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Angels in the Architecture: A Photographic Elegy to an American Asylum (Great Lakes Books) | 
| Author: Heidi Johnson
Creator: Nancy Tomes
Publisher: Wayne State University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $26.96
You Save: $2.99 (10%)
New (11) Used (10) from $19.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 583449
Media: Paperback
Edition: Ill
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 212
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.8
Dimensions (in): 10 x 6.9 x 0.6
ISBN: 0814332129
Dewey Decimal Number: 770
EAN: 9780814332122
ASIN: 0814332129
Publication Date: February 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Book Description
Angels in the Architecture is a photographic and historical study of one of America's last architecturally significant asylums, The former Northern Michigan Asylum, also known as the Traverse City State Hospital. Author and professional photographer, Heidi Johnson photographed and studied the site for 3 years from 1997 - 2000. Johnson's photographs of the institution today are juxtaposed with rare images from private collections and state archives. The photographs are augmented by powerful firsthand accounts of former staff members and patients that reveal both sad realities and surprising acts of kindness. The book takes readers on a rare tour through a nineteenth century asylum. Of particular interest is the hospital's "Building 50", a four block long structure topped with twelve castle like spires that is now on the National Registry of Historic Places
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 Nice book but short on photographs July 11, 2004
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
I was excited to receive this book as a present as I lived in Traverse City for several years and visited the grounds of the state hospital where the photographs from this book were taken quite often and have a great interest in the architecture of Thomas Kirkbride. I was especially hoping to be able to finally see the inside of Kirkbride's Building 50 (one of the most complete Kirkbride main buildings still standing), the gothic building that graces the cover (the building was closed and inaccessable while I lived in Traverse City). While there are photographs of the buildings on the ground prior to their recent conversion as multi use/mixed housing, most of the photographs were reprints of historic photographs, not the lovely work of Heidi Johnson and the pre-renovated buildings. There also were many pages of just words without any photographs (while the detail of the first 20 deaths of patients is "interesting" I would have enjoyed Ms Johnson's work a bit more). I was also a bit dissapointed by the size of the book. It appears to be a coffee table book but is quite a bit smaller. All in all, the book is quite lovely but for someone interested in the Kirkbride asylum architecture this book was disappointing.
Beauty=Miss Johnson's Photography August 29, 2003
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Miss Johnson shows the humility, the kindness, and insight: All three traits imbibing her as the Professional photographer of The Traverse City State Hospital. She has done justice for those gone; future generations shall grasp a better understanding of the hollow halls of antiquity.
This book was an experience October 7, 2002
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
The somewhat haunting photographs of the interior of the asylum makes one try to imagine how life was for those souls who lived there. The beautiful architecture of those majestic buildings and well-manicured grounds is a testament to an era of compassion. There is one photograph in particular that caught my attention, on page 185 that has what appears to be a ghostly image of a man standing in the doorway of room 50. A book you can look at over and over again and see new things in the detailed photographs.
Spectacular! April 30, 2002
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
This book should be required reading in Psych 101 classes. Photography classes as well.The author gently uses her camera and prolific writing style to tell a story that both inspires and shocks you at the same time. There are incredible amounts of patient and staff histories both touching and surprising. The book inspires one to ponder the life of each person profiled. One can only hope that Johnson continues along the same lines and creates another masterpiece like Angels in the Architecture.
Compelling February 11, 2002
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
"Angels in the Architecture" is a first-rate homage to a former asylum, the Traverse City State Hospital of Michigan. Heidi Johnson has masterfully combined her hauntingly beautiful photographs with both archival material and first-hand reports from the trenches. The result is a powerfully compelling journey into the soul of a once vibrant institution that provided care to thousands of its wards.
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