Photography Books

If you always look to Hollywood for beauty, one day, you'll wind up very unhappy. No one can stay young forever, no matter how much we could try. And one day, we'll all die too. Sigh. Being a human, being a woman, sometimes hurts because beauty matters so much. This book was nice because it also showcased other forms of beauty. Beauty that others also appreciate. Reminded me of a neighbor that I can't recall her looks so much as the love she gave when she made the most delicous pies you ever tasted. Black raspberry, lemon meringue, cherry... it wasn't just the amazing taste. It was the love and the beauty that went into each bite. Reminded me of times when a person you don't know does something kind or loving, and for a second you bond with them only to never see them again - a cosmic temporary connection. Celestine Proficy was interesting in this type of a way too. Where you can step back from a person and see their ora. Some people give off the "you can't run away from me fast enough" vibe. Others "the I wish I could spend every moment of my life around you" vibe. Beauty is more than physical, although the physical is first and most obvious to many. In this book, each woman, in her own way, showed beauty. There were photographs to go along with each woman's story.

Teen girls are faced with being the "ideal" girl, what everyone in the magazines looks like. But this book shows that beauty isn't only on the outside, but on the inside as well. "I Am Beatutiful" is a wonderful book and I think all girls who feel disapointed about what they look like an d who they are should read this. It will really make you feel alot better about yourself.

This book brought me to tears because it reminded me that there is beauty in everyday things.That just looking at another woman doesn't always tell her whole story, where she's been, where she is now and most of all where she hopes to go. I will never look at another person the same way.

I just love this book, I love sharing it with my female friends and watching their faces glow as they read it. It nearly brings me to tears over and over. It's very simple. A collection of photos of ordinary (but extraordinary!) women who think they are beautiful, and why. If I could afford to, I'd buy it for every woman I know.

I found myself wanting to know all the women in this book. Ordinary, strong, proud women. The photos are revealing and personal -- the writing even more so. I would recommend this book to anyone who wishes, or needs, to join a growing coterie of women for whom self-image is based on strength and vision rather than mass media hype.

Very, very, very nice. A bargain at the price. The pics have appeared before in glossy, "male art" mags, but I am still looking forward for Mr Black's next book.

Wonderful...the men are magnificent, the photography beautiful, the presentation flawless...a great coffee table book...and fun to flip through too!

Jonathan Black's highly successful book Idols is now available in postcard form. Beautiful colour images in an easy pull out book. Great value.

This book is stunning. A sexy, erotic yet classy book suitable for any man's coffee table.

Excellent Photography, Vivid Color and HOT men.

I purchased this book for my daughter - and avid horsewoman. We loved the video and the beautiful photography. The text and the quotes inside are an added bonus to this wonderful book.

Most likely the best book on horses I own. It is not a horsemanship guide on the "how to's" of owning a horse, but an insirational, moving, motivating book with exceptional photo's and beautiful written words describing why women have the dream of owning a horse and that it is ok do dream this dream especially as an adult.

Quote from the book:
"One of the earliest religious disappointments in a young girl's life devolves upon her unanswered prayer for a horse" (Phyllis Theroux)

Indeed.

The author doesn't quite capture the essence of life long yearning to be with horses; to always dream of owning your own horse and to have that dream just out of your grasp. The above quote from the book comes close to those feelings - and overall the book comes close, but doesn't quite hit the mark.

The title is a bit misleading, or perhaps my expectations got the better of me; the author already lives with horses, has horses of her own, and is in daily contact with horses. Thus, I couldn't quite make the bridge between "If I had a horse" and "how different life would be" within the pages of this book. The text and quotes are more zen like in approach and philosophy, rather than describing life-altering changes.

Nevertheless, this is a BEAUTIFUL book. The text is honest, thoughtful, spiritual and philosophical. The photographs in this book are equally beautiful, and truly compliment the text superbly. The photographer has done a wonderful job capturing the essence, heart and soul of equus.

This is a slim book, less than 1/2" thick, and only 128 pages, but printed in hardcover, and bound on heavy semi-gloss paper. Every single page features full-colour photographs of horses, with the author's insightful text and selection of quotes from various sources.

My only complaint (and it perhaps is a minor one) is that the stars and inspirati of this book - the horses themselves - go unmentioned. The author goes to the trouble to name her sources for the various quotations used, in a bibliography at the back of the book, but there is no mention of who the horses are, their names, what breed, where they're from, etc.

This book also came with a DVD titled "The Beauty of Horses", featuring a generous 21- minutes of live film footage of various horse breeds, from Arabians to Gypsy Vanners, Friesians, Appaloosa's and other horses. The music is a little annoying - but not overly so. How much better it would have been to let the horses speak for themselves in this DVD: the galloping of hooves, nostrils flaring and blowing, the clip-clop of hooves along a beach, horses neighing and snorting, tails swishing, etc. Instead the filmmaker opted to overdub with music and voiceover. This is perhaps a minor complaint, as the DVD production values are really well done, and the horses captured are beautiful to look at and inspiring.

