just the act of purchasing. Unusual design concepts and immaculate shapes engage all of our senses, making shopping a unique experience. The range is complete between minimalist designs with reduced colors and forms, to spaces with a cozy, imaginative salon-like ambience.

Photographer Robert Lebeck was interested not only in «the event» in and of itself, but also in the stories on the fringes and the people behind the images. Lebeck was frequently to be found in that elusive terrain most photographers dream of: the right place at the right time. When he took the photo «Rapier Thief» on his tour of Africa in 1960, for instance, he captured a symbolic portrait of the end of European colonial power--an image which has since become a classic of press photography. His photographs of Japan contrast the wealth of a few with the poverty of many. And when he photographed in the Soviet Union in 1962, he demonstrated a rare understanding of its culture. This handsomely slipcased three-volume monograph gathers images from Moscow, Tokyo and Leopoldville (current-day Kinshasa). These pictures of Africa, Asia and the Soviet Union, mostly made in the early 1960s, show a world in upheaval, a world in which extremes were colliding. Furthermore, they suggests that there is much more to be considered than that which is presented in the photographic image.

The art of sculpture in Baroque Italy reached unprecedented heights of technical perfection and emotional intensity. This book offers a view of this rich and varied period, ranging from the exuberance of Gianlorenzo Bernini's «Apollo and Daphne» and Nicola Salvi's ever-popular Trevi Fountain to the restraint and simplicity of Alessandro Algardi's «St Philip Neri». Expressive papal tombs and subtly idealized portrait busts reflected contemporary debates on identity and the afterlife; multi-sensory compositions such as Bernini's Cornano Chapel embodied an unforgettable and wholly new combination of spirituality and sensuality; and dazzling fountains and angelic statuary transformed the urban spaces of the Eternal City forever.

For the past three decades French photographer Francois-Marie Banier has turned his lens on Yves Saint Laurent, Johnny Depp, Samuel Beckett, Silvana Mangano and Vladimir Horowitz, among other icons. He is equally enthralled with capturing anonymous life on the street: «My thirst for faces, for bodies, for ways of sitting, standing and walking and for newly discovered gazes slakes all other thirsts. My thirst for music, for the sea, for mountain peaks, for the myriad pleasures and feelings that make life so varied, so similar, so captivatingly unpredictable.» I Missed You combines these twin subjects in a single chunky, beautifully designed and giftworthy monograph. Street portraits taken all across the world sit alongside casual, unposed images of the Queen of England, Cy Twombly, James Ellroy, Robert Frank, Johnny Depp, Andreas Gursky, Jeanne Moreau, Woody Allen, Robert Ryman, James Turrell, Wim Wenders, Michelangelo Antonioni and many others besides.

Born in Cortona around 1450, Signorelli began his apprenticeship under Piero della Francesca before going on to study with the Florentine master Andrea del Verrocchio, in whose workshop Leonardo da Vinci, Sandro Botticelli, Domenica Ghirlandaio, Lorenzo de Credi and Pietro Perugino also learned their art. It was as Perugino's assistant that Signorelli realized his first known work, the Testament and Death of Moses in the Sistine Chapel in Rome, in 1482. Between that date and his death in 1523, Signorelli worked throughout central Italy for some of the greatest patrons of the age, earning himself a reputation as one of the leading painters of his generation. Recently restored, the extraordinary cycle of frescoes on the Last Judgemnt in the Cappella Nova at Orvieto, rightly considered Signorelli's finest masterpiece and a highpoint of the Italian Renaissance, reveal in all their force and glory the artist's skill as a colourist of the first rank and as a master of the male nude. Illustrated with stunning post-restoration colour plates, this book is the first in fifty years to re-evaluate Signorelli's importance and to catalogue his oeuvre. In a detailed life of the artist, Laurence Kanter traces his career from its origins in Piero's workshop to his late work in Tuscany and Umbria. In the catalogue, Tom Henry presents the artist's entire painted oeuvre, including a number of paintings never before reproduced, while in a separate plate section he discusses twenty-one of his most important works. Together these eminent contributions make up the most complete volume on Luca Signorelli ever published.

