Review of Las Vegas A Photographic Tour

Title:

Las Vegas A Photographic Tour

Author:

Carol M. Highsmith and Ted Landphair

Publisher:

Crescent Books

Date:

2003

ISBN:

0-517-22055-5

Pages:

128

Price:

$15.99

Reviewed by Nick Christenson, npc@lvrevealed.com

May 29, 2004

From it's frontier town origins, Las Vegas has quickly become one of the most photogenic cities on the continent. Even purists who have long regarded Las Vegas as a garish, cultureless wasteland have had to admit that in recent years innovative architecture, fine art, and top-notch cuisine have made significant advances in Clark county's neon palaces. Moreover, the current round of the nostalgia craze finds value in the "vintage Vegas" look of the Rat Pack era. This combination makes photographs of Las Vegas, as displayed by Highsmith and Landphair in their book, especially timely.

The first dozen pages primarily show us historical pictures of Las Vegas in black and white. This is accompanied by a brief narrative history of some of the most colorful and influential events of the city's nearly 100 year history. Some of these pictures have been reproduced in other books, but the authors have selected great shots, and the transfer to the book is clean and clear.

From this point on, Las Vegas A Photographic Tour is filled with color photographs which look to have been taken in the last few years. These are accompanied by brief descriptions of the subjects of the photographs. Some of these pictures are truly stunning, highlighting some of the most impressive sights in greater Las Vegas. Even better, some of these are shots, subjects, and angles I haven't seen before. Even those who think they've seen all the classic shots of Las Vegas many times before will find something new in this book.

My two favorites would have to be the shot of the spectacular leaded glass ceiling in the Tropicana and the external view of the now departed La Concha motel. While most of the pictures are great, there are a few that I don't care for as much. The view of Lance Burton leaves me cold, the Boardwalk clown facade has always freaked me out (am I the only one?), and any depiction in any form of Celine Dion is one more than I care for, but overall the shots in this book are excellent.

I have two semi-serious complaints with the book, though. First, the fact checking could have been a little more thorough. There are a couple of places where the authors get their information wrong, but it's more annoying than it is a fatal flaw. Second, there seems to have been a significant time lag between the writing and assembly of the book and its publication. The authors' Las Vegas Strip map doesn't show the new Aladdin and Mandalay Bay, but it does show the Desert Inn and lists the Boardwalk as a Holiday Inn. Other anachronisms are present as well, but if the reader just pretends the book was assembled between 1999 and 2002, everything should be just fine.

As a comparison of Las Vegas coffee table pictorials, I'd have to say that I would rate Las Vegas Then and Now ahead of Las Vegas A Photographic Tour. There's no reason, though, that they both can't find a place in a Las Vegas aficionado's library or coffee table. There's no overlap between the two, and they're both superbly done pictorials.

Basically, Las Vegas A Photographic Tour contains some new and fascinating views of this great city at a reasonable price. It may not be the best Las Vegas pictorial, but it's a good one, and I recommend it to fans of the city.

Capsule:

Las Vegas A Photographic Tour provides us with some new and spectacular views of one of the world's most photogenic cities. The facts provided by the authors are sometimes out of date or slightly inaccurate, but this is a book of photographs, and there are some great photographs here. If I had to choose between this book and Las Vegas Then and Now I'd prefer the latter, but in my opinion, there's no reason anyone should have to choose.