10 BEAUTIFUL BOOKS CELEBRATE DOORS, WINDOWS, & SOULFUL OPENINGS

An open book beckons an open mind. We’ve curated 10 gorgeous books the present a range of beautiful openings. Check them out below. We bet you can’t wait to open them!

1. ABELARDO MORELL: THE UNIVERSE NEXT DOOR

Abelardo Morell: The Universe Next Door, by Elizabeth Siegel, provides an excellent view into the innovative work of Cuban photographer Abelardo Morell. After graduating from Yale University with an MFA, Morell first came to prominence for a black and white series which featured a number of household objects taken from a child’s point of view. It was inspired by his newborn son.

But Morell’s leapt forward exponentially when he turned rooms to giant camera obscuras, leveraging apertures or openings in a totally cool way -- projecting exterior settings onto the walls of interior spaces.

The book includes both black-and-white and never before published color photographs from the past decade.

A "lush, delectable book."

– The Boston Globe

“Trompe-l'oeil images full of wit and wonder from a contemporary master . . . recalling the childhood enchantment of a magic lantern.”

– Wall Street Journal

Art Institute of Chicago (2013)

2. A SEAT WITH A VIEW

In A Seat with a View, photographer Brooke Anderson presents a never before seen black and white series. It’s eclectic and visually extraordinary. It offers the reader beautiful and thought provoking openings.

Blurb (2014)

3. GAIL ALBERT HALABAN: PARIS VIEWS

Gail Albert Halaban: Paris Views, by Cathy Rémy and Photographer Gail Albert Halaban, is the next installment of Halaban's series, entitled Out My Window, set in New York.

Halaban casts her gaze through the windows of her neighbors and others to capture scenes both wide and intimate. Through her lens, we see the private lives of ordinary Parisieners as they go about their busy day-to-day.

Reality and fantasy blurs. Isolation and intimacy coexist in these beautiful and touching images.

Aperture (October 31, 2014)

4. DOOR JAMS: AMAZING DOORS OF NEW YORK CITY

Eyes may be the windows to the soul, but doors can reveal the heart of a city. Allan Markman’s Door Jams: Amazing Doors of New York City, does just that, taking the reader through each borough to reveal how their gates and doors reveal their character.

A city of over eight million provides many opportunities for those looking for incredible openings. This book showcases over 300 of them. They are works of art.

Markman, a graphic designer, will take you from elegant inviting hotel entrances in Manhattan, to the incredibly expressive graffiti covered doors in Brooklyn. You will see eccentric, elaborate, funky, sleek -- a wide range of styles -- all of which are incredibly beautiful portals into all kinds of spaces in all 5 boroughs of New York City.

Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. (2013)

5. A WINDOW ON ETERNITY: A BIOLOGISTS WALK THROUGH GORONGOSA NATIONAL PARK

Gorongosa National Park, one of the most biologically diverse places in the world, has undergone huge change in its lifetime. Formerly devastated by civil war, the area is finally returning to its original pristine state.

Edward Wilson and Piotr Naskrecki offer a beautiful look into the current state of the park in A Window on Eternity: A Biologist's Walk Through Gorongosa National Park.

A Window on Eternity shows how the tiniest organisms and small forms of life create openings to the births and rebirths of stunningly beautiful ecosystems.

A bonus DVD of Academy Award–winning director Jessica Yu’s documentary, The Guide, is also included with the book.

“A Window on Eternity revels in biodiversity and nature’s inventiveness. . . Wilson plants his defiant flag defending biodiversity in a place once so brutally despoiled that its recovery is truly momentous.”

– Stuart Pimm Nature

Simon & Schuster (2014)

6. THE HOUSE WITH SIXTEEN HANDMADE DOORS: A TALE OF ARCHITECTURAL CHOICE AND CRAFTSMANSHIP

The House with Sixteen Handmade Doors: A Tale of Architectural Choice and Craftsmanship, by Henry and Catherine Petroski, is a personal story of both a couple and their breathtakingly unique home.

Henry Petroski, an expert in engineering, history, and design, is particularly interested in the origins and evolution of each house. Who built it? What materials and techniques were used? How has it developed over time?

The beauty lies in the intimate details, and in the incredible wider picture of the houses place in history. For any that love design, modern and past, this book is a must.

Catherine Petroski’s photographs are gorgeous in their attention to both exquisite detail and rich atmosphere. The book includes 80 of her photographs.

