Crossing the frontier : photographs of the developing West, 1849 to the present /

Published in conjunction with the photographic exhibition of the same name, this volume contains essays from Sandra S. Phillips, Richard Rodriquez, Aaron Betsky, and Eldridge M. Moores in addition to 131 plates. Viewers should not allow interpretations of the photographs to overcome their own common sense. Plate 95, for example, displays Arizona's most famous golf hole--No. 3 on Ventana Canyon's Mountain Course. Even nongolfers will recognize that architect Tom Fazio has achieved a reconciliation of humanity and nature with his environmentally sensitive design. The volume's text, however, sees it differently: "We move mountains at tremendous expense to create an artificial, environmentally costly golf course." Many of the photographs, like the golf course scene, allow for divergent interpretations; nevertheless, development is a constant theme. Often western development is ugly and fails to measure up to the environment's beauty, but an honest appraisal must always stress complexity in the relationship between humans and land. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art deserves high praise for this exhibition and catalog. All levels. G. Thompson University of Toledo