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For Every Minute You are Angry You Lose Sixty Seconds of Happiness by Julian Germain, "Reviewed by Kara Heingartner"

            I reviewed the book “For Every Minute You Are Angry You Lose Sixty Seconds of Happiness” by the photographer Julian Germain. The book is layed out in a very nice way. The main subject of the book is an older gentleman named Charles Snelling and there are photos of a photo album of his that are incorporated within the book. Overall the images themselves are absolutely beautiful. The colors of the house, you can tell are dated, and yet they are still vibrant. Julian Germain photographed these in England where he is from. There images that are also sad while still being lively, when others just seem like an enjoyable time. 

            In the back of the book there is a short synopsis of why and how these images for the book were created. To me it adds something more to the images. Meeting Charles was serendipitous. That moment of pure chance began a great friendship between the two. Germain photographed Charles over a period of eight years.

            The way that Germain photographs this series highlights certain parts of Charles’ life that define him as a person. There are a few images of him holding flowers and a few images of him with older photos of his wife. Germain’s stylistic choices come out in what he chooses to focus on and the way that he presents the things that he has learned about his friend. The images are simple, yet they are never boring because of the content and the overall feeling/ tone of them. After looking through the entire book, you feel like you have a connection with the main subject of the photos. Charles Snelling becomes someone who is part of your own life. 

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Optiks, Zeke Berman(artist), Reviewed by Ashley Riley

Zeke Berman is not necessarily considered a photographer. He was trained as a studio artist with a background in sculpture.  Because of his inventive nature his photographs “are not easily categorized in terms of traditional photographic genres”(Optiks 2).  He is more conceptual, and used photography as a different medium for expression.

The book says his photographs are not still-lifes but, “they employ objects, but they are about ideas make perceivable through representation. Because he is exploring a world of visual invention influenced more by scientific theory and revelation than by any narrative ideas, his challenge is to use subject matter in ways that purposely reduce familiar associations. Ordinary materials lend themselves to non-narrative contexts. Their ordinariness makes them neutral enough to function as elements in a world of rich and often paradoxical visual ideas.”

Optics is a branch of physics which involves the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics is a main focus in Berman’s photographs. They are designed on theories of perception. In his photographs Berman establishes situations that create discomforting duality in which one is split between seeing and not seeing the resulting state of conflict raises the viewers level of anxiety and heightens the process of perceiving. This aspect of Berman’s work corresponds to the belief that photographs by their nature contain a perplexing duality. They can be seen as containing readable objects in an implied three-dimensional space, and they can also be read as non-objective patterns of lines and shapes on a flat plane. Berman creates his photographs with a perceptual architecture and gives the viewer a space in which to interpret and reinterpret what is perceived.

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You Love Life by Nick Waplington Reviewed by Brittany Windsor

“Art flies around truth, but with the definite intention of not getting burnt. Its capacity lies in finding in the dark void a place where the beam of light can be intensely caught, without this having been perceptible before.” –Franz Kafka

“You Love Life” is a book collection of images created by Nick Waplington, but what I find interesting if the way in which he put these images together. The artist had two quotes that he couldn’t get out of his mind. One being, “You love life as much as we love death.” It was a quote posted on a website sympathetic towards the aims of Al-Qaeda in response to the Madrid train bombings of 2003. Later it was reinterpreted by the USA a couple months later as “You choose life while we choose death.”

Waplington saw the statements very differently, but it caused an inspiration in him. This collection is not about death, or even political in his aim, but about choices he has made on his own behalf. It’s a work about life.

The collection was taken previously to the inspiration. He does not answer any questions he previous had, but instead helps him understand why he took the photographs in the first place. The collection includes work from when he first picked up a camera to 2005 when he created this book.

