Continuity & Change: The Lure of North American Railroads is a dazzling publication by the Center for Railroad Photography & Art that explores the photography of contemporary railroading in North America and the passage of time. 230 photographs and thirteen essays delve into a wide range of topics: railroads and nature, pathways of commerce, passenger railroading, heritage activities, workers, international connections, continent-crossing networks, and how the passage of time marks both railroads and photography.

That last notion is at the heart of this 384-page book. Railroads and photography came of age together in the nineteenth century and share a dynamic relationship in the twenty-first. That relationship flows from the traditions of both photojournalism and commercial photography, and it is defined today by the paradox of continuity and change.

Drawing from the Center’s talented community of image-makers and from their own lifelong interests in railroads and the visual arts, editors Alexander Craghead and Scott Lothes present a stunning body of work in a lavish production. As a bonus to commemorate the Center’s 25th anniversary, eight foldouts are included with spectacular railroad images that could not be limited to two pages of coverage.

Continuity & Change is a landmark book that makes the compelling case that the union of railroads and photography is as rich and potent as ever.

• Hardcover, 11×11 inches, 384 pages, 230 photographs including eight foldouts
• $65 plus $9 for domestic shipping (It weighs 6.5 pounds!)
• International shipping is available; please inquire by email at info [at] railphoto-art.org

J. Parker Lamb broke new ground in railroad photography. His exceptional collection came to the Center for Railroad Photography & Art in 2015, and his work is now the subject of a book, published by the Center.

The text comes from Kevin P. Keefe and Fred W. Frailey. Frailey wrote a foreword that presents Lamb’s life story while contextualizing his work within the pantheon of railroad photography. Keefe served as editor, writing captions as well as an afterword focused on the singularity of Lamb’s photography in the South. Jeff Brouws and Wendy Burton did the design work, while Scott Lothes assisted with photo editing and digital prepress production.

$60 plus $5 for domestic shipping, hardcover, 10×11 inches, 208 pages, 160 duotone photographs

International shipping is available; please inquire by email at info [at] railphoto-art.org

After Promontory: One Hundred Fifty Years of Transcontinental Railroading, edited by the Center and published by Indiana University Press in 2019, is part of a major project examining the histories and impacts of all of the nation’s transcontinental railroads. The 10×10-inch hardcover book features 19th-century photographs by some of the most ac­complished photographers in the nation’s history—artists such as William Henry Jackson, Timothy H. O’Sullivan, and Car­leton E. Watkins. Also included is recent photogra­phy from artists who explore the lasting impact the railroads have had on the landscape, both to the benefit and the costs of the region. At stake in all of these images, both period and more contemporary, is not only the railroad itself as a subject, but how photographers of different eras, with different motivations and different sensibilities, have thought of the transcontinental railroads and their legacies.

Expanding on the visual themes in the companion exhibit, the book offers a deeper look at the circumstances, histories, and impacts of the railroads that came to connect the Midwest with the Pacific Coast. Essays by railroad historians Keith L. Bryant, H. Roger Grant, Don Hofsommer, and Maury Klein add context and depth to the book’s 240 photographs. Robert D. Krebs, who served in the executive offices of railroads in all three regions, including as chairman and CEO of the BNSF Railway, wrote the foreword. Photographer Drake Hokanson, in the book’s concluding essay, reflects on photographing the transcontinental railroads then and now, and what these images can teach us.

$60 plus $5 for domestic shipping, hardcover, 10×10 inches, 320 pages, color and b/w