No comments about IndiaColor: Spirit, Tradition, and Style.

1 comments about Historic Flash.

1. Although this compilation of tattoo designs was interesting, it was , for me, limited as to the variety of designs pictured. I would still recommend it to anyone who is new to the area of tattoing as a form of art, or wants to get started on deciding what to get permanently decorated with. I think the more you see before getting "inked" the better - it's hard to get it removed once it's there - so take a look at as many designs as you can, maybe even including this book.

3 comments about Water Towers.

1. These are beautiful photos of seemingly mundane structures--parts of our landscape, ignorable yet indispensible to our lives.
   The Bechers photographed these architectural objects from the same position (slightly elevated, and just above the vantage point an observer would have) and under the same lighting conditions (usually overcast skies, which blends the texture of the surfaces into the sky). The clinical feeling which initially results quickly dissolves as the details loom large. An excellent work of photography and a typology of industrial practice.



2. The Bechers have been documenting the aging world of the industrial age for decades. Their beautiful, unadorned and repetitious images are a mirror held up to the paradoxical existence of mankind's seemingly endless capacity for building, improving, compositing, developing, using, wasting and ultimately discarding the planet we live on. The Becher's photography allows these relics to speak for themselves without politicizing or disenfranchisement. These watertowers, photographed throughout Europe and North America, appear in formal portraiture in frame after frame, page after page, relentlessly. There are hundreds of them... And though the end result is one of post-modern ubiquity, the induvidual frames, when studied, unfold each watertower's unique story - whether built of cement or iron, tall or short, set on field stones or soaring on towering pylons. They attest an odd dignity, an assertion that they have their rightful place in this world despite their relative obsolescence. A beautiful book, challenging yet very formal, evocative and indicative without being biased or self-conscious. The Bechers show us an unfiltered, clear view into a dying part of our culture's heritage - that of the man-made industrial landscape.



3. This book will be an inspiration to anyone who can recognize beauty in the most unconventional surroundings. The subject matter chosen by the artists fills the picture plane with a sense of isolation. The landscape, weather, and tower all blend to create a lifeless industrial portrait. No individual is evident in any of the photographs, yet we understand that man had his hand in all the photographer is capturing. The water towers were all created by humans however we are intentionally removed from the portraits to allow the viewer to focus on the architectural beauty of these structures. This book is a wonderful visual presentation of the water tower and it's many forms.

5 comments about Intimacy: The Sensual Essence of Flowers.

1. Many of the flowers photographed here are ones with which I was not previously familiar -- especially in close up. It is the combination of incredibly close and detailed photography and a skillful artist's eye for which I was searching.
   
   There are many books which accomplish a scientific disection of flowers in close up, but none with the emotional impact Joyce Tenneson's book achieves.



2. This aptly named book does seem to unveil, to expose the quiet, sensual beauty of flowers. I am a photographer (amateur) of flowers who tries to reveal the veins, crepey folds and layers, shadings and colors, the infinite individuality of flowers. I think this gorgeous book does what I can barely hope to do.



3. The photos in Intimacy are distinguished by the subtle richness of the color quality; many other photographers take bright-colored pictures of intimate floral details, but Tenneson's lighting makes these flowers glow almost mystically or recede into mysterious shadow. The standard black backdrop becomes an essential, emotionally involving par of the image.



4. Joyce Tenneson is known as an artistic photographer of people, notably in her black-and-white-book, "Wise Women," a bestseller in 2002. Now she has turned her lens on flowers. The subject is different but the aim is the same, she says--to reveal something deep within. The result is a series of portraits of common garden blooms presented in a n unusual light. Set against a black background, each becomes a study in form and color. Even the dried hydrangea floret seems special.



5. Joyce Tenneson is not only a gifted photographer, she is also in touch with the secrets of nature as documented in this extraordinarily beautiful, understated book of photographs of flowers. Using a monochromatic background (usually black) Tenneson focuses her eye and lens on the most fragile parts of flowers, irresistibly bringing us into the stamens and pistils at the core of creation or perpetration of flowers. There is something very sensual (in the finest sense of that word) to her work: she is not trying to make her subjects appear as metaphors to human anatomy a la Mapplethorpe - she just lets the flowers inner workings speak eloquently for themselves. Hence the title INTIMACY. But Tenneson does not limit her attention to the reproductive origins of her flowers: simple shots of petals and whole blossoms add to the journey or cycle of life. And sparingly inserted fragments of poetry from the likes of Rachel Carson and ee cummings comment just enough to keep the viewer in tune with the flow of the volume.This is an exquisite book, an ideal gift for those people in your life who flesh out your existence and enhance your world.

2 comments about ANIMALIA.

