Product Description

Take a visual journey through California! The extraordinary photographs showcased in California 24/7 are an extension of the America 24/7 project, an unprecedented digital photography venture that harnessed the talents of more than 25,000 local photographers in all 50 states. This remarkable book showcases 734 incredible images adding up to a panoramic view of life-in-progress across the Golden State. You ll discover heartwarming photographs that perfectly capture the spirit of the state, with images of: Dawn-patrol surfers boogieing on a clean south swell A San Jose girl in a princess dress getting ready for her quinceanera A single man in Claremont tending to his 4 adopted children Modoc County ranch hands chowing down at lunchtime An interactive gaming professional throwing a convention in L.A. And more! From the badlands of Zabriskie Point to the snowy heights of Mt. Shasta, from a Visalia square dance to a levitating Corvette on Venture Boulevard, California is a great big bazaar where American finds its future. The visions collected in this album show us West Coast grandeur and reveal the human intimacies inside, where the heart is.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #355624 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 192 pages

About the Author
Rick Smolan and David Elliott Cohen are the original creators of the best selling Day in the Life series and have been responsible for the most successful photography books in history including the New York Times #1 best seller A Day in the Life of America.

Smolan and Cohen's ambitious and imaginative projects combine storytelling with state-of-the art-technology and have appeared numerous times on the covers of Time, Newsweek, Fortune and US News & World Report.

Smolan and his wife Jennifer Erwitt are Co-Directors Against All Odds Productions, based in Sausalito California. Fortune Magazine honored Against All Odds calling them 'One of the 25 Coolest Companies in America'. Smolan and Erwitt's award winning projects include: From Alice to Ocean, Passage to Vietnam, 24 Hours in Cyberspace, One Digital Day and The Planet Project.

Cohen is President of Western Arts Management based in Ross California. His award winning books include The Circle of Life, The Now and Then series, One Year Off and A Day in the Life of Africa.

Customer Reviews

From the Santa Cruz Sentinel, November 29, 2004
There's nothing like a photograph to cut to the heart of things.

In "California 24/7," created by RICK SMOLANd and DAVID ELLIOT COHEN (DK Publishing, $24.95), the heart of California is captured in 734 images, all taken during the single week of May 12-18, 2003, by an army of professional and amateur photographers.

Santa Cruz County is well-represented. There's a de rigeur spread of the Boardwalk. A BMX bicyclist caught turning tricks in the air at the Santa Cruz Art, Wine and Jazz Festival. And a shot of Chris Gonzales, Bro Print employee, taken by the Sentinel's own Shmuel Thaler.

There's also a sweet photo of Erma and Tony Dalbesio, both in their 80s, on the front porch of the home they've lived in for 56 years.

But of all the Santa Cruz photographs, the one of flower grower Kathleen Seaver best represents California's "struggle between the dream and the reality" posited by Diana Erwin, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, in her introduction to the book.

In the double-page spread of Seaver, National Geographic photographer Sisse Brimberg has captured an explosion of white, purple and pink flowers.

She's also captured the focused intensity Seaver brings to her work.

The photo's caption tells her story:

"Kathleen Seaver, 51, raises organic specialty flowers such as these foxglove-excelsior hybrids on her 5-acre Cadillac Mountain Farms. Twenty years ago, Seaver nearly died after gastrointestinal surgery. She prayed to live, promising, "no matter what," to grow flowers as thanks. Despite her husband's passing and the financial hardships of the business, she has stuck to her promise."

Readers can also order copies of "California 24/7" with their own photographs on the cover. For more information, go to www.america24-7.com.