Backyard Oasis

I love, no; I’m obsessed with niche picture books. Not because I don’t like to read but because I appreciate great photography. Backyard Oasis revolves around pool culture in Southern California and all the pages in the book is filled, back-to-back with colorful and juicy photography. I promise, that you will marvel at the pictures and because its winter at the time of writing this review, I can confirm that Backyard Oasis will make you feel warmer during the cooler months.

The majority of the pictures come from a post World War II era where the American ideals of optimism, wealth, consumerism, escape and physical beauty were all highly regarded as the pillars of the American way of life. The photographs in the book, capture these ideals perfectly and to be honest, it is actually quite hard, as an American, to be able to view these photos objectively, especially if you are without any formal education in social documentary.

The thing is, due the nature of the subject matter of what the featured photographers decided to capture, doesn’t actually do much to the typical American because we have been desensitized by popular media. I find that when I show these series of photographs to my non-American friends, their responses are far more on-point than my native brethren. But this is not a huge problem, just an observation of mu own personal experiences.

There are over 200 images in the book taken by such names as Bill Anderson, John Baldessari, Ruth Bernhard, David Hockney, Herb Ritts, Ed Ruscha, Julius Shulman, and Larry Sultan. The themes covered range from the rise of celebrity culture to dystopia in the form of deep suburbia. Also you will see avant-garde architectural landscape design along with innovations in swimming pools, as a nice little extra token of mild entertainment.

Once you have had fun skimming through the images, you will enjoy reading up on the six insightful essays that are included within the collection. These essays are kind of academic and do a great job in placing these images within a context of aesthetic and social culture. Dare I say, for American readers, is essential to understanding the book. You can get your copy on Amazon.