Gregory Halpern: A (J&L BOOKS)

In A, American photographer Gregory Halpern (born 1977) leads us on a ramble through the beautiful and ruined streets of the American Rust Belt. The cast of characters, both human and animal, are portrayed with compassion and respect by this native son of Buffalo (now professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology). The cities he is drawn to--Baltimore, Cincinnati, Omaha, Detroit--share similar histories with his hometown, and in this post-apocalyptic springtime all forms of life emerge and run riot. On the heels of Halpern's two previous books, Harvard Works Because We Do (a portrait of Harvard University through the eyes of the school's service employees) and Omaha Sketchbook (a lyrical artist's book portrait of the titular city), A continues the photographer's investigations of locations and persons that fly under the radar.