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'American Chartres' Captures Buffalo's Historic Grain Elevators
16 September 2016
State University of New York Press has announced the publication in November of Bruce Jackson's American Chartres with 167 color photographs of Buffalo's historic grain elevators.
Invented in Buffalo by Robert Dunbar and Joseph Dart, the city s first grain elevator went operational in 1843. By the mid-1850s, Buffalo was the world's largest grain port and would remain so well into the twentieth century. Grain elevators made Buffalo rich and they were largely responsible for the development of the Port of New York.
Jackson photographs the buildings in every seasons and in various light, from inside and from the top floors and roofs, in detail and in toto. David W. Tarbet, author of Grain Dust Dreams, calls the book, "a stunning, if sorrowful, reminder of the glories of these buildings and of the role they played in the growth of Buffalo, the city in which they were invented and flourished."
The title of the book was inspired by the French poet Dominique Fourcade, who upon seeing the huge concrete grain elevators that line the city's river and lakefront turned to his guide, the poet Susan Howe, and proclaimed them the American Chartres.
American Chartres is available at the pre-order price of $40 from Amazon.
Bruce Jackson Captures Stunning Photographs of Buffalo's Historic Grain Elevators
ALBANY, N.Y. -- In American Chartres, renowned author, photographer and filmmaker, Bruce Jackson captures Buffalo's monumental grain elevators in stunning color photographs. Once crucial to America's industrial development and profoundly influential to twentieth-century European Modernist architects, the surviving elevators are prominent features of Buffalo's urban landscape but have only recently been appreciated for their importance.
With a unique eye, Jackson photographs the buildings in all seasons and in various light; from inside and from the top floors and roofs; in detail and in toto. David W. Tarbet, author of Grain Dust Dreams, calls the book, "a stunning, if sorrowful, reminder of the glories of these buildings and of the role they played in the growth of Buffalo, the city in which they were invented and flourished."
Advance Praise
"Through Jackson's vision, these light-struck elevators are pure concept, an industrial sublime: ruined, magnificent, direct ideas, all form. These sequoias are Buffalo's church and they stand as a sign for America. Jackson is among the few public scholars left. Whatever he writes and whatever he photographs quickens attention and enlivens the conversation. His brief appreciation with helpful timeline grounds a photographic love note to the giant ruminants of industrial might along the harbors of the city. Pay attention: American Chartres is a secret poem."
-- Anthony L. Bannon, Director, Burchfield Penney Art Center at SUNY Buffalo State
About the Author
An accomplished author, photographer and filmmaker, Bruce Jackson is SUNY Distinguished Professor and James Agee Professor of American Culture at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. He is also codirector of the university's Creative Arts Initiative. His numerous books include Inside the Wire: Photographs from Texas and Arkansas Prisons.
Book Facts
- Release Date: November 2016
- Trim size: 8 x 9.5 inches
- 192 pages
- 167 color photographs
- $40 jacketed hardcover ISBN 978-1-4384-6257-8