abcreads: photography

Showing posts with label photography. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

The Dogist

My newest favorite book does not contain many words, but it is so great that it doesn't need to! It is a coffee table style book of dog photographs. Called The Dogist, it is The Sartorialist - a popular street fashion photography blog - for dogs. Being a dog lover who cannot enjoy them because of allergies, I'm not sure whether the 1,000 photos in this delightful book make me happier or more heartsick. Either way, this book is a good thing. Adorable and fun are always a good thing. And even if you aren't obsessed with dogs, don't they make you smile? They are so care-free and so happy to just give affection no matter what - and if you'll forgive the corniness, I'll be darned if that doesn't come across in these photos.

The dogs' name, breed and sometimes their age are listed next to their photo, along with occasional tidbits and funny captions. This is how I learned that service dogs frequently have a "street name" that is different from their real name so that they can still be introduced to anyone who asks without being distracted while they do their job. My favorite sections were entitled: Costumes, Doodles, Sassy, Snow, and of course, the many Puppies selections. To sum it up, some coffee table types of dog books are a bit too sappy for me, but The Dogist is really not. It's fun, funny, and fascinating. If you check it out, let me know what you think!

More Dog Photography Books

Tails From the Booth by Lynne Terry

Underwater Puppies by Seth Casteel

Underwater Dogs: Kids Edition by Seth Casteel

Dogs in Cars by Lara Jo Regan

Find Momo: My Dog is Hiding In This Book. Can You Find Him? by Andrew Knapp

I Am Puppy, Hear Me Yap: Ages of a Dog by Valerie Schaff

Dog Photography for Dummies by Kim Rodgers

Maddie on Things: A Super Serious Project About Dogs and Physics by Theron Humphrey

Websites & Articles

The Dogist

Canines of New York: A Day Behind the Lens with The Dogist

The Man Behind the Famed 'The Dogist' Is Looking to Give Back

The Catist

The Sartorialist

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

This is Not a Cookbook

The reasons for this hadn't registered until recently, but I've noticed that I really only use cookbooks that have pictures of the dishes in them. What I love about the pictures is how all you have to do is glance at the page and doing so allows you to take in enough information quickly enough that you get an idea of whether you'd like to make the dish. It's very little work because you can a) see the ingredients, mostly, without bothering to read the list, b) tell whether it would appeal to your tastes or not, and c) even get an idea of how much work the dish involves. It's much better than reading a block of text and trying to hold all of the information in your head as you evaluate whether you'd like it, have the ingredients and time for it, etc.

I have also found that if I'm using a cookbook with only a few pictures, I tend to end up cooking the dishes that are featured visually. I thought at first it may be a generational thing to be visually oriented this way, but I spoke to my Grandma (who has loved cooking since she was in high school) and she feels the same - as does almost anyone I have spoken to about it. The exception to this rule for me would be the The Joy of Cooking, (which I really, really love) because I can refer to it for specific how-to information or information about a certain type of cooking, etc. For example, how to roast pumpkin seeds, or what exactly a bain-marie is.

The book that has me thinking about cookbooks and pictures is Salad Love, which has not only beautiful, uniform photographs of each of the 260 salads for all four seasons, but also has photographs of the tools, spices, dressings, and toppings that are used throughout the book. The author states up front that, "This is not a cookbook," and that is reflected in that the recipes are just a simple list of ingredients for the salad and next to it, the dressing, with no instructions for preparation. With the photo, that's all you need, because you can see the way the zucchini is sliced and what size and type of shrimp is used.

Before I go, I thought I would toss in a few of the "recipes" that I really like the look of: Purple Potatoes, Peas and Carrot with a creamy dressing; Shrimp, Zucchini, Carrot & Pine Nuts (and I see arugula in the picture!); and Brown Rice, Mozzarella and Mushrooms. Are you getting hungry yet? I am! Please share any thoughts you have with us about cookbooks of all sorts - we'd love to hear your favorites or how you feel about the photograph issue.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Humans of New York

My favorite kind of books are often those that make me think about the deep things of life: what matters the most in the short time each of us has on earth, the circumstances that can affect us all, human nature. Humans of New York by Brandon Stanton gets me thinking about such things.