The classic Photofile series brings together the best work of the world’s greatest photographers in an attractive format and at a reasonable price. Handsome and collectible, each book contains some sixty duotone photographs plus an introduction and a bibliography. 59 b&w illustrations

This fully updated and revised book remains the most comprehensive publication on the market today to catalogue and represent the vast array of ingenious green products available to the everyday consumer. Scrutinizing every aspect of our designed world, The Eco-Design Handbook offers the most innnovative, ecologically sensitive and consumer friendly products for all areas of the home and office, including environmentally sound materials and building products. Whether you are interested in design or the sustainability of our planet, whether you are building a house or looking for new furniture, whether your office is buying stationery supplies or looking for ergonomic chairs, The Eco-Design Handbook is the definitive resource, invaluable for both the lay consumer and the design professional.

This book brings together a selection of the best, most iconic Paris Vogue covers from the last 90 years. A magazine thats documented trends for nearly a century provides an archive of more that just pretty pictures: these images record the history of style and elegance, of trends in fashion and design, as well as the monthly whims of popular culture. Since its beginnings, Vogue has set the benchmark for fashion magazines the world over. Radical, captivating and full of life, this is the face of the world's most influential magazine and the original style bible.

Focuses on the design of modern office spaces and buildings. Starting with traditional cubicles, on to custom designed work environments, and ending in open team spaces and interaction areas.

Do you wish you could take better, more exciting photos but find that your cameras manual wont tell you how? Creative Digital Photography: 52 Weekend Projects is a fun collection of handy weekend projects, offering expert insights and clear step-by-step instructions across the field of photography. You will quickly learn diverse techniques for taking and processing surprising photos, and discover how to make useful equipment for minimal cost. Whether you're making a simple diffuser for your flash, setting up a time-lapse shoot, or simply taking a chance and tossing your camera in the air, you will develop your skills to make stunning images that stand out from the crowd. Designed for photographers of all levels, the projects are graded in complexity, leaving you free to pick and choose your own path to making creative photographs — the shots that the manual wont tell you how to take.

The limitations of a tiny space, rather than inhibiting designers, often result in some of the most innovative and exciting retail design. While small shops offer the chance for famous designers to experiment and showcase their skills for the retailers who can afford them, other independent retailers will be competing for the same customers and looking for ideas to implement on their own. This book brings together some of the best recent, innovative examples of small store designs from around the world. All the shops measure less than 150 square metres (many much less), and are grouped by size, with explanations and tips from their designers. Types of outlet featured include fashion, accessories, opticians, technology, food and confectionary. The book is divided into three sections: small shops, smaller shops and tiny shops. Each section begins with an interview with a designer of a small shop, explaining the creative opportunities and difficulties in greater detail. This book will be inspirational for retail designers and small shop owners looking to create their own big statement in a small space.

This work started as a personal journey. Metaphorically, I was thinking of a bird that flies back into the forest, searching for its childhood nest. The images here are a creation of my abstracted wishes and dreams. As I was searching, instead of home, I found an empty past, just traces of it. Yet, my journey was filled with new friendships and discoveries made along the way, writes Los Angeles-based photographer Mona Kuhn about her journey back to her native Brazil after 20 years. Her third photobook, Native unfolds slowly, as a dreamy narration of this adult exploration of her childhood home. Photographed in the rainforest and surrounding city area, the images are suffused with a deep green, gold and pink palette. Native is accompanied by an essay from critic Shelley Rice.

'Once upon a time es war ein Vater, der, weil er alt geworden, zusammen als seine Söhne und Töchter, vier, fünf, sechs, acht an der Zahl — und schließlich überzeugt Sie, nach langem zögern, das zu tun, was er wollte. Jetzt sind Sie um einen Tisch sitzen und zu sprechen beginnen...' Dieses angenehme Fortsetzung Peeling the Onion, Günter Grass schreibt die Stimmen seiner acht Kinder, wie Sie notieren die Erinnerungen an Ihre kindheit, erwachsenwerden, von Ihrem Vater, der war immer bei der Arbeit an einem neuen Buch, immer an den Rändern Ihres Lebens. Erinnerungen widersprüchlich, kritische, Alter: anklagenden, Sie Stück zusammen ein intimes Bild der meisten öffentlichen Männer. Zu sagen, dass nichts Marie, Gras's assistant, ein Freund der Familie, der viele Jahre, vielleicht sogar ein Liebhaber, dessen snapshots getroffen, mit einem old-fashioned Agfa-box-Kamera bieten den Autor mit Ideen für seine Arbeit. Aber Ihre Bilder viel mehr zu bieten. Sie zeigen eine Wahrheit jenseits der gewöhnlichen detail des Lebens, beschreiben die Zukunft, sagen, was gewesen sein könnte, grant und Wünsche, die in visual form dieser fotografiert. Die Kinder, die spekulieren auf die Natur dieser magic, war die verzauberte Kamera eine Quelle der inspiration für Ihren Vater? Haben Sie repräsentieren die macht der Kunst selbst? War es das Auge Gottes? Die Box ist eine inspirierte und kühne Werk der Fiktion. In seiner Offenheit, Witz und Bodenständigkeit, es ist Gras von seiner besten Seite.

