William Abranowicz

A celebrated photographer focuses his lens on distinctive period and contemporary residences amid the natural beauty of New York’s Catskill Mountains and Hudson River Valley. The majestic panoramas, lush vegetation, and bucolic vibe of the Catskill Mountains and Hudson River Valley in upstate New York have long proved irresistible for city dwellers seeking respite from urban life and inveterate country lovers alike. Their homes, whether hundreds of years old or brand new, all resonate with their natural surroundings, as each of the 20 houses that photographer William Abranowicz captured for this volume attests. They range from the historic houses of Thomas Cole and Frederic Church, quintessential landscape painters of the Hudson River School, to the rustic wood and stone house of a dealer in midcentury furniture, art, and jewelry, in which the clean lines of Frank Lloyd Wright side tables and other midcentury furnishings are exuberantly contrasted by vibrant textiles and contemporary ceramics. Perusing the pages of Country Life is the equivalent of taking a vacation and being warmly invited into the homes of artists, writers, architects, museum curators, dancers, photographers, antiques dealers, set designers, a social worker, a yogi, and even a hall of fame BBQ chef.

Standing on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, in 2017, photographer William Abranowicz was struck by the weight of historical memory at this hallowed site of one of the civil rights movement's defining episodes: 1965's "Bloody Sunday," when Alabama police officers attacked peaceful marchers. To Abranowicz's eye, Selma seemed relatively unchanged from its apperance in the photographs Walker Evans made there in the 1930s. That, coupled with an awareness of renewed voter suppression efforts at state and federal levels, inspired Abranowicz to explore the living legacy of the civil and voting rights movement through photographing locations, landscapes, and individuals associated with the struggle, from Rosa Parks and Harry Belafonte to the barn where Emmett Till was murdered.The result is This Far and No Further, a collection of photographs from Abranowicz's journey through the American South. Through symbolism, metaphor, and history, he unearths extraordinary stories of brutality, heroism, sacrifice, and redemption hidden within ordinary American landscapes, underscoring the crucial necessity of defending—and exercising—our right to vote at this tenuous moment for American democracy.

The first book from acclaimed Brooklyn-based interior designer, Kathryn Scott, whose handcrafted interiors evoke a sense of serenity, harmony, and simplicity.

Who are the American Originals? They are photographer William Abranowicz’s pantheon of extraordinary subjects – painters, poets, rock stars, designers, tastemakers, politicians, performers – for whom the home represents the ultimate canvas of self-expression. In every one of the more than 250 photographs, most never before published, Abranowicz’s classical sensibility for light, form, and composition mingles with his innate curiosity and sense of humor, producing stunning, unconventional portraits of these living spaces and workplaces. The text recounts Abranowicz’s personal interactions with his subjects and their homes, and muses on voyeurism, decoration, and honesty in design. American Originals is sure to be an essential source of inspiration not only for interior design but also for ways of living authentically and creatively in the modern world.

Following in the tradition of populist architects Gil Schafer and Bobby McAlpine, Dungan designs new traditional houses for today houses with clean lines, made with stone and wood, that carry an air of lasting beauty and that are made to be handed on to future generations. In his first book, Dungan shares his advice and insight for creating these forever houses and explores eight houses in full, from a beach house on the Gulf Coast to a farmhouse in the Southern countryside to a family home in the Blue Ridge Mountains. All speak of authenticity, timelessness, and lived history that reveals itself through the rich patinas and natural textures that come with age. Layered in between are thematic essays and imagery celebrating the importance of elements such as light, stone, and rooflines in creating a home.