ALONG THE DIVIDE: PHOTOGRAPHS OF THE DAN RYAN EXPRESSWAY - Rare Fine Association Copy of The First Hardcover Edition/First Printing: Signed And Inscribed by Jay Wolke - ONLY SIGNED COPY ONLINE

1st Printing. Signed. 88 pages. Published in 2004. Retrospective collection of color photographs. One of the most important photography books on its subject ever published. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions, particularly the Reissued Edition. Published in a small and limited first print run as a hardcover original only. The book is beautifully produced, with mustard cloth boards, essay by Dominic Pacyga, and stunning color photographs by Jay Wolke that are reproduced on pristine-white, thick coated stock paper to the highest standards. In pictorial DJ with titles on the cover and spine, as issued. Presents Jay Wolke's "Along The Divide: Photographs of The Dan Ryan Expressway". Gritty and indelible. "Cutting across Chicago's South Side in a broad swath of concrete, steel, and overpasses, the Dan Ryan Expressway is one of America's busiest, and perhaps most chaotic, highways. Yet underneath the cacophony of its ten lanes lies an intriguing world of urban ecology and human networks. Unearths an ecosystem unto itself that weaves human and industrial elements into an essential feature of Chicago's identity. Between 1981 and 1985, Wolke shot thousands of photographs along the Dan Ryan during the day and night, traveling up and down the expressway in an effort to accurately capture it. In the twenty years since the photographs were taken, Wolke has organized his pictures into a complex and fascinating portrait of this iconic highway, which he characterizes as an 'arterial organism' with its own cycles and flows, causes and effects. The book is a dynamic narrative that explores the Dan Ryan's enormous influence over the people who drive on it, the neighborhoods lined alongside it, and the industrial environs it weaves through. Examines where the highway fits within the trope of the American road and explores how it became a massive expression of the urban lexicon" (Publisher's blurb). "As chilling as 'Blade Runner'. Unfortunately, this is not a dystopian vision set in a distant, fictional future. This is Chicago. This is America now. The automobile has utterly changed the landscape and our lives. Jay Wolke has found a powerful way to record this historic transformation in this unique, important photographic achievement" (Joel Sternfeld). An absolute "must-have" title for Jay Wolke and Chicago collectors. This copy is very boldly and beautifully signed and inscribed in black pen on the half-title page by the photographer: "For Paul, a great Chicagoan, Jay Wolke". It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. The recipient, Paul Berlanga, who is named, is the Chicago-based photography expert and artist/painter. This title is a contemporary photography classic. As far as we know, this is the only such signed and inscribed copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Copies available online are subsequent printings. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. Lavishly illustrated with color plates. One of the most brilliant American photographers of our time. A fine copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER JAY WOLKE TITLES IN OUR CATALOG) ISBN 1930066287.…