All in all, this is a wonderful addition to add to anyone's equine library, and I am sure horselover's young and old will enjoy looking at this book.

~appaloosa
11/03/2006

If you know a horse crazy kid, buy them this book and they'll cherish it forever. The cover image is absolutely stunning, and just a taste of what is inside. Beautiful photography, moving writing and inspiring quotes. It's not for little kids, but a horse crazy girl about 9 or 10 will devour it just as much as that horse crazy 40 something. Even if you horses aren't a big part of your life, animal lovers will enjoy it just the same. The included DVD is just icing on the cake. When I was a horse obsessed 10 year old, I would cut pictures of horses out of magazines, newspapers, or anything I could get my hands on. This is the book I wish I had back then.

this is a wonderful book whether you own a horse or not. there are so many lessons to be learned, it was hard to do more than just read a page or a quote and then put it down and contemplate the lesson. horses have so much to teach us if we just allow it. this book opens up our minds to the possibilities of these lessons. beautifully written. carefully chosen quotes and wonderful photography. i find i refer to it often and it slows me down to remember what is really important to me.

Known for his homoerotic images, photographer Tom Bianchi gives us a small taste (and I really mean small, since this book is pocket-size) of male nudes mixed in with prose and quotes from several authors. While his black and white imagery has always captured the eyes of many, due to his excellent depiction of the most beautiful male bodies on the planet, Bianchi's books gives anyone a reason to define beauty the way they see it.

It is not necessary to look like an Adonis like most of the men in this book (not that wouldn't hurt if you were one), but the fact that most of the men featured in this book are over their 40's, some even HIV+, often can open our eyes that stereotypes can't often steal from beauty's definition.

Whether gay or not, whether an art student or admirer, this book will give you a small glimpse and taste from one of nude photography's greatest photographers. Although this book will appeal primarily to gay men, I wouldn't toss aside if you weren't. You might discover things you didn't realize by browsing through this book.

This is a wonderful little book that aptly documents male beauty in a stunning fashion. The book may be small, but it packs a whole lot of punch.

Don't let the small size fool you, this is a great little book. Tom Bianchi has been wowing the public and critics alike with his photos for years. Some have been critical that the only people who find themselves in his work are individuals who are utterly flawless. In the the book, In Defense of Beauty, Mr Bianchi answers his critics with a thought provoking essay and the stunning photographs for which he is so well known and loved. Not only does he answer his critics- he provides a frame of thought which, if applied to our everyday lives, can create a positive change in the least physically attractive individual and bring forth that beauty in their own everyday lives. Attitude is truely the first step to not only inner beauty but of sharing a love for yourself and those around us in our daily lives. Get this book, you won't be sorry!

Although small, this book has plenty of well done, fairly explicit photograhs.

Black and white photos of male nudes by Tom Bianchi. Small photobook, could easily fit in your back pocket. Excellent and beautiful photography, one photo of two men on a beach at sunset(?)is one of the most beautiful photographs I've ever seen. Photography is joyous and truly celebrates male beauty; Bianchi expresses his art affectionately and with dignity. Wonderful art. Aside from the excellent quotes from Oscar Wilde, ignore the text, especially the Deepak Chopra hubris. Wilde's quotes, and the beauty of the photography, more than adequately defend Bianchi and his art. Buy this book for the photographs, not the philosophy.

Keillor is probably best known in the Midwest where his tales of the imaginary town of Lake Wobegon are heard on many radio stations in that region. This book is set in a variety of real Minnesota towns and depicts life in the rural Midwest. Those from these stomping grounds will easily relate to the short stories contained in this book. But even if you dwell in a California metropolis you will still find a warmth, perhaps uncommon, yet very appreciated. Take, for example, the following exerpt quoted from The Notebooks of Carl Krebsbach:
"It was the annual January thaw, nature's way of arousing false hopes and tempting the good people of Lake Wobegon to let lown their guard and not wear a scarf so that nature can kill them. A form of natural selection to reduce the optimist population and promote the survival of embittered stoics who believe that fate is against them. Which it is.
The thaw means that snow on the roof melts and freezes on the overhang of the eaves, forming a dam to back up the water so it can get under the shingles and freeze and gradually rip our house apart, which is nature's goal, to obliterate us. Nature is not benevolent towards us, it wants us out of here. It's good to know this. In summer, you can almost believe otherwise.
Luckily, summer is soon over. As it turns cold, our mood improves. we're excited. Cold is a stimulant. So is danger. It's good to have nature to deal with. That's why self-pity declines in the fall. People don't sit around and anguish over what to do with their lives. Instinct tells you. You're a mammal. Stay warm. Stay close to the food supply. Shovel the roof. Make babies. Make a few extra in case the wolves get one. And then on a cold night in January, you walk out in the moon light and agsinst all reason, beyodn all expectation, you're utterly happy."

