Book picks similar to
Chinese Opera: Images and Stories by Wang-Ngai Siu


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Just Gus: A Rescued Dog and the Woman He Loved


Laurie Williams - 2006
    Injured and abandoned, he could have become another of the 7 million animals euthanized every year. Then Stephanie Williams entered the picture. A successful journalist, she had been diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer at the age of 30. On medical leave and living alone, she wanted a warm four-legged companion. When she saw Gus's soulful eyes and goofy grin, it was love at first sight: she would rescue him, and he would return the favor.Just Gus is about how much one dog did to make a dying woman happy — giving tireless love, comfort, and support. This extraordinary story shows how one dog brought joy and hope to a woman's last days.

Beaches


Gray Malin - 2016
    His awe-inspiring aerial photographs of beaches around the world are shot from doorless helicopters, creating playful and stunning celebrations of light, shape, and perspective, as well as summer bliss. Combining the spirit of travel, adventure, luxury, and artistry, Malin built his eponymous lifestyle brand from a deep passion for photography and interior design. His work forges the synergy between wanderlust and adventure, creating the ultimate visual escape.Beaches features more than twenty cities across six continents: Australia: Sydney; North America: Santa Monica, Miami, San Francisco, Kaua’i, Chicago, The Hamptons, and Cancun; South America: Rio de Janeiro; Europe: Capri, Rimini, Forte dei Marmi, Viareggio, Amalfi Coast, Barcelona, Lisbon and Saint-Tropez; Africa: Cape Town; Asia: Dubai

The Chicago World's Fair of 1893: A Photographic Record


Stanley Appelbaum - 1980
    More than 27 million visitors entered the grounds (now Jackson Park) to marvel at the exhibits and displays housed in some 200 buildings, including those of 79 foreign governments and 38 states. Although the Fair had its share of "firsts" (original Ferris wheel, first midway, Edison's kinetoscope, etc.), its chief marvel was its architecture. It is that aspect which is emphasized in this striking photographic record. Beginning with an overview of the fair's planning and conceptual stages, Stanley Appelbaum's well-researched text then proceeds to a fascinating discussion of the personalities, regional rivalries, and intense controversy surrounding the Beaux-Arts architecture (the "White City" style) of the fair, including its enormous impact on subsequent American architecture. The contributions of such outstanding architects and firms as R. M. Hunt; McKim, Mead and White; Frederick Law Olmsted; and Peabody and Stearns are described. The book then becomes a building-by-building walking tour of the fair — imaginatively reconstructed with the help of 128 sharply reproduced rare contemporary photographs, printed on fine coated stock, and a concise, fact-filled text. The placid basins, ponds, and Lagoon that graced the fairgrounds lend a serene aura to these priceless views of the great buildings and sights of the fair: the Beaux-Arts glories of the Administration and Agriculture Buildings; Daniel Chester French's statue of the Republic; the Columbian Fountain by Frederick MacMonnies; the Golden Door of Louis Sullivan's Transportation Building; the Peristyle; Mary Cassatt's mural in the Woman's Building; the pure classicism of the Palace of Fine Arts (now the Museum of Science and Industry); numerous state and foreign pavilions, and of course, the Midway — the first separate amusement area at a World's Fair, and the reputed location of Little Egypt's celebrated danse du ventre. In the concluding section, the author touches on other memorable aspects of the fair and its times: the Panic of 1893; the Pullman Strike; famous visitors (Archduke Ferdinand, the Spanish Infanta, etc.); cultural and social congresses, and finally, the disastrous fires that ultimately destroyed many of the buildings. For social and cultural historians, Chicagoans, and anyone interested in the special magic of a world's fair, this book is a loving and nostalgic look back — to a time bathed in the golden light of the fin-de-siècle years, when a colossal spectacle of human achievement in art, science, and industry captured the world's attention for one magic and unforgettable moment.

