Photographers, Writers, and the American Scene: Visions of Passage

A lavishly produced companion to the major traveling exhibition documenting America just before the 21st century, this book is the result of the National Millennium Survey — a five-year commission of 50 photographers and writers including many Pulitzer Prize winners and Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellows. This impressive collection of images and words reflects American life at the close of the 20th century. A revelatory portrait of a multifaceted culture, Photographers, Writers, and the American Scene focuses on family, community, tradition, ritual, and spirituality, including 80 color and 82 black-and-white photographs. Among the 35 photographers represented are Judy Dater, Bruce Davidson, Lee Friedlander, Fazal Sheikh, Carrie Mae Weems, and Mary Ellen Mark. Accompanying essays, poetry, and narratives are selected from such notables as Robert Hass, Denis Johnson, Charles Wright, Ann Lauterbach, and Carole Maso.