THOMAS, Christopher. New York Sleeps.

(Munich): Prestel, 2009.  First edition.  Square quarto.  143 pages.  Essays by Ulrich Pohlmann and Bob Shamis.  Imagine a New York devoid of people, its empty streets, bridges, and waterways as silent and magnificent as an Anselm Adams landscape. This is the New York that Christopher Thomas reveals in duotone photographs that are at once haunting and nostalgic. Employing a large-format Polaroid camera, Thomas shot many of these images in the early hours of the day or with long exposures. The result is a rare glimpse of the Brooklyn Bridge without pedestrians; Grand Central Station without commuters; Fifth Avenue without cars, vendors, workers, or shoppers. Not only do Thomas’s photographs allow viewers to appreciate the spatial and architectural splendour of these New York City icons, but they also evoke a dreamlike feeling that is unusual in visual depictions of the city. A very good copy in grey cloth with inset photo-plate.