In addition to Keillor's down-to-earth story telling this book contains wonderful photography by Richard Olsenius. I actually bought this book because I am a fan of photojounalistic photograghy. Great writing and great photography, a bookshelf is incomplete without this volume.

I was what you would call a "Noobie" to all of Garrison's work until recently. I picked up this book at a college library after speaking to my mother about the Minnesota author project I was recently assigned. She was familiar with his work and suggested that I look into it....so I did. I never thought that this would open up such big can of worms, and I mean this in a good sense. After reading the book from cover to cover, I went on the internet to find out more about Garrison's work and turned up some very interesting search results. I then read it again and now I guess you could say that I'm hooked on the Lake Wobegon saga and I am planning on picking up a couple of his earlier writings related to Lake Wobegon.
I really enjoyed reading this book and I would recommend this book to anyone who has vast, little, or no knowledge of Lake Wobegon.

I was what you would call a "Noobie" to all of Garrison's work until recently. I picked up this book at a college library after speaking to my mother about the Minnesota author project I was recently assigned. She was familiar with his work and suggested that I look into it....so I did. I never thought that this would open up such big can of worms, and I mean this in a good sense. After reading the book from cover to cover, I went on the internet to find out more about Garrison's work and turned up some very interesting search results. I then read it again and now I guess you could say that I'm hooked on the Lake Wobegon saga and I am planning on picking up a couple of his earlier writings related to Lake Wobegon.
I really enjoyed reading this book and I would recommend this book to anyone who has vast, little, or no knowledge of Lake Wobegon.

Fans of Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion" are already an imaginative sort. We know what Arlene Bunsen looks like, or Pastor Inquist. We've got a good idea how Roger Hedlund has been rotating his crops, and the main goings on on Main Street. We don't need pictures of this area because we already know it by heart--we've seen it on the radio. This book does exactly what it should...it doesn't dispel our images of Lake Wobegon, but gives us pictures of its neighbors and people living their lives in rural Minnesota. All the images are sepia toned. With a few exceptions, the subjects are unposed and candid, getting ready for the prom, or readying the field for corn.

The composition of the shots are superb. The short prologue gives a first person retelling of how Keillor invented the town that "time forgot and the decades cannot improve." That introduction, however, is so short that it's almost unfair to say that this is a Garrison Keillor book. He essentially wrote the foreword (although it's not titled that way), and the pictures tell the real story.

My only disappointment is that there isn't any color. Certainly sepia tones give us nostalgia the way we'd like to remember it, but sunset on a farm is something you can't appreciate in shades of brown. Rural life has its monochromatic moments, to be sure, but there's enough color and life to help us remember that not everything is nostalgia.

This gripe doesn't detract from the beauty of this book, though. Thankfully we never see Lake Wobegon, only hints and shadows. It allows us to preserve our preconceptions, but gives us a deeper feeling of connection with the area. If you're a fan of APHC, you probably already own this book (or you should). If not, take a look at a lifestyle that might be foreign to you.

From the Central Minnesota prairie, in beautiful black and white pictures and picturesque prose, here is the Genesis of Garrison Keilor's magical mythical Lake Wobegon, site of "A Prairie Home Companion." Here we get to *see* the strong women, good-looking men, and above average children of and for whom he speaks on Saturday nights. Accompanying Richard Olsenius' stunning photography (how can the viewer not be deeply moved by the picture of the veterans at the St. Wendell cemetery on Memorial Day?) are excerpts from the Radio Show, interviews with inhabitants, and essays and musings from Keilor - like this:

"Culture isn't decor, it's what you know before you're twelve. It sticks with you all your born days. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. You can try to wrestle free of it, like those geese who trail the V-formation, trying to look as if they aren't part of this bunch, as if flying south were a personal decision on their part, but your feint towards independence only makes it clearer who you really are. Some people like hot dish better if it's called cassoulet, or pot roast if it's pot-au-feu. Fine. Suit yourself. Same difference."

Whatever you call those culinary delights, you'll like this book. Come see Father Kleinschmidt's Annual Blessing of the Snowmobiles. Ja, you betcha! Reviewed by TundraVision.

This book is really amazing. I'm a 'star' in the book on page 44. I'm very proud to be part of something so unique. The book is enjoyable to anyone who reads it, and I highly suggest getting it as a present for others, or yourself!

