I first found this book in a used bookshop in Greenwich, London, and couldn't put it down. Its black and white photos are full of fascinating details - many of which I continue to spot! Some of the more odd pictures beg explanation, but Norfleet tantalisingly seldom provides any. In a few pictures she does give some background, but just enough to make me look more closely at the other photos and want to conjure my own stories about them. The photos resemble LIFE magazine pictures, but are much more quirky and subtle. This is one of my all-time favourite picture books, and comes down from the shelf on many an evening.

This book is well organized and it not only relfects real life moments, but also some photographs of death scenes from various theatrical plays. It has some violent photographs but they reflect purity and their own stories. Death is the final destination and this unique collection gives us a chance to own different perspectives.

Barbara Norfleet concentrates on a rather under-appreciated aspect of American photography, the local commercial photo studio found in most towns across the country. This book is an extension of her first book 'The Champion Pig', which examined studio photography from 1929 to 1960. 'When We Liked Ike', with 170 excellent photos, covers the years from 1945. The author explains how these photos were taken to please those who commissioned them and they basically show the attitudes, values and aspirations of the white middle class. There are plenty of family gatherings and social events but also examples of outdoor commercial activity, the Florida studio of Joe Steinmetz produced excellent architectural work like the drive-in hamburger unit on page 126.

Nearly every photo is worth studying for the detail they contain, they are not blurred, grainy or gimmicky, this is a record of what the subject wanted (and paid for) not how the photographer felt about the subject. The only details provided about the images are the photographer's name and sometimes a date, this lack of information can be annoying at times, page eighty-seven shows a woman smoking a pipe, her head surrounded by smoke, just why did Jack Gould take this picture in 1946? Page thirty-three shows a (pin-sharp) photo of a traffic jam in Main Street, Somewhere USA, why was this moment captured for ever?

The book is well designed and printed though I think the cover design is unimaginative and the photo (two senior citizens in swimwear enjoying a smoke) rather inappropriate to sum up post-war America. As well as the fascinating 'The Champion Pig', 'Wedding' is another Barbara Norfleet book using work of the local studio photographer.

While not for the overtly squeamish, since her "actors" are various tropical bugs and spiders, this is a very compelling photo collection. Even while it is obviously a constructed still life, these scenes crackle with life, energy, and meaning, poking gentle -- and not so gentle -- fun at the human condition.