Documentary-Collection

Both gardening experts and beginners will enjoy this book. It is well written and very interesing. Worth every cent you will pay for it.

I have probably read over a hundred books on artistic photography, and this is the most inspiring in terms of my personal development as a photographer. Still, it has some imperfections. Here are the pluses and minuses.

Pluses: First, the book (which accompanied a 2001 exhibition at the Estorick Collection of Modern Italian Art in London) packs a lot of good information. The core chapters include "The Image of Self," "Photodynamism," "Photo-Performance," "The Twenties," and "The Thirties." Toward the end of the book are biographies and a bibliography. The extensive coverage of Anton Giulio Bragaglia and Arturo Bragaglia was appropriate since the brothers were important in the history of photography. I had never heard of Tato (Guglielmo Sansoni), but he was clearly a major talent.

Second, the book is striking in design. The black-and-white photographs from 1909-1939 are beautifully reproduced. Each chapter begins with jumbled typography (even more radical than the cover) that matches the overall modernity of Futurists. Even the front and back covers and flaps of this signature-bound book are stylish.

Minuses: First, although the author is well known as an expert on Futurism, his text is abstruse. Consider this sentence on page 10: "By translating the infrasensorial and metaperceptive dimensions for the first time... photography seemed to penetrate the very mystery of life." I am not certain if the problem is the original text or the translation from the Italian.

Second, I felt there was too much emphasis on Fortunato Depero. He was certainly an important Futurist figure, and his self-portraits seem to be precursors of works by photographers such as Cindy Sherman and Nikki S. Lee. Nevertheless, I do not feel that the inclusion of 14 photographs/details by him (including self-portraits) and 18 other photographs OF him was a good use of space. I would have liked to see more works by artists such as Maggiorino Gramaglia, Edmund Kesting, and Wanda Wulz, whose photos are more visually intriguing than Depero's.

Finally, although the author puts the Futurist photographers in the broader context of Italian Futurists such as Marinetti and Azari, the book would have been stronger if he had compared in more detail Futurist photographers with contemporaries such as Alvin Langdon Coburn, John Heartfield, Man Ray, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, and Alexander Rodchenko. Another set of comparisons could have involved "avant-garde" photographers who came before and after the Futurists. Perhaps a couple pages of text and images could have been devoted to the relationships of non-Futurist and Futurist photographers.

All things taken into consideration, I have put this book in a prominent place in my library and will be referring to it frequently. Buy it from Amazon.com!

There is not much to say about this book, expect, breathetaking. This book, I feel, was a very good investment. It was one of the best I've read about Ottawa, and I'm a librarian! I read a lot!

by Frederick and Mary Ann Brussat -- from the web site.

This truly beautiful gift book contains duotone photographs by William Guion of Southern live oaks. He has been reverencing them in his native Louisiana for more than 15 years. In the introduction, Guion refers to the spiritual significance of oaks to Greeks, Celts, and Native Americans. He appreciates them a wise elders and profound spiritual teachers. Guion's evocative photographs reveal how the trees seem to draw out and convey the spirit of a place whether standing in state parks, plantations, or gardens. There are oak alleys, oaks caught in the diffuse haze of early morning, oaks with branches intertwining in the shadows, solitary oaks poised like sentries in the middle of fields. The light as it plays on the branches and illuminates the areas around the oaks is another theme worth your attention. Alongside these oaks are 30 brief poems by the Sufi mystical poet Rumi, with translations by poet Coleman Barks in collaboration with Persian scholar John Moyne. Guion, who has been a teacher of Transcendental Meditation for almost 20 years, has perfectly matched these poems and the varied trees with themes such as longing, love, mystery, gratitude, eternity sacredness, and silence. Our favorite, a leaning oak reflected in a pond-it appears on the hardcover jacket of our book "Spiritua Literacy"--is complemented by a Rumi quatrain including the lines "Turn as the earth and the moon turn, / circling what they love." This enchanting book draws a bead on the deep connection between nature and the soul's delight. It would make a wonderful gift for any lover of trees or poetry. Guion lives in Utah where he is working on future book projects utilizing his photographs and writing.

If you love Classic Hollywood Photos in Classic Hollywood style, then you will enjoy this book. It's really as simple as that. Another Coffee Table Conversation starter.

This book derived from a conference in which both Alaska Natives and non-Natives participated. The book is full of photos and drawings over the past two centuries of Inuit peoples. You see men, women, and children. Many photos show them in traditional dress; many in modern clothing. Most importantly, the propaganda with/against them is portrayed. So you see manipulated images encouraging the forced Western schooling of Alaska Native children, or whites parading in Native furs, etc. I am glad to see the focus on people as well. With Africa, for example, people show the animals and jungles more than the people, thus reinforcing ideas that Africa is just a place for wildlife and not humans. This book does have some pictures of landscapes and seals, but they are kept to a minimum. Thus, the (non-Native?) reader is not left with the idea that Alaska is just some wasteland with which American policymakers can just do anytything. Too often, Alaska Natives and Hawaiian Natives get left out in discussions of indigenous peoples in the US. Further, given a recent disappointing case from the US Supreme Court, this book on Alaska Natives is a very important contributions to Native history, American history, and the histories of people of color. (I also think Canadians should be interested in this book.) My one criticism of the book is that none of the photos are in color. I am sure that was done to reduce costs; still it re-inforces the image of Natives as being a thing of the past when they are always portrayed in black-and-white grainy photography.

The photographs are really captivating! They are all from Brit pop magazines like The Face and BIG... It's really worth to get this book and make it part of your artistic senses collection. Some of the photographs aren't really special and are TOO obviously alterted by computer (which even I can do it) but a lot of them are fresh ideas. The 6 ladies including the one on the cover are already stunning for a start so, well!

As with her previous books - "The Shaker Legacy" and 'Rural Japan" Linda Butler captures the timeless spirit of Italy. Her photographs have the ability both to convey a feeling for the atmosphere of a place but also for the people who live and work in it. Her unerring photographic eye homes in on the essence of her subject matter. Her craft is impeccable. Her book most enjoyable.

When being able to place a face and look to an artist, the enjoyment of music is enhanced. I've only just begun my lifelong pursuit of jazz appreciation and this book really is a great tool for this. It creates a mental visualization of the artist for us. This is the only way to actually see most of the great artists that have left us, the only way to actually see into the world they lived and played in. So much of the music that they've left us was inspired by their surroundings and their daily interactions. Lowe has done an excellent job in creating this visual walk through the history of such a great artform. This is highly recommended to all those who appreciate jazz for the great artform it is.

wonderfull book that has a heart of gold