W. W. Norton & Company; 1 edition (2014)

7. ANDREW WYETH: LOOKING OUT, LOOKING IN

Artist Andrew Wyeth is well known for his pursuit of open windows.

He began, in 1947, with a piece titled Wind from the Sea, and painted mesmerizing window scenes for 60 years thereafter. His body of work includes over 300 paintings of window openings.

Andrew Wyeth: Looking Out, Looking In, by Nancy Anderson and Charles Brock, presents the first collection of Wyeth’s windows. The book includes essays that tie the concept of window openings to the poetry of Robert Frost and the paintings of Edward Hopper, among others.

National Gallery of Art, Washington/D.A.P. (2014)

8. FASHION EYES: TOP WINDOW DISPLAY IN EUROPE

Store windows are windows into the soul of the store. They tempt passers-by with tasty teasers -- the best of new merchandise, displayed as art by the best of them.

Fashion Eyes: Top Window Display in Europe, by Puffy Cheung, focuses on the most spectacular displays offered by the finest department stores, the best boutiques, and even the H&M’s of the world.

Each stunning window is a masterful composition, full of color, texture, lit with mastery, and arranged with stellar style.

Sendpoints (2013)

9. WINDOWS ON THE WORLD: FIFTY WRITERS, FIFTY VIEWS

Every window provides a new opening -- a new view onto the world, just as an elegant quote provides new wisdom.

In Windows on the World: Fifty Writers, Fifty Views, architect Matteo Pericoli explores open views through physical windows as well as metaphorical view as prominent thought leaders contemplate the concept of openings.

See through the open minds of Orhan Pamuk in Istanbul, Daniel Kehlmann in Berlin, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in Lagos, John Jeremiah Sullivan in Wilmington, North Carolina, Nadine Gordimer in Johannesburg, and Xi Chuan in Beijing.

Pericoli’s pen-and-ink windows illustrations were drawn using photos of the authors’ homes and offices as reference. If the style looks familiar, it’s because you may have seen Pericoli’s work from his acclaimed series for The New York Times and later for The Paris Review Daily.

Pericoli’s body of work features fifteen never-before-seen windows. They offer an eye-opening view through the windows in both walls and minds.

Penguin Press HC, The (2014)

10. XAVIER GUARDANS: WINDOWS

Xavier Guardans takes incredibly powerful portraits from members of Kenyan tribes, including the Turkana, Samburu, Masai, Rendille, Gabra and Pokot tribes. Xavier Guardans: Windows, by Christopher Harth, Amanda Schmitt, and Xavier Guardans, features Guardans’ beautiful images, all taken through the window of his Toyota Land Cruiser.

The photos will make you feel like you are being transported, riding along with Guardans on his  journey.

This special edition copy includes a signed and numbered print, perfect for any ardent followers of Guardans’ work.

Windows is the first in a series of five books to be published featuring Guardans' long-term photographic projects.

Damiani; Limited edition (2015)

Read more about Beautiful Openings, as it relates to Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink,Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact.

Enter your own images and ideas about Beautiful Openings in this week’s creative Photo Competition. Open for entries now until 11:59 p.m. PT on 01.18.2014. If you are reading this after that date, check out the current BN Creative Competition, and enter!

PHOTO CREDITS:

1. Photo: by Abelardo Morell. Camera Obscura Image from The Universe Next Door.
2. Image: Courtesy of The Art Institute of Chicago. Abelardo Morell: The Universe Next Door.
3. Photo: by Abelardo Morell. Camera Obscura Image from The Universe Next Door.
4. Image: Courtesy of Blurb. A Seat with a View.  
5. Image: Courtesy of Aperture. Gail Albert Halaban: Paris Views.
6. Image: Courtesy of Schiffer Publishing. Door Jams: Amazing Doors of New York City.
7. Image: Courtesy of Simon & Schuster. A Window on Eternity: A Biologists Walk Through Gorongosa National Park.
8. Image: Courtesy of W. W. Norton & Company. The House with Sixteen Handmade Doors: A Tale of Architectural Choice and Craftsmanship.
9. Image: Courtesy of National Gallery of Art. Andrew Wyeth: Looking Out, Looking In.
10. Image: Courtesy of Sendpoints. Fashion Eyes: Top Window Display in Europe.
11. Image: Courtesy of The Penguin Press HC. Windows on the World: Fifty Writers, Fifty Views.
12. Image: Courtesy of Damiani. Xavier Guardans: Windows.
13. Photo: by Xavier Guardans. Image in Windows Series.
14. Photo: by Xavier Guardans. Image in Windows Series.