I'm in the process of reviewing a photography book for the Zone-10 website.
And I'm having troubles.
This particular book contains well over a hundred pictures, of which, any
one is probably one of the best B&W or color photographs of its genre. The
authors and photographers (husband and wife team) are extremely well-known
and he's one of the top B&W photographers alive today! His writings are
like "gospel" to the masses and it's going to be heresy if I'm even a bit
critical of him. He's our own living-breathing Ansel Adams.
The writing in the book is outstanding. The photography in the book is
outstanding. The size of the book and the images in it are huge and again,
outstanding.
My problem is that almost without exception, this is a book of "stand-alone"
pictures. Each photograph on it's own is a seven-course meal. I'd be
tempted to slice out more than one page, frame it, and hang it on the wall.
The book is a book of pictures, but each one is disjointed from the next.
For example, if there is a photograph of the interior of an old abandoned
house, that's fine, but I want to see several views and angles of that house
to place the photograph into context. I know there are multiple pictures
taken of some of these locations, but they are scattered throughout the
book.
Another thing that is bugging me is that there is too often a repeat of
certain techniques or darkroom tricks. I don't mind seeing a trick here and
there, but when it is repeated over and over again it's getting old. Also,
as another photographer who glanced at the book said: "He's including too
much in the photographs and loses the 'subject'". I somewhat disagreed, but
in reality the vast majority of his images are a case of "weak photograph?
Just make it bigger or screw around with tinting or contrast". Technique,
again, is flawless, but it's just too much technique.
I'm very impressed with the pictures in the book and the writing. It's a
book that I'd recommend, but how do I acknowledge the elephant in the room
without opening up a huge world of hurt? Certain individuals have achieved
"god status" and a critic of the book would probably be criticized as being
a hack photographer in comparison. I'm definitely a hack in comparison, but
I know when something isn't quite "right".
AG
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