  I find this process, the optimistic message given, and the feeling I felt after finishing this series extremely satisfying. Its uplifting and not at all perfect. But in the end I felt comfortable with myself and the knowledge that I'm not alone in the love of all things in life. That experience is the reason why we keep moving. Life is a complicated mystery and there are never satisfying answers, but instead satisfying feelings attached to thoughts provoked. The photographs are grotesque, sometimes peaceful, but continuously honest. The honesty in this series is what is very beautiful to me. I’m very interested in seeing more of Nick Waplington’s work. Sadly I struggled with finding 

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Margaret Bourke-White The Photography of Design 1927-1936 by Bennett Phillips, Reviewed by Whitney Banfield

              Margaret Bourke-White was a powerful and determined woman who made history in more areas than the world of photography. In the beginning of her career she shot photographs of industrialization in ways that captured beauty in a part of the world that was not usually perceived as such. In 1920 the rights of women were limited, she came in at a time when all of what was had started to change.

She enjoyed taking pictures in steel mills, motor plants, and from extreme heights of buildings. She was a part of a nation that was becoming the most technologically advanced- as telephone, radio, and motor production was booming.

In White’s thirties she became one of only four photojournalists for Life magazine, with a readership of nearly five million to start. She was later commissioned for work that was more human- documenting the new Soviet Union and the drought in the US for Fortune magazine.

White continued to reach new heights throughout her career. One of her biggest influences was a teacher and photographer, Clarence H. White, who in teaching chose to concentrate on the artistic aspects of photography rather than the technical.

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You're Not From Around Here by Mike Smith Reviewed by Barb Chandler

You're Not From Around Here: Mike Smith: Originally published by University of Chicago Press: 2004

Mike Smith’s photographs of East Tennessee are meant to capture in an artistic manner the lives of those who live there rather than be of the stereotypical lifestyle we think we know so much about. He went from door to door asking those who would allow him to take pictures of their homes and land. This helped him begin to get a vague understanding of the lives they lived. With Smith being from up North, he was set straight on a lot of stereotypes he thought to be true; and he had to learn from the people of the area that most things that were said weren’t as they seemed. While taking pictures and talking to people he had a lot of people tell him “You’re not from around here” which is where the title originated from because since he knows more than what we most likely know we ourselves aren’t from around there.

When shooting his work for this project Smith averted himself from the main roads that most tourists and travelers would use. The reason was so that the natural beauty of the land would be shown rather than the commercialized areas. I personally appreciate the effort and care Smith puts into his pictures to represent what is actually there. Rather than having an over saturated color image, he uses diffused light or natural light settings (such as fog, clouds, or rain) that would allow the colors of the objects in the images to support themselves.

“Color pictures are dye on paper, describing only light and color on physical surfaces.” – Mike Smith

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Las Sombras (The Shadows) by Kate Breakey Reviewed by Mary McClung

Las Sombras is a book filled with images made by Kate Breakey with an introduction by writer Lia Purpura.

Purpura stumbled across one of Breakey's books in a library and was instantly taken by the photogram images she found in them.  She was inspired to write about them and to contact Breakey so that the artist could know how profound her work could be. 

In her intro, purpura writes about shadows and how they have alternate meanings in life, including being "a rehearsal for leaving."  I connected to the writing and the images strongly because I am getting into the idea of shadows, what they can mean to us, and how they can be used as a visual in photography.

Breakey makes photograms of dead animals.  And of plant specimens.  Her careful arranging of the bodies and plants is meant to honor the dignity they had in life.  Her images are meant to be the shadows left behind, and in those shadows you can still sense life.  

I picked this book off the library shelf at random.  And was instantly in love with it.  

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The Photo Book, reviewed by Aliccia Kasper

I decided to pick “The Photo Book” published by Phaidon Press Limited. This book contains five hundred different photos by many different artists. It covers the topics of famous events and people, sensational landscapes, historic moments, sport, wildlife, and fashion.

As you look through the book each photo has a written summary of what the photo is about in great detail. You may recognize some of theses photos that are shown such as Cartier- Bresson, Place de I’ Europe. It shows a man running through a puddle. It is amazing to see how the art of photography has transformed. Since this book covers one hundred and fifty years of photography you are able to see the different uses of it. One of my favorite photos is David Doubilet’s “Diver and Cardinal Fish in Wire Coral Forrest.” It seems dark and mysterious. At first I didn’t know what was going on until I read the description. The blue swirl is actually a group of coral fish and the dark wire is the coral. He says that he felt like a lost child in a fairy tale.