The British Museum has one of the finest collection of antiquities from ancient Greece and Rome outside of those countries. This beautiful book investigates 180 of the most important works, including the most famous (such as the Parthenon sculptures) and also a selection of lesser known but equally important pieces. The unique story of each work of art is illustrated with superb photographs, many specially taken for this publication. A preface includes a brief history of the British Museum as marvellous collections, and chapter introductions provide a concise background to each period of Classical art. It provides a stunning overview of the artistic production of this creative period and a must-have introduction to Classical art.

This book is a vivid photographic record of daily life in Istanbul from the 1940s to the 1980s. Captured through the unerring lens of the award winning Ara Güler, the Eye of Istanbul, it reflects the citys melancholy aesthetic as it oscillates between tradition and modernity. Gülers remarkable duotone photographs are accompanied by evocative commentaries from Orhan Pamuk, another leading figure in Turkish culture. Both writer and photographer each held in their youth the ambition of becoming a painter. Here, each in his own way paints a brushless picture of his hometown and captures, through image and word, its very soul.

Retail trade has recognized the opportunity of qualification and individualization through high-grade buildings. For a long time commercial architecture was linked exclusively to the city center: markets, passages and, starting in the 20th century, Department stores. In the postwar period, shopping malls made their appearance at the urban periphery, introducing new approaches that included space for leisure activities and gastronomic amenities. In the next step self-contained mega-malls sprouted in the open countryside, making shopping facilities completely autonomous from urban structures. The richly illustrated volume, provided with detailed planning material, shows the latest tendencies in shopping architecture worldwide as seen in 101 projects in the cities, the periphery and outside.

School building architecture has greatly gained in pedagogical significance during the last years. Students of the 21st century have access to increasingly more workspaces customized for various studies, rooms for teamwork and cafeterias. Multi-functional communal spaces, exhibition spaces and sports facilities also play an important role in education if you happen to be hitting the books in a newly built or a recently expanded building.

From the classical ideal to contemporary icons, the male body is a symbol of perfection in art. This pocket-size volume, which offers a fascinating visual survey of the nude, features nearly sixty paintings, sculptures, and photographs spanning classic to contemporary art.

Paris, February 1909. An article by the Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Martinetti appears in Le Figaro. It is the Manifesto of Futurism, the movement that expressed concepts of movement and speed through simultaneous visions and dynamic lines and interpreted in an all-embracing way the new collective myth of modernity.

Mass culture, popular taste, and kitsch were the inspiration for and provocative themes of Pop Art, a movement that enjoyed great prominence in the late 1950s and 1960s. This super-condensed book shows the development of Pop Art, from its roots to its rise in popularity as an art form that celebrated the glamour and hedonism of the newly commercialized Western world.

When we think of comics it is all too easy to reduce them to pictures and word bubbles. Thats less than half of the story: a good comic relies on an awareness of page layout, framing, point of view, pacing, spacing, lettering and many other techniques, which — paradoxically — are often invisible to the lay reader. Written by an award-winning comics artist, writer and editor, this volume is the most thorough exploration to date of the possibilities offered by the comics medium to the writer or artist alive to its unique grammar. Using hundreds of examples of art from some of the biggest and most-respected names in comics, Gary Spencer Millidge lifts the lid on the technique and thought which underpins the best comics, providing a fascinating insight for readers, writers and artists alike.

Examining how stories of conflict have been told in comics down the years, this book covers everything from EC Comics depictions of the US Civil War to Joe Saccos reportage on modern, assymmetric, conflicts. Comics from the First and Second World Wars are put in context, with their propaganda-driven plotlines and enemy-bashing superheroes, but the book also covers rebellious, anti-war, underground comix, horror comics, investigative journalism and more thoughtful mainstream developments such as Charleys War. War Comics: A Graphic History exposes this fascinating genre in all its many forms.

Saul Leiter is one of four new titles published this September in Thames & Hudsons acclaimed Photofile series. Each book brings together the best work of the worlds greatest photographers in an attractive format and at an easily affordable price. Hailed by The Times as finely produced, the books are printed to the highest standards. Each one contains some sixty full-page reproductions, together with a critical introduction and a full bibliography.