Modern Ruins

I first saw Shaun O'Boyle's photographs of Modern Ruins: Portraits of place in the Mid-Atlantic region while visiting the booth of the Penn State University Press at the PALA annual conference in Lancaster last month.  After a brief look, I thought this collection highlighting the Mid-Atlantic regions 'architectural sacrifice zones' (as termed by Geoff Manaugh in the introduction) would be of interest to PCL patrons.  The book is divided into four sections of buildings:  institutions (featuring psychiatric hospitals), steel (with photos of Bethlehem Steel's facilities), coal (an industry introduced as the foundations of 'hardy and industrious Pennsylvanians'), and arsenal (with stunning images of Bannerman's Island, near Cold Spring, NY).  This collection takes the reader to the present state of the past and is relevant to those who appreciate black and white photography, local history, and the progression of deindustrialization of the region.  I highly recommend browsing this new acquisition.