            Another photo that I found very intriguing is William W. Dyviniaks’ “Automobile Accident.” At first you wonder if this is real or not since the man is dead and stuck in the electrical post. As you read the description you understand that is how they actually found the man upon arriving to the scene. No one understands how the dead motorist ended up in the telephone wires. The artist says that it looks like a reenactment of the Crucifixion on a provincial road.

            As I read through some of the bizarre stories and the ways these photos came to be it makes me appreciate the work that goes into the photos. I can appreciate the scenes that they make and then just destroy, or the way they manipulate or composite their photos to either make a interesting composition or to make a short narrative. 

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Women Photographers, reviewed by Lindsey Elliott

This book is exclusively about the photographs taken from the range of 1910-2000s. It begins explaining the roles of women during the photographic era as being held by domestic obligations. Several women who had the leisure time and considered of the higher-class began to connect themselves with the cameras. One of the first ladies in history was Margaret Bourke-White.

            Jodi Cobb calls one image I want to talk about, French Polynesia, from 1997. It is an image of three Polynesian men dancing with fire for a tourist entertainment show. In the picture you see striking blurred spherical motions made by fire. I connect a lot with this image because of the movement, how the body moves, and progressions inspire me. Jodi Cobb’s images are full of  all of that with addition to telling detail and vibrant colors. 

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A Certain Alchemy by Keith Carter Reviewed by Danielle Jeffries

As a child, Keith was inspired by his mother to pursue photography. After watching her turn their kitchen into a dark room each night, Carter learned to take the familiar and capture it in a way that expressed something different or told a story and released that into the world.

Most of his work addresses certain relationships, with items, animals, or other beings. These relationships all hold value in some light, they all tell a story, either of ideas, memories, time, or desires.  The images are viewed to be either enduring or mythological with a significant style Carter portrays.

 The eerie black and white prints were shot with a 4X5 camera, and have a specific focus with each individual image.

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Eliot Porter In the Realm of Nature by Paul Martineau reviewed by Mackenzie Loosemore

Eliot Porter In the Realm of Nature focuses on the color nature images created by Eliot Porter. Porter was inspired by Ansel Adams and the sharpness and clarity in his photos, Porter wanted to use that quality in his own work but wanted to do it with color. Porter was dedicated and made me realize that in order for me to get the perfect image that i want, i need to spend more time preparing and composing each image. Porter was known to take hours just to compose one single image and would typically be lucky to get ten shots taken in one day. He wanted each image and composition to be so carefully planned that when looking at the grid on the back of his 4x5 camera each square could stand alone as a single image. His way of perfection and patience is what has lead to his success as a photographer and what has made his color nature landscape images so affective. 

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So the Story Goes by Katherine A. Bussard reviewed by Whitney Retter

This book is about 5 different contemporary photographers; Tina Barney, Philip-Lorca Dicorcia, Nan Goldin, Sally Mann, and Larry Sultan. All of their photography is about life and family. Their photographs are very personal and even seem private. They wanted people outside of their family and friends to view these photographs so people can relate to not only these photographs but also be able to relate to their own. Photography is the perfect medium for recoding one’s life and telling their story. 

            Tina Barney’s work is more of a recording of her family at family events and gatherings yet it is meant to feel like other people can relate her images to their own family.

Philip-Lorca actually does something different and hires models and creates tableaus based on real people and events. His images remind me Gregory Crewdson’s. They are very cinematic and have a very similar feel and mood to them yet they are unique to him. The images are lonely and depressing but also still relatable.

Nan Goldin has an obsession with recording the world. She snaps just about any experience she has capturing all of her relationships. Her images are a lot more provocative than the other photographers. Nan doesn’t seem interested in the technical but more so the art or emotion of the image. I think her images are also relatable in a different way.

