Friday, December 12, 2014

Photography Books...

   Time magazine just announced their top photo books for 2014. (You can see the selection here... I don't know about you but I am a sucker for photography books.  If I allowed myself the indulgence, my bookcases would be more over loaded than they are now.  I find looking at other peoples work fascinating and inspiring.

   Do you have a favorite photography book you revisit over and over again?  My latest acquisition was Alexandra De Steiguer's book Small Island, Big Picture. (You can read the post about her here...I don't think there is a photographer alive that doesn't fantasize about having their work in a book someday.

   I've only made one book myself, First Person Rural: A Portrait of a Maine Town.  It is a time consuming and expensive proposition.  Of course, my pond project, The Poetry of Place, seems a perfect subject for a photography book.  We'll see if it materializes.

  My recent "pond paintings", which I spoke about yesterday, are another possibility.  I have created several so far although all are still in the "in process" stage. It takes a great deal of time, I'm finding, to get the look right. 

    However, the abstract expressionistic paintings are delighting me in a way I could never imagined just a few months ago. This one reminds me of chalk pastel.  I use to work a lot in pastel back in college and as I worked on this image I felt the same kind of freedom in the use of color and texture. 

   Time will tell if any of my recent work will find its way into printed form.  I will certainly create some hand-made books of them.  That is a wonderful alternative for the photographer, especially the accordion format.   You can see the post I wrote about them here...


4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love this picture, Patricia. I wonder, is the line created by the water or is there a log underneath? And the colors are breathtaking.
If you do a book of your pond images, I'll be getting my copy! I love these pictures...

Patricia Turner said...

This image is made up of two pond photographs...on superimposed on the other. The line I think you are referring to is the edge of a snow area. I would love to do a book for The Poetry of Place. It would be quite an undertaking but I haven't ruled it out.

kimmanleyort said...

I too love that picture, Patricia, and how you're using your creativity to express your feelings about the pond.

Patricia Turner said...

Thank you Kim. This has been such a wonderful experience.