1. You may think you know what an animal looks like but, really, you don't until you study these amazing photographs by Henry Hortenstein. A photographer, author, and teacher for some 35 years, he is an acknowledged master of each of these fields.
   
   Rather than a traditional photo that we often see - an animal captured in its colorful habitat, Hortenstein calls our attention to detail in 64 duotone photographs. It is as if we were looking at an Asian elephant's foot or a giraffe's legs or a crane's neck through a magnifying glass.
   
   Elisabeth Werby, Executive Director, Harvard Museum of Natural History, says it best in her informative forward: "His pictures challenge us to look more closely, to ask questions and make connections. We think about form and function; the relationship between an elephant's foot, a horse's hoof, and our own toes.........Examining these photographs, we become scientists and discoverers."
   
   This remarkable volume holds not only the best of Hortenstein's work focusing on the images of animals but also 35 unpublished images. It is a book we find ourselves returning to again and again, to marvel and to wonder.
   
   Highly recommended.
   
   - Gail Cooke



2. Horenstein takes photographs of animals, but he is not a naturalist. The photographs were taken in zoos and aquariums. While one might think this would give them a certain "staged" quality or limitation, an artificiality or familiarity as photographs, this is not the case--far from it. The photographs were exhibited (through June 2008) at the Harvard Museum of Natural History as a part of its "lessons in looking" project. This project aimed at being provocative and "chang[ing] the frame" of viewers' experiences with nature photography; as the Museum's Director Elisabeth Werby explains in her Foreword. Horenstein's 64 duotone photographs of animals--actually mostly parts of animals--patently work toward this end.
   
   This skilled, imaginative, idiosyncratic photographer focuses sharply on a specific part, or a detail, of an animal. Such sharp focus--as in some photographs by Edward Weston, for example--leaves the subject so that the viewer does not easily recognize it. Horenstein does not go this far, however. His aim is not to demonstrate the power of the camera to microscopically hone in on a subject in such a way that one cannot recognize it; but rather to enlarge the viewer's awareness of and connection with his subjects of animals. The photographs are a kind of synecdoche. The parts of an animal Horenstein focuses on are usually ones the viewer associates with it from seeing many ordinary photographs or films of it or from school classes in the world of nature. The viewer knows an octopus from a tentacle lined with suction cups; an Emperor penguin from its elongated white belly; a dolphin from its sleek, bulbous shape.
   
   Horenstein is patient, too. Since "you can't tell an elephant where to stand [or] ask a skate to smile...you must be very patient and wait" for the opportunity to take a good picture, he tells in his Photographer's Note. But there's more than simply waiting for the right moment. The photographer achieves his extraordinary effects by using macro lenses and by working with grainy, black-and-white film, then developing it in sepia to give it "an old school, timeless feel." It works: The combination of photographs which are at once familiar and challenging and technicalities of film and development used make a unique, lingering impression. It is unlikely most viewers will see the animals in Horenstein's photographs ever again without seeing them or thinking about them in some respect as they were led to see and consider them with these photographs.

5 comments about Touch Me I'm Sick (powerHouse Classics).

1. For those of us who somehow can't seem to get enough of this stuff (you all know the "G" word), this book is perfect. In the wacky world of late 80's/early 90's Seattle, Peterson's photos are absolutely iconic.



2. Absolutely awesome book of photographs from a period of music I had the pleasure of being part of. If you like music; especially the artists in this book. Then this is your new coffee table book.



3. When I close my eyes and think about the early 90's rock scene, I see Charles Peterson's photographs. I remember going to record stores and buying albums solely on his cover shot - blurred arms, swooshing lights, flailing hair. The cover photographs were so powerful that I could almost feel the greatness of the music inside the sleeve. Nirvana, Mudhoney, L7... fantastic bands captured live in amazing black and white.

   In "Touch Me I'm Sick" you get some of the famous photos we all know and also tons that have never been released. These are the ones that had me in awe. Seeing ten year old photos for the first time of bands I love, it's like a treasure trove!

   I am so happy that Charles Peterson took these photos and that he continues to share them with us. If I could give this book higher than 5 stars, I certainly would.




4. Unlike the other reviewers of this work, I was not there. I just love the artful quality photos in a book that is a collection item. The detail of the photos and the quality of the printing make this a work to savor. This is a forever book, should be on all shelves of collectors of fine photography.



5. A divine marriage of vision, design and subject matter. Peterson's wild, free and spontaneous shooting style provides the perfect visual metaphor for the beer-stained and adrenaline-stoked Seattle grunge era. His pictures look like the music sounds - reckless, courageous, and always threatening to spin completely out of control.

   An aggresive book design and a minimum of text keeps the emphasis where it belongs - on the music's energy and the exhilarating, ritual co-dependence of performers and fans. You can't slam out power chords on a Leica M6 - but Peterson comes closer than any other "Rock" photographer at pulling it off.