Sally Mann is not only different in the fact that her images are black and white but they are also almost all of her children. Her images are controversial because she has captured so many photos of her children nude, but I think the emotion in them is great and they defiantly have an artistic feel instead of just snapshots. I’m sure people who have children can relate better or make people think back to a time when life was simple.

Larry Sultan is probably my favorite photographer in this book because his images are so minimal and simple yet sharp and balanced. The lighting and color he captures is amazing. His images are of his parents growing old together through the good times and the bad. They are so simple yet fascinating and emotional. I don’t know why but I feel like I know them just from looking at the images.

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Imagining Eden By Lyle Gomes, Reviewed by Craig Gourley

Lyle Gomes’s, Imagining Eden, is a compilation of black and white, panoramic, landscape photographs.  Accumulated through a fifteen-year period in the Americas and Europe, these photographs attempt to expose the beauty and perfection of the Garden of Eden, by capturing extra wide landscapes that exist in today’s reality.  The foggy aesthetic of these photographs gives them a ghostly beauty and imposes a surreal feeling upon natural landscapes.

            Of the many photographs on display in this book, there are two that struck me in completely opposite ways.  The first, Dew Trails, California Golf Club of San Francisco, 1998, has two sets of footprints that lead from a crisp foreground to a foggy background.  The foggy background gives the landscape a mystical, dreamy appearance.  And the two sets of footprints, referring to those of Adam and Eve, accomplish the attempt to display Eden in a contemporary manner.

            The second, and much more impressing photograph, is Hornbeam Arbor, Ham House, England, 1998.  In this photograph, the camera rests in a grey, sub-perfect corridor with puddles and imperfections in the shrubbery.  This corridor leads to and reveals a pristine landscape, covered in a beautiful white layer of snow.  The snow and the uniform arrangement of the objects it covers, gives this area of the photograph a supernatural appearance. 

    Overall, the collection of photographs in this book is a successful attempt to find extraordinary landscapes in ordinary places.  Gomes’s ability to capture the surreal qualities of nature allowed him to instill a belief that the world we live in is an Eden of its own.

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...of things not seen by Frank Dituri Reviewed by Barbara Chandler

…of things not seen: Frank Dituri: Originally published by Stephen F. Austin State University Press: 2012

Frank Dituri’s works are mysterious and reveal things that aren’t easily or typically displayed to the public. Since Dituri’s photos are like this, common everyday things seem to be a bit eerie and somewhat haunting, and the lighting in most of his pictures makes them seem somewhat supernatural. He focuses on things in life that we may just pass by without thinking twice about it or even noticing its existence. His images also play in your head as if they were lingering moments in your memory and tickle your subconscious. Most artists are typically more conceptual and appear to be thought out in advance; Dituri’s on the other hand are living in the moment and are shot when he shoots his camera. Memory and imagination hold a higher status in his theory than reason and where. Dituri feels that his work is a personal journey on the road to self-discovery.

“His [Dituri] images seem to be rescued from the dark oblivion of our senses, and eventually emerge from our most deeply hidden unconscious, places, and figures summoned forth from our own “forgetfulness” of ourselves. Through an intimate selection the artist offers a perspective of the world, which projects us into a time of “silence” and “waiting” that we have, in part, left behind.”  – Mauro Manetti

 Light In The Forest, New York, 2002 (Dituri)

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Photographis '69 >> Reviewed by Jordan Christie

This is the International Annual of Advertising Photography book.  It is a collection of advertising photographs from book jackets, films, magazine covers, packaging, posters, record jackets, and television.  All from the year 1969.

  I know this is dated but history is one of my biggest interests and without it we would not know where we come from or where we stand today.  I especially love this edition of this book because of its breadth of chromogenic work used in print at the time.  There were also a few nice images of still life set ups used to advertise food, makeup and other household products of the day.  I thought seeing still lives used in advertising were a good way of looking at them from another angle.  And then being able to approach it conceptually helped me formulate my overall ideas and uses of still lives in general.