How to Set Up Photography Lighting for a Home Studio


Amber Richards - 2013
    It is geared for beginner users wanting to learn more. It contains information about how to use continuous studio lighting, how to use strobe lighting photography, as well as techniques that enable you to control the lighting as you wish. Having a controlled environment makes for beautiful photos, and gives more options for creativity as well. This is valuable for anyone who also simply wants to take better quality family or pet photos. It would make a useful reference guide for product photography as well. If you sell products on eBay or a similar venue, great looking photos are a must to get your products sold. Proper lighting is a key issue! This book also contains information about home photography studio setups and discusses how you can make adjustments to create the best blend of lighting and colors. In a nutshell, this is everything that a beginning photographer needs to understand how to setup your own photography studio at home.

Makeup Your Mind


Fabien Baron - 2001
    Designed by renowned graphic artist Fabien Baron to be the ultimate makeup how-to book, Makeup Your Mind is a comprehensive compilation of Before and After photographs, each containing instructional acetate overlays, covering almost every face type, complexion, eye color, and facial feature found on the runway today. Makeup Your Mind is also a revolutionary instruction manual on makeup from one of the most respected and imitated cosmetics artists in fashion today: a makeup book designed and constructed as a durable paperback companion suitable for the vanity or for the car, sliding in and out of its attractive hardcover binder as needed, containing precise instructional guides on clear plastic overlays indicating exactly what goes where, allowing you to see the finished effect for perfect results. Summarizing each chapter on "Eyes", "Lips", "Neutrals", "Shimmer", "Monochrome and Suntan", "Pastels", Color, and "Skincare" are François Nars’ trademarked guidelines on the technique of applying makeup for that dazzling NARS look. Showcasing the famous NARS look are today’s top models, including Karen Elson, Maggie Rizer, Naomi Campbell, Devon Aoki, Trish Goff, Erin O’Connor, Sophie Dahl, May Anderson, Ling, Aurelie, Missy Rayder, Elsa, Caroline Ribero, Eva Herzagova, and many others. Makeup Your Mind features these women and more in sixty-three stunning Before and After pictures. All of the models were shot sans makeup for the Before pictures, displaying their bare-naked faces replete with imperfections and idiosyncrasies. Their transformations in the After pictures span from natural and elegant to fun and outrageous. In superb four-color photographs and brilliant acetate instructional guides, Makeup Your Mind demonstrates how makeup can minimize flaws and maximize beauty potential for every woman.

The Piano Handbook


Carl Humphries - 2002
    With clear and easy-to-understand exercises, The Piano Handbook is perfect for anyone interested in learning the piano or improving their skills. It provides fresh material and techniques in styles ranging from classical to jazz, rock, bebop and fusion, and gives new players everything they need to learn and enjoy the piano. This book's innovative tutorial approach covers classical and contemporary music styles in an integrated way, and the companion audio brings the playing techniques and concepts to life. A full-color photo gallery illustrates the history of the piano and its essential recordings. The book also includes access to audio downloads of selected examples and pieces. This hardcover, deluxe edition also features semi-concealed spiral binding so the book stays open on the piano. The Piano Handbook prepares you not just to play, but to perform and not just as a pianist, but as a complete musician.

The Art of Junji Ito: Twisted Visions


Junji Ito - 2019
    This sublime collection includes all of Ito’s unforgettable illustrations in both black-and-white and color, from Tomie’s dreadful beauty to the inhuman spirals of Uzumaki. Includes an interview focused on Ito’s art technique as well as commentary from the artist on each work.

Stradivari's Genius: Five Violins, One Cello, and Three Centuries of Enduring Perfection


Toby Faber - 2004
    In the course of his long career in the northern Italian city of Cremona, he created more than a thousand stringed instruments; approximately six hundred survive, their quality unequalled by any subsequent violin-maker. In this fascinating book, Toby Faber traces the rich, multilayered stories of six of these peerless creations–five violins and a cello–and the one towering artist who brought them into being. Blending history, biography, meticulous detective work, and an abiding passion for music, Faber takes us from the salons of Vienna to the concert halls of New York, and from the breakthroughs of Beethoven’s last quartets to the first phonographic recordings. This magnificent narrative invites us to share the life, the intrigue, and the incomparable beauty of the world’s most marvelous stringed instruments.