I hadn't yet heard of "HONY," so when I first picked it up, I thought it was a fashion book. It does have significant elements of fashion, as it is full of pictures of people, however, it is more a "photographic census of New York City," as the author puts it. Adjacent to most of the photos are a quote from the subject, or a humorous (or even, to my dismay, political) comment by Stanton. I love that he is able to bring out the spirit and humanity of each individual simply with a photograph and a quote. As I look at each person, I feel strangely well acquainted with them. I feel I am glimpsing into their soul, and it is humbling. Holding in my hands such a wide variety of people is moving as well, and brings up those sorts of questions I love pondering: how can there be so many people in the world, and yet each of us is truly unique? Even the people most similar to us, perhaps our friends and family, have many differences. From our worldviews to our clothes, our preferences to our dreams, not to mention our physical distinctions, each of us is so varied one from another. And yet, these photographs remind me that we all have the desire burning somewhere inside of us to be the best we can be, to find love and connection, and to have a good life. HONY manages to harmonize human difference and similarity in a touching yet jocular way.

Humans Of New York grew out of, first Stanton's personal Facebook posts of his photographs, then a HONY Facebook page, and finally, a blog on Tumblr. The addition of a short interview to his photos is, in my opinion, what makes what he does so compelling. See Stanton's daily posts continuing this work at his website, Humans of New York.

Also, check out Stanton's version of HONY for children, Little Humans. Because the text is speaking to 2 to 6 year olds, it lacks the same depth as in the adult version, but it's still really worth a look!

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Vivian Maier

Vivian Maier (1926-2009) is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. She began taking photographs in 1949, but rather than trying to parlay her skill into a career in photography, she became a nanny in the 1950s, first in New York and then in Chicago, her chosen profession for about 40 years. Maier continued to photograph street scenes, self-portraits, and more (her collected works number over 150,000), often dragging the children in her care with her as she sought out new spots to take pictures. Financial problems in the early 1970s left her unable to develop her own film, and she gave up photography altogether sometime in the late 1990s. By this time she had amassed a huge collection of photographs and undeveloped film which she kept in storage as she veered between homelessness and living in a studio apartment provided by her former charges. In 2007, one of her storage lockers was auctioned off for delinquent payments, and many of her negatives were bought by John Maloof, a Chicago historian and collector, who brought her photographs to light. Sadly, Maloof was only able to track down Meier after her obituary was published.

Find out more about this elusive artist with items from our catalog!

Finding Vivian Maier [DVD]

Vivian Maier: Out of the Shadows by Richard Cahan, Michael Williams

Vivian Maier: Street Photographer edited by John Maloof

Eye to Eye: Photographs by Vivian Maier by Richard Cahan

Links

Vivian Maier Photographer

Finding Vivian Maier

Vivian Maier's Chicago

The Heir's Not Apparent: A Legal Battle Over Vivian Maier's Work [New York Times]

Vivian Maier and the Problem of Difficult Women [New Yorker]

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Images of America, Images from New Mexico

You may have noticed, among the flood of bond-funded new books reaching your library's shelves, some slim books with distinctive covers featuring vintage photographs.

These books are part of the Images of America series,

by Arcadia Publishing.

From the publisher's website:

The Images of America series chronicles the history of small towns and downtowns across the country. Each title features more than 200 vintage images, capturing often forgotten bygone times and bringing to life the people, places, and events that defined a community.

Local authors transform dusty albums and artifacts into meaningful walks down memory lane. Millions of vintage images become tiny time capsules, re-establishing memories of the formerly familiar, introducing generations to what once was, and reminding us all of what has been (and can be) in every corner of our nation. The popular series has expanded over time to preserve and celebrate additional worthy topics including local landmarks, architecture, ethnic groups, and more.

The books make fascinating browsing; flipping through any of these volumes is an exercise in "I never knew that..." For example, the book on the White Sands Missile Range features not only images of equipment and personnel around the base, but also comedian Jack Benny sitting on a rocket!

Many of the images, rarely or never before available, have been gathered from local historical societies, libraries, and individuals. The researcher for the Towns of the Sandia Mountains volume was hosted by the ABCLS East Mountain branch, and many of the authors in the series are local historians.

Here is a list of the New Mexico-related Images of America titles in the ABCLS catalog. Click through on any title to see if it is at your local branch or to request a copy.