  There is a lot to pull from in this book.  It is not just about one artist but about all of the work in a given time period that was influential and used to sell.  Selling is a topic not widely brought up in art school but studying all of the uses of photography is important and it should be talked about.  I have an interest in advertising because my dad currently works in the field.  This book is fun to flip through and I know many people have because there have been images cut out for uses unbeknownst to me.

  Ps.  I can’t find very many good photographs online because all of the titles are listed in German.

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Lorna Simpson reviewed by Danielle Jeffries

As a well-known artist who helped pave a path in contemporary photography, Lorna Simpson inspires the idea of modifying the way see and perceive.

By the time Simpson graduated with her MFA in photography in 1985, she was already a pioneer of conceptual arts with her large scale photos that challenge narrow views and stereotypes of gender, culture, identity, history, and race.

Simpson had a repetitive style in her early work; using portraits of anonymous black women with their backs turned to provoke a silence over the image, yet breaks that up with the text aspect of the piece, which usually doesn't offer any foresight into the portrait itself.

  Although her text is hard to follow and decipher related to the images, her photographs are still beautiful to look at. She has a very minimalist style, and as I said it can also be repetitive, but there is still a beauty in her work and the views and messages behind them.

Aside from the artist’s work, the book itself was a little difficult to read and follow along. Throughout the book, the text is written in both Spanish and English, columned side by side; as you’re reading left to right, it is a little distracting to skim to the next page and have to find your place in the right column. 

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Robert Mapplethorpe and the Classical Tradition reviewed by Zoe Johnso

            The book relates Robert Mapplethorpe’s work to the classical work made in the 1500’s. His work in some ways mimics the quality and softness of classical work. In other ways, I find in this book that some of his work may correlate to classical work but I don’t believe that is the basis of a large portion work.

            Robert Mapplethorpe indulged very much into photographing the naked body. Some of his work speaks about the homophile love that exists between people and the cult of racial and sexual diversity. There is comparison of his portraiture work to the classical work of Michelangelo and Da Vinci because of his sculptural aesthetic in his photographs. He has a very symmetrical way of working in trying to present a perfect physical and muscular body and relating to how he feels as a homosexual.

            Mapplethorpe also takes an abundant amount of pictures of flowers. In ways relating it to the femininity of women and how one another is similar. This is his use of symbolism. He enjoys gesture both artificial and natural. He states that he actually enjoys his photographs of flowers more than he actually enjoys flowers, which interested me. He was also interested in the physical ability to duplicate or recreate, in his own way, “life”.

            I think that this book speaks and demonstrates a type of aesthetic Robert Mapplethorpe had while also speaking about much bigger things in the world. I can appreciate his beautifully printed work and understand his messages.

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'Woman in the Mirror' Richard Avedon, reviewed by Whitney Banfield

                  Born in New York City in 1923, both of Avedon’s parents were into the world of fashion- it is no wonder why Avedon chose to be a fashion photographer. His mother was a dress manufacturer and his Father owned a clothing store called Avedon’s Fifth Avenue.

Between 1940 and 1980, Avedon shot photos of women and models predominantly in Paris and New York. Some images had a voyeuristic quality to them- for a while he chose to take photos outside of the studio and put his models in more natural settings, such as a café or theatre or on the city streets. The women all seemed to be very expressive and pose a strong sense of character. Although some images seems sorrow-filled or sad, as I flipped through and examined Avedon’s photos in ‘Woman in the Mirror’ I noticed a lotof the women he chose to photograph looked real- as they were laughing and smiling and seemed filled with joy. His images of high fashion models had a wide range of characters. The vibes among these included villainess, mysterious, blissful, and strong. Besides the high fashion clothing in his images, I also noticed a lot of smoking and winged eyeliner.

There seemed to be a balance of the type of women he wanted to photograph and display. I saw women that looked rich and poor, and woman who were models, performers, opera singers, and acrobats. After his adventures with unique backgrounds or surroundings for his models he started to place them in very simple settings. In the late 1950’s he used a white background for portraits- this helped him portray models in a simple and non-distracting way so that we, as the viewers, could focus on aspects such as their facial expressions more effortlessly. He seems to be best known for these types of portraits.