The power of photography to ignite the spirit of adventure is central to "The New World's Old World: Photographic Views of Ancient America," an exhibition at New York's AXA Gallery running until July 19 and its catalog of the same name (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 2003; $47.50), edited by curator May Castleberry. Vintage images include 1860s daguerreotypes showing the slow destruction of Big Mound in St. Louis and Teobert Maler's haunting turn-of-the-century images of ruins in Guatemala. With modern takes, like a 1972 photo by Edward Ranney of a pyramid at the Maya site of Coba, this collection documents changes wrought by excavation, tourism, and development over the years. [More Canada & the U.S. books...] |