The past has never looked so alive as presented on the jaw-droppingly handsome pages of Retrographic, and since publication, this ground-breaking book has been hailed in the media as a revolutionary new way to access the past. By gathering an exclusive collection of 120 of the world's most important images from photographic grandmasters such as Dorothea Lange and Alfred Eisenstaedt, as-well-as Pulitzer Prize winners Malcolm Brown and Nick Ut - this is a book which truly celebrates our shared visual heritage.
Through accepting Retrographic into its prestigious private research collection, London's Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) has recognised the book's importance to the History of Photography. Alongside rarer images, Retrographic transforms these world-famous classics from the black and white greyscale of the past, and allows these visual time-capsules to explode into the 21st century world of living colour.
The carefully researched and skilfully colourised photographs provided by Retrographic's talented team of international contributors, are displayed alongside a succinct and fact-packed narrative from digital journalist Michael D. Carroll.
From the raging explosion of the Hindenburg disaster, which ended the glamour of intercontinental travel by airship, to watching as battle-hardened American marines raise the flag at Iwu Jima during the height of WW2 - through Retrographic - history's most dramatic moments can be seen, literally, in a new light.
The reader will witness some of the most emotive scenes from the past, such as the seductive vulnerability of tragic screen icon Marilyn Monroe, and learn why the passion of a shared kiss between a sailor and a nurse at Times Square came to symbolise the unrestrained joy of peace that still hits us in the heart today.
With each turn of the page offering a fresh surprise, powerful subjects from this eclectic collection include;
19th Century: the birth of America, the Victorians, exploration, the Old West, colonialism, indigenous people, science, warfare.
20th century: lifestyle, WW1, Great Depression, WW2, Hollywood, US, Russian, German, French and British history, the Cold War, 50's and 60's popular icons and the social revolution.
With a forward by Royal Photographic Society Ambassador Jeff Vickers, and littered with informative gems that bounces themes of conflict, exploration, progress, regression, culture, and hope, across the 190-year Age of the Image, Retrographic is the ultimate celebration of human civilization's most impactful medium.
Retrographic's appeal is wide. Readers both young and old, of all backgrounds, races, colours, and creeds, will find scenes from the past they can relate to, and understand.
