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Rating: 
Summary: commonplace, mundane nostalgia
Review: I was disappointed. I had hoped for so much more. He treads ground already well-beaten by his predecessors Charles Sheeler, Paul Strand, Andre Kertesz, Walker Evans, but without their eye for the arresting perspective or the play of light and form. His compositions are rather flat and banal, more like postcards for the scenes he presents, wrapped in a hazy glow of romanticized nostalgia reminiscent of dorm room Edward Hopper prints.There are a few pictures that rise above the mediocre to reach the level of pretty good, such as his White Castle photo or the nighttime scene of Petit's Mobil Station, but even these seem to rely on a striking, but cheap, play of light illuminating darkness to achieve their effect. Overall, one gets the sense that he's a Thomas Kinkade who wishes he were Charles Sheeler.
Rating:
Summary: commonplace, mundane nostalgia
Review: This book is a culmination of Tice's work on landscapes in one of the most urbanized areas in the world, New Jersey, lying between two great metropolises of NYC and Philadelphia. He epitomizes the artist who is able to find meaning and emotional content in even the most mundane subject. Locations that many of us would pass each day (and I have passed a number of the sites photgraphed) without a further thought are subjects of insightful photographs that show us something about a subject we may not have considered without the artist's insight. It is a simple matter to record a beautiful scene; quite another to portray the essence of a subject in a photograph in a manner that conveys its intrinsic worth. Much of Tice's work is, of course, already held by some of the most important museums in the world, and are well known to those who follow fine art photography. See, for instance, Strand Theater (page 33), White Castle (page 35), Oak Tree (page 47), and, of course, Petit's Mobil Station (page 67 and book cover). But many of the photographs are not as well known, and may not be quite as accessible. They are, nonetheless, well worth the effort to understand and appreciate. They span photographs of blue collar hangouts that evoke an immediate feeling of familiarity (e.g. St. George's Diner - page 71; Main Street Rahway, page 36), to the cool beauty of the Newark Bay seen from the Pulaski Skyway (page 90). The diversity of the photographs is stunning, as is their reproduction in duotone. Highly recommended!
Rating: 
Summary: Beauty in the Ordinary World
Review: This book is a culmination of Tice's work on landscapes in one of the most urbanized areas in the world, New Jersey, lying between two great metropolises of NYC and Philadelphia. He epitomizes the artist who is able to find meaning and emotional content in even the most mundane subject. Locations that many of us would pass each day (and I have passed a number of the sites photgraphed) without a further thought are subjects of insightful photographs that show us something about a subject we may not have considered without the artist's insight. It is a simple matter to record a beautiful scene; quite another to portray the essence of a subject in a photograph in a manner that conveys its intrinsic worth. Much of Tice's work is, of course, already held by some of the most important museums in the world, and are well known to those who follow fine art photography. See, for instance, Strand Theater (page 33), White Castle (page 35), Oak Tree (page 47), and, of course, Petit's Mobil Station (page 67 and book cover). But many of the photographs are not as well known, and may not be quite as accessible. They are, nonetheless, well worth the effort to understand and appreciate. They span photographs of blue collar hangouts that evoke an immediate feeling of familiarity (e.g. St. George's Diner - page 71; Main Street Rahway, page 36), to the cool beauty of the Newark Bay seen from the Pulaski Skyway (page 90). The diversity of the photographs is stunning, as is their reproduction in duotone. Highly recommended!
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