Documentary-Collection

Melanie Manchot uses the camera lens like a hard question and sensuous caress. It shows, despite what some of the over-written essay material by art critics contained in her book may assert, that her own ambivalence toward social norms along with her sense of the erotic are the source of her inspiration to produce stark, confrontational, yet paradoxically intimate photographs. Love is a Stranger, the title of the book, is really a kind of metaphore for what Manchot knows -that intimacy is overflowing everywhere among us, complicated and diverted not by the social rules restricting it but by our own questioning of our basic preference for intimacy when occasions for its display arise. The various series of photos in the book alternate between being inspiringly lush and formally restrained, all with a headlong deliberate sense of viewership that her particular use of the camera brings. In producing these photos and video documentations Manchot utilizes the photographic medium to engage some of the most fundamental human impulses, free them from fixed ideas of their proper or accepted understandings, and provide us with permission to consider human relations on a less unencumbered, interpersonal level. She is working inside certain aspects of just what it means to be human in a sensible way. This puts her work on aesthetic terrain that may seem obscure because the specifics of her objective, while so large in scope for being rather neglected in photography, focus with such precision on psychological truths that are largely a matter of rigorous introspection. This is an admirable collection of photographic work that speaks closely to our fundamental ideas about ourselves. It has both a reposing classic sense of artistic achievement and revelatory, cutting edge charisma.

Madagascar is bigger than Texas. This fourth biggest island in the world, also known as the "Eighth Continent", is located 200 miles off Southeast Africa. It's as remote from the United States as you can get.

In an absolutely scintillating, evocative photo essay, prominent wildlife and nature photographer Frans Lanting explores the essence of this little-known land. Lanting's four-color photographs, in large format, are almost surrealistic at times, ever exciting, and never repetitive. From the cover onward, the show chameleons, lemurs, bottle-shaped baobab trees, needlepoint karst landscapes, eroded fields, and matchless vistas in an unending procession of the strange, eerie, and beautiful. You will be amazed as each page turns to the next. An excellent written narrative compliments the effort well.

The title is double-edged for, as well as being a fascinating anachronism, Madagascar is running out of time in our generation. Human encroachment is rapidly destroying the habitat of numerous creatures found nowhere else. The Elephant Bird, Aepyornis, whose giant egg is being held in a man's arms in the book's cover photo is gone. So is the giant lemur. Others may soon go, as well. This was, and would be, an unspeakable tragedy.

So read the book and enjoy. Then see what you can do to save at least some of this fascinating paradise.

I rate this book very highly.

An absolutely beautiful collection of about 200 black and white and color photographs celebrating the global sport known as football. Since its founding by a collective of photojournalists in the '40s Magnum has been one of the world's premier photo agencies, so it's not surprising that their archives have yielded such an array of compelling photos of the beautiful game. Few of the photos are of the high level world or professional ranks, rather they are of regular players and fans in the grimy cities, dusty villages, and muddy pitches of the world. Some are action shots, some are posed, some are impressionistic-but all are a tribute to the simplest of sports. Sure to delight devotees of either football or photography, it's an attractive and inexpensive collection that deserves wide readership.

This soft cover pictorial of the State of Maine is filled with aerial photographs of the Pine Tree State from Fort Kent to Kittery. The four seasons are depicted in their colorful splendor as they can only be seen in Maine. The author/photographer has captured the true essence of the Stae's beauty. A must have for all who love Maine; both natives as well as those "from away."

Just returned from Malaysia and purchased the book in Kuala Lumpur thinking that it might not be available in US. Large format with photos of nearly 50 photographers many tops in their field. The text is informative and the pix exquisite.

This book is stylishly presented with amazing graphics and beautiful photos. The guiltily sexy pictures of hot models add a sense of uniqueness. I find the use of blood and dirty models to be not offensive, but entirely appealing. This book is reccomended for all who enjoy the beautiful geometry of the human body and the contented irony of the modeling world as seen through a woman's eye. I am moved to say there is no such work as pornography, only pictures. This collection of photographs is by far more introspective and inviting than any I have seen to date.

Mark Morrisroe is a unique blend of biography and art which captures Morrisroe's 'cut throat' attitude and rebellious expressions in photos and paintings. The harsh side of his personality and his astute observations of self and society are explored in a series of mostly wordless, often startling pictures.

