This collection of striking color images from the American West is both a moving national
portrait as well as a celebration of analog color photography from an undisputed genius of the
form. The photographer behind Life magazine's first ever all-color photographic
essay Ernst Haas made-and captured-history as an early adapter of Kodachrome film. The
Austrian-born artist had already established himself as a black and white photographer when he
moved to America in 1951. But as a member of the renowned Magnum agency he transformed the
genre with his color-saturated images the perfect medium for capturing America's geographic
and cultural landscapes. From desert storms Route 66 gas stations and Las Vegas neon to
rolling prairie dilapidated farms small-town parades and city sidewalks Haas' perfectly
composed images contain a distinct pictorial language suffused with poetry pattern and
light. At the same time his pictures communicate a journalist's point of view whether the
subject is rural poverty suburban comfort or the myth of the American West. The remarkable
book offers a vision of America that feels both poignantly distant and reassuringly familiar.