   DSR

1 comments about Bernd & Hilla Becher: Pennsylvania Coal Mine Tipples.

1. I purchased this book for research information on small scale mining and was quite pleased. The photos held much detail. I realize this boook was presented as an artistic expression, but I must admit I would love to know more about the individual history of each mine. Over all this is an excellent pictoral collection.

No comments about In the Realm of the Gods: Lands, Myths, and Legends of China.

5 comments about Digital Wedding Photography.

1. I bought this book when I started in Wedding Photography a couple of years ago. It is quite helpful when you are learning the basics. It helps outline some "must have" shots, basic digital editing, and has some really nice photos to use as examples. It was better than many of the other wedding photo books I've seen.
   
   Probably not all that helpful for anyone who is experienced with shooting weddings, but for those who are newbies, or just planning on shooting a friend's wedding, it's definitely an investment.



2. This book is okay for an introduction to digital wedding photography. I recommend this book for people who understand the basic concepts of photography and are looking for a guide to shooting weddings. People who need to learn the basics of photography should get a different book. Also, people who are familar with wedding photography and want a book that provides new ideas for exposure, compostion, posing, and general artistic ideas also should get a different book. This book is a good basic guide to wedding photography, and I recommend this book only for people who want just that.



3. I bought this book and found it helpful in planning to do a friends wedding. Although the sections were short and did not have extensive detail the photos were good and the author gives good advise. I have read it twice and plan on keeping it on my shelf for a quick reference. I normally do journalistic photography so it was nice to have some guidance on posing shots as well as other things I don't do in my daily shooting.



4. I bought this book based on one of the other positive reviews, and based on the beautiful cover photo. The intended reader is someone who is just starting out with photography, for example the book explains the difference (with photos) between different types of cameras. Similar basic topics include the difference between wide angle and tele lenses and the Photoshop tips assume you have never used Photoshop, so it illustrates basics like the histogram, clone stamp, and so on. My problem with the book is that half of it is wasted on introductory topics that one would assume a photographer will have under control long before trying to move into wedding photography.
   
   On the positive side, there are many pages loaded with text on various topics of the wedding. I can say that the topics cover the wedding quite comprehensively.
   
   However, the book is broken down in small topics that are covered in two facing pages each. This fragments the book - there is no coherence. I sometimes failed to see how one topic leads or builds up to the next one. Sometimes, I felt that the two pages limit on each topic (photos included) means that the author had to summarize greatly to fit the text in. I kept looking for more depth as I read.
   
   On one page I spotted a bad typing error, mentioning a "slow shutter speed of 800 ISO".
   
   The book mentions that the author has 30 years of experience, and one should not take such an author lightly - there is much to learn from photographers with that much experience. However, although I like a journalistic approach, his documentary style did not appeal to me. I was drawn to buy the book by the cover photo, but having paged through it, I drew little inspiration from the photos. He made an important point that you should first work on capturing the moment, before worrying about perfecting the image in other respects such as composition; but I feel more inspired by the artistic pictures from other books.
   
   Therefore, I gave this book away the day I received it: I felt it was intended for beginner photographers, the topics were not handled in depth enough, and I did not like the photos.
   
   Personally, I liked more reading Rick Ferro's "Wedding photography" or Bill Hurter's "Digital Wedding Photography", or George Shaub's "Professional techniques for the wedding photographer".



5. this book had more post processing information than i am used to seeing, but it was great information. as far as the photography side goes, this book is not a how to, but provided some beautiful examples.

5 comments about Corrective Lighting, Posing & Retouching for Digital Portrait Photographers.

1. Given the flood of books on how to correct photographer mistakes in Photoshop, it's about time we had a book that emphasizes good lighting and effective posing first, and addresses retouching in the context of fine-tuning a portrait only after it has been carefully crafted in the camera.
   
   Photographers need to learn the basics presented here. This book is much more useful than those I've seen the purport to show you how to "light" portraits in an image editor. Serious shooters know that lighting and poses must be perfected before the shutter release is pressed.



2. This book is wonderfully written. It answered most of my questions and some I had not thought of. I would recommend this book to anyone having trouble getting that perfect shot.



3. Information in here will help you hide the flaws that make people not buy your portraits! Get it... learn it by heart and use it to drive up your sales even on tough-lower-self-esteem-having clients. By all means a must own!



4. I learned so much from this book. It was very well written.



5. Excellant introductory look at Portrait Photography. Part of the art of getting a good result in portraits is the skill of posing your subject correctly & in such a way that you can overcome any flaws etc. Excellent book for Portrait photographers wanting to do more & develop their skills