MacLean has had his photographs printed in hundreds
of publications all over the world. Below are some selected works. Many
of these books can be purchased through Landslides, please call 617-497-9400
or ORDER A SIGNED COPY ONLINE NOW!!!
The Playbook
Written and Photographed by Alex S. MacLean
Introduction by Susan Yelavich
Thames and Hudson Press, October 2006
"Aerial photographer Alex MacLean turns his camera on the colorful, exhilarating
world of America at play. From the beauty of perfectly symmetric sports stadiums
to the spaghetti-like tangles of theme parks to sunbathers on a stretch of splendid
beach, he illuminates how we inhabit the land and the potential for modern planning
to create spectacular environments." order
Designs on the Land: Exploring
America from the Air
Written and Photographed by Alex S. MacLean
Introduction by James Corner
Thames and Hudson Press, March 2003
"This new collection of exemplary photographs taken across the American
landscape reflects MacLean's passionate interest in the effects of time,
geological movements, shifting landscapes, redeployment, pollution,
urban sprawl, and the overlapping of surfaces and activities. More than 400 photographs
reveal in a unique way the physical splendor of America: both the beauty
of the ongoing inhabiting of the land and the potential for modern
planning
to create spectacular environments." order
The Limitless City : A Primer on the Urban Sprawl
Debate
by Oliver Gillham
Photographs by Alex MacLean
Island Press, March 2002
"One of the great debates of our time concerns the predominant form
of land use in America today - the all too familiar pattern of commercial
and residential development known as sprawl. But what do we really know
about sprawl? Do we know what it is? Where did it come from? Is it really
so bad? If so, what are the alternatives? Can anything be done to make it
better? The Limitless City offers an accessible examination of those and
related questions."
Above and Beyond
Julie Campoli
Elizabeth Humstone
Alex MacLean (Photographer and Author)
APA Planners Press, 2001
"How exactly do small towns become suburbs? How do country roads turn
into commercial strips? And what can planners do to prevent these changes
in the future? Using the state of Vermont as the rural ideal, the authors
compare contemporary vs. traditional development to demonstrate how today's
primary way of developing land--suburban sprawl--is forever changing the
look of rural American. Using a host of aerial photographs--many altered
through computer simulation to illustrate how landscapes are transformed
over time-- ABOVE AND BEYOND argues for a return to traditional development
patterns that produce more compact cities and towns." order
Taking Measures Across the American Landscape
by James Corner
Photographs by Alex MacLean
Yale University Press, 1996
"This book combines breathtaking aerial photographs and exquisite map-drawings
of the American landscape with thoughtful essays that explore how various
cultures have forged the landscapes in different regions of the country
and what the possibilities are for future landscape design. The authors
demonstrate that landscape representation is more than descriptive--it can
also instruct and construct how people perceive, shape, and transform the
land." (Yale University Press Release) order
Look At The Land
Aerial Reflections on America
Photographs by Alex MacLean
Text by Bill McKibben
Rizzoli International Publications, 1993
"His enlightening perspective is particularly sensitive to environmental
issues: the ways in which our land is used- farming, housing, transportation,
energy generation and the ways in which it is too often abused-deforest
ation, pollution, natural-resource exploitation-become dramatically clear
in his photographs." (McKibben) THIS BOOK IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT,
but you can purchased a used copy in excellent condition here...order
MUTATIONS
(click
to see images)
Bordeaux, France
Exhibit catalogue published by arc en reve centre d'architecture, 2000
Organized by arc en reve centre d'architecture, MUTATIONS
explored international research on the contemporary urban condition and
future prospects through a program of events, at the center of which was
an exhibition at the Entrepot. Curated by Odile Fillion, Alex MacLean contributed
440 images on themes common to American metropolitan areas, which were projected
on screens within the 2,500 square meter exhibition space. The book
is an eye-popping atlas-cum-analysis of this new urbanization, and much
of it is composed of essays and meditations (from a variety of contributors)
on the 21st-century international City (often un-)Beautiful. Most of them
are written in language that will be familiar to readers of Koolhaas's past
books: in other words, dense, abstract, and chock-full of references to
Foucault, Deleuze, and Guattari. If you like that sort of deconstructivist
yammering, great; if not, the major small-type essays are best sampled (or,
better, skimmed) one at a time, interspersed with the many other more accessible
elements of the book that truly do add up to a vivid and fascinating mosaic
of postmodern urbanism. order
"Flying Over Guilford"
By Dolores Hayden with photographs by Alex S. MacLean
Planning Magazine, American Planning Association, September 2000
"Dolores Hayden explains how aerial photos, coupled with the Internet,
can be a powerful tool for visualizing — and saving — town character.
Bird's eye photographs over Connecticut supplied by Alex S. MacLean."