In the last chapter of this fascinating book author Val Williams says of Parr 'He is a cunning photographer, sidling his way into situations where he shouldn't always be, looking as ordinary as the people he photographs'. How true and this could well explain how he manages to take such interesting photos of people and situations.

This thick, chunky book gives a good cross selection of Parr's work, from the superbly observed black and whites of working class life in the seventies and eighties to the capturing, in color, of the middle classes in the nineties. I think Parr works best when he photographs the British and is able to see and capture social situations that most of us miss. There are twelve color shots of street scenes in Boring, Oregon, (chosen, naturally, because of the town's name and Parr's three books, called Boring Postcards though these have no connection with the place) and they are just like any other photographers vernacular work, if Boring had been in England Parr would have found some class differences to make the photos say plenty.

Author Williams writes in depth about Martin Parr and his work and with several hundred photos this book is an excellent visual biography of one of the best British documentary photographers working today. BTW, the back of the book includes a few pages of Martin's collection of ephemera, knick-knackery that has taken his fancy, a tin of Heinz Barbie pasta shapes, a set of Russian coasters showing trucks or a set of Spice Girls chip packets and more, I have a similar collection of things that have caught my eye over the years, is this a trait of creative folk?

Throughout the last 100 or so years, artists, collectors and curators have debated what a museum should be. Unfortunately, most museums are buildings that immediately focus on art as icon. Many contemporary artists want just the opposite. MASS MoCA represents a breakthrough in establishing a new sort of museum. Its purpose is to "mount in-depth quality work that would otherwise remain unseen for lack of properly scaled, appropriately tools facilities." That purpose has also been expanded to include being a location for the performing arts, both outdoors and in a theater.

Located 5 miles from the Williams College museum of art and 35 miles from Tanglewood in North Adams, Massachusetts, MASS MoCA adds an important new element to a major cultural center (especially in the summers).

The story of the museum is also very interesting, having been based in a rundown series of converted mill buildings that had housed manufacturing since 1768. Most recently abandoned by the Sprague Electric Company (who originally took it over from the Arnold Print Works -- makers of printed fabric), the facility covers 13 acres and over 780,000 square feet of building space. Originally, Massachusetts had planned to provide most of the funding. A recession and change in political leadership greatly slowed the progress, and much of the funding eventually came form private donors.

The book has many wonderful elements. The director, Joseph Thompson, has a fine essay explaining the museum's roots and concept. The architect, Simeon Bruner, also weighs in with his thoughts about the design along with drawings of his plans. The pieces de resistance, however, are the wonderful photographs of the site (both before and after) in black and white and color that capture the transformation. These were done by Nicholas Whitman, and started before the museum was planned. He and his father had both worked in the Sprague plant, and he wanted to preserve the memory of the space before it was torn down. There are some stunning side-by-side photographs of before in black and white, with after in color with beautiful art on the walls.

Most of the current photographs were taken during the 1999 grand opening of the museum, which I had the pleasure to attend. The classic piece that defines MASS MoCA during that opening was the display of Robert Rauschenberg's "The 1/4 Mile or 2 Furlong Piece" from 1981, which can only easily be displayed in full in MASS MoCA. There are also nice photographs of Natalie Jeremjenko's "Tree Logic" and James Rosenquist's "The Summer in the Econo-Mist." There are some fine John Chamberlain sculptures as well.

This book is a great resource to have for any contemporary art lover, or someone who is interested in new museum forms. I also recommend it as a working document for a museum still in progress, for most of the development of the MASS MoCA site is still ahead. If you are a museum trustee or are planning a new museum, you should read this book, as well.

I should admit that I collect contemporary art, and love to visit collections of contemporary art. If you share that love, you'll adore MASS MoCA!

Abolish your stalled thinking about what a museum is and should be! Also, be sure to give yourself a treat, and visit MASS MoCA soon. It's well worth a special trip from Boston, New York, or Philadelphia.

Donald Mitchell

Coauthor of The Irresistible Growth Enterprise (available in August 2000) and The 2,000 Percent Solution

(donmitch@fastforward400.com)

Wow, I heard about him from a friend and bought the book. I love it every photografer needs a copy.