City of Darkness - Life In Kowloon City |  | Author: Ian Lambot
Creator: Greg Girard
Publisher: Watermark
Category: Book
Buy New: $79.50
as of 9/8/2010 07:10 CDT details
New (2) Used (2) from $79.50
Seller: Amazon.com
Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 375,424
Media: Paperback
Pages: 216
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.9
Dimensions (in): 10.6 x 10.4 x 0.9
ISBN: 1873200137
EAN: 9781873200131
ASIN: 1873200137
Publication Date: June 6, 1999
Shipping: Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
| |
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
| |
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Girard and Lambot spent four years exploring the notorious Walled City of Kowloon (Hong Kong), before it's final clearance in 1992. With over 320 photographs, 32 extended interviews, and essays on the City's history and character, this reprint is not only an informative glimpse of a now vanished landmark but a sensitive and penetrating portrait of a unique community.
|
| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 10
Amazing book March 4, 2006
Kgar (SF, CA)
24 out of 24 found this review helpful
Everyone who I have ever shown this book to has had a deep reaction to it. I wouldn't handicap this book by calling it a photography book alone, although the photos are very powerful and prominent, but the text deserves recognition as well. Plenty of personal stories of how people made this decaying city their home. Both epic and intimate. A testament of the human animal's ability to adapt and thrive. Thank god the authors got in to Kowloon before its destruction to create this book.
Also, as a side note: Any artist wanting reference material for decaying urban sprawl, look no further. This book makes for great city or science fiction reference, with unbelievable details (electrical boxes, pipes, hallways, stairwells, etc...)
Content 5 stars; binding - update September 8, 2007
J. Lamarca (new york)
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
Update - 5 stars: I wrote a review before and gave a 2-star rating because I had a quality issue with this book - the binding on my copy came unglued after looking through it once or twice. Well, the author, Greg Girard, actually tracked me down on facebook and kindly offered to send a replacement free of charge. This replacement copy has held up beautifully for the past year or so as it has been looked through numerous times by houseguests. The first copy I had must have just been flawed. I tried to change my rating to a 5-star but it doesn't seem to want to let me.
As I said in my original review, the photos are stunning, the text and interviews fascinating, and the quality of the paper excellent.
important book March 19, 2007
Lars Rolfsted Mortensen
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
the book offers great insight in the extreme circumstances under which people lived in the kowloon walled city. superb photografic material covering a wide aspect of the city and relevant text. a must for people interested in urban vernacular architecture.
Mindblowing story and amazing pictures. July 5, 2007
C. Hasenkopf (Boulder, CO)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book tells a story of a place most people have never heard of and no longer exists, but was the most densely populated place in the entire world at one point. It does it by well-written text, interviews with people that lived in this one-of-a-kind place, and priceless pictures. Google "The walled city of Kowloon", read up on it, and you won't be able to resist getting this book.
Wow November 17, 2008
Pixie Paint (SF, CA)
It truly is sad this city no longer exists. It served an important purpose and may well have had a more important community feel than NYC or other cities that are just as "dark". The photographic essay Greg Girard did seems to capture all aspects of this super-condensed city.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 10
|
|
|
