New Hampshire Then and Now
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Conway today from NH Then and Now /Peter E. Randall
NH BOOKS

If you own a copy of New Hampshire, A Living Landscape – which we know you do – then your next coffee table book has just arrived. This time, Peter Randall travels the state in search of things changed and unchanged since the dawn of photography.


 

 

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NOTE: Peter Randall will be signing his new book at the Portsmouth Athenaeum on December 14. Call (603) 431-2538.

Nobody, with the possible exception of TV host Fritz Weatherbee, knows New Hampshire better than Peter Randall. Not only has he published upwards of 300 New England books, a great many of them focused on the Granite State, but Peter has photographed the place up one side and down the other for the better part of forty years. Peter was editor of New Hampshire Profiles magazine, a UNH grad, a twelve generation Seacoast resident, and the author of 14 books to date.

Cover of NH Then & Now by Peter E RandallAmong the best books to come from publisher Peter E. Randall are those containing photographs by Peter E. Randall. In fact, his reputation for capturing the essence of New Hampshire is so formidable that when a tourist recently asked a woman in rural Acworth, NH if he could photograph the lawn in front of the town church, she replied, "Well, you could, but Peter Randall’s already done it."

Lately Peter has been drawn to photograph Africa. There is certainly a book there too. But for those of us who rarely get outside our own beloved state, this is a long-awaited gem. Unlike those mass-produced black & white "Then & Now" volumes, Peter selected his "before" shots from thousands of early photos. He has matched each with a large-format modern color image. But the effort here goes well beyond simple documentation. This is a book about what is happening to our rural state – its buildings, its communities, its people and its landscape. There is, of course, the obligatory Old Man of the Mountain, now among the missing. But there are surprises here too. Peter juxtaposes both places and times, comparing the Isles of Shoals today, for example, with Victorian Center Harbor. These are less updates, than editorials, more like stories than snapshots. -- JDR

Mt Washington Railway 1906 from NH Then & Now by Peter E Randall

Click to BUY THE BOOK or learn more

NH THEN AND NOW
Historical & Contemporary Photographs of the
Granite State from 1840 to 2005
by Peter E. Randall
Photography/History
Cloth with jacket
12 x 9, 176 pages, $40.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

New Hampshire native, and award-winning photographer, Peter E. Randall captured changes in cityscapes and landscapes. The 80 sets of images presented provide an important historical record contrasted with a contemporary artistic vision of New Hampshire and its people. Using the archives of the New Hampshire Historical Society, local historical organizations, and individuals, Randall selected the vintage photographs and recreated their contemporary equivalents. Also an historian, Randall included historical data for each photograph. It's a perfect keepsake title for anyone who loves New Hampshire.

SEE INSIDE THE BOOK (click for PDF file of the first 11 pages)