Picture Perfect Posing: Practicing the Art of Posing for Photographers and Models


Roberto Valenzuela - 2014
    His remarkable ability to break down complicated ideas into understandable, approachable elements that photographers can truly grasp-and then use their newfound knowledge to improve their photography-made his first book, Picture Perfect Practice, a breakout success.In Picture Perfect Posing, Roberto takes on the art of posing. For many photographers, after learning to compose an image and even light it properly, a portrait can still easily be a failure if the pose is not natural, elegant, and serving the needs of both the subject and the photographer. Instead of just showing page after page of poses-like most posing books on the market-Roberto actually breaks down the concept of posing by examining the anatomy, starting with the core foundation: the spinal chord and neck. Building from there, Roberto discusses every component of what makes poses work, as well as fail. How should the model hold her hands? Bend her elbows? Position her fingers? Should the model look toward or away from the camera, and why? It all depends on what the photographer wants for the shot, and Roberto discusses the entire process, from the intent of the photographer through the execution of the pose. For those who have been discouraged by an inability to pose their subjects, or who have simply not known where to start in order to figure it out, Picture Perfect Posing is the essential resource they need to learn how posing truly works, and how they can learn to direct the exact pose they need for the shot they want.

A Dancer in Wartime: One girl's journey from the Blitz to Sadler's Wells


Gillian Lynne - 2011
    But she started her career as a ballerina, and learnt to dance alongside Margot Fonteyn, Moira Shearer, Beryl Grey and Frederick Ashton during the Second World War. A Dancer in Wartime tells the story of Gillian's extraordinary childhood. From Miss Madeleine Sharp's Ballet Class for Young Ladies in Bromley, to being evacuated with her theatre school to rural Leicestershire; from performing in the West End with doodlebugs falling to touring a devastated Europe, the early years were hard, exciting and dramatic. And when the call came to join Sadler's Wells - well, what ballerina hopeful could have asked for more?

Orchestration


Walter Piston - 1955
    No practical aspect of instrumentation for the orchestra is neglected, and comprehensive treatment is given to each significant component. The author approaches orchestration from the premise that the principles can best be presented by analysis of music as it has been written.The essentials of instrument combination discussed here are those which can be observed operating in the scores of great composers from Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven down to our own day.Orchestration is notable for the clarity and logic of its organization. From a consideration of the individual instruments and their technical problems the author skillfully develops his analysis of orchestration, covering his analysis of orchestration, covering instrumentation of primary and secondary melodies, part-writing, chords, and contrapuntal techniques. Finally, he discusses typical problems in orchestration together with some examples of their solutions.Orchestration is profusely illustrated with hundreds of musical examples and with drawings of the various musical instruments that make up the modern orchestra.

Century - Mini Edition


Bruce Bernard - 1999
    One reviewer called it "a stupendous photographic chronicle of a tumultuous century" and the Evening Standard adjudged it "the photographic book of the year." Barnard has now transformed this "heavyweight champ of photo books" into a 1,200-page mini format book that one can hold in the palm of one hand. This edition contains 1,090 photographs in color and duotone and has been extended to include events up to and including September 11, 2001.

John Lennon: The New York Years


Bob Gruen - 2005
    Presents a summary of the innovative musician's life during his nine years in New York City, together with a collection of 150 full-color photographs and reminiscences on the stories behind the photographs.

If It Fits, I Sits: Cats in Awkward Places


Various - 2016
    We’ll probably never know why our furry friends insist upon squeezing themselves into weird and awkward places, but that doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate the ensuing cuteness!With over one hundred photos of cats caught in the act, If It Fits, I Sits captures the quirky, adorable, and no-nonsense spirit of felines everywhere.

Instant Love: How to Make Magic and Memories with Polaroids


Jenifer Altman - 2012
    This friendly and informative guide is the essential how-to book for shooting gorgeous instant pictures with personal panache and a touch of romance. Packed with tips on how to shoot with various cameras, details about the different types of film available, advice on composition and lighting techniques, plus creative projects to transform snapshots into keepsake mementos and portfolios of beautiful images for inspiration, this is the ultimate companion for capturing instant memories.