A wonderful book. I initially bought a couple copies as Cristmas gifts for family members (the cover girl compelled me.) As I began to read the essays, I was so taken with the stories of these remarkable individuals that I found myself purchasing additional copies - for myself, friends and my local library. The essays bring the lives of average Americans, captains of industry and celebrities into a cohesive focus that is difficult to put down. I love it.

I just bought Julia McNamara's book for the O'Hagen coffee table. I spent the first few times with the book just looking at the pictures until I had a chunk of time to really sit down with the text. It is rare for a book of this nature to cover in such depth the Irish American experience. The stories are moving, uplifting and enlightening. Look at it.......but also READ it.

I bought this book as a Christmas gift for all my Irish friends. The stories are so compelling - they celebrate the specialness of being Irish in America with more nuance than most authors and with a grace that captures each person's perspective and joy. Color me...impressed!

Saw the ad for this book in the Irish Echo with the great picture of the piper. Knew it would be worth a look. Read Pete Hamill's introduction. Then read Patricia Harty's facinating pages of Irish history I never knew. Flipped pages to view the great faces that come right to you and bought it. Worth every penny and family loved it.

For someone like me who has spent countless hours, days and weeks in the company of four or more Labrador Retrievers, this book is a hoot. It takes light-hearted look at Labradors, sharing a bounty of beautiful photographs of man's best friends with us, and looking at the personality traits and character qualities that make them the single most popular breed in America today. Labs are among the most social of canines, yet they are remarkably calm and pacific once they know you. Which isn't to deny the fact that they are very active and energetic, and that anyone who lives with one needs to ensure the dog and he or she spend sopme time outside in vigorous play every day. But as the author tells us, we love labradors because they seem to represent the best and most admirable qualities we happen to admire.

Labradors are amazingly loyal, and are quite keyed into your emotional state and sense of well-being. As a person who sometimes suffers from migraines, I can attest that the dogs seem to reconize my symptoms and key their own behavior from this perception of the way I am feeling, being much more willing to simply take a nap with me than usual, since they seem to understand from past experience that the migraine will dirve me back to bed. They show many endearing and remarkable traits, and we find ourselves amazed by just how intelligent, perceptive, and attractive they are as a species.

Labradors also live almost exclusively in the moment, and are ethusiastic and energetic in their pursuit of fun and frolic. Anyone living in their company can attest to the fact that you are never at a loss for entertainment when your Labrador friend is around, and he or she are happy to just be with you, and are almost oo willing and too anxious to show you just how excited they are to have you around. Coming home after a long day's work means a kidn of instant celebration, with four Labradors jumping, barking, and wall-banging, so glad are they to have me back home with them. Find a human who is that glad to see you, and you have found true love, my friend. Yet it is all here in spades with the Labradors, and this entertaining little book will seerve to amuse you, educate you, and sometimes surprise you with its nuggets of information, parcels of knowledge, and bits of wisdom about just why it is that Labradors rule the roost around my house! Enjoy!

Just Labs is a book of few words an magnificent photography. This is not a book that will tell you how to raise your dog, or what kind of food to feed it, or what dog won best of show 10 years ago. It will amuse you and is guaranteed to sit on your desk at work, your coffee table, or your nightstand as a book that will make you smile. It is very easy to read and quite humorous. One section reads:

"Someone once said that it's possible to train a Lab by treating him like a three-year old child; if so then it's no wonder Labs and kids are so inseparable. Imagine a guardian who never sleeps, one with the eyes and ears to rival the best security system ever devised, one that knows roads are bad things and will steer your youngster away from them. At the same time, they realize that a short little kid with an ice-cream cone is like a gift from God."

If you want a fun book to just make you smile, this book is for you.

I was very much taken by the cover shot when I first saw this book on Amazon, the reviews too, seemed rather encouraging ... when the book arrived, I was expecting the rest of the photographs to be of similar or better quality ... am a little disappointed.

If this is an instructional book on how to raise or train Labradors, quality of photographs would not be so critical ... but its a pictorial book, and for some reason, quite a few of the photographs are missing that little extra ingredient which makes for really good photography ... perhaps if the photos had been more tightly edited, it might have made a difference ... At US$35 the book is not inexpensive, and there are better alternatives around ... just do a quick search, under photography and Labradors.

collection. The book is full of great photos paying equal homage to the "field" vs. "English" labs, and does not disciminate over color. His photography skills capture the personalities of the breed, and the depth of the relationships between dog and handler. The captions are perfect, and some will bring a tear to the eye of even the most stoic of us all.

The book is slanted toward field work, domestic life and hunting activities, rather than conformance or obedience work. My husband loved this as a gift, and he is nearly impossible to buy for. All in all, though, it is a beautiful tribute to this remarkable breed.

Ask any photography instructor, and he will say, "I don't want to see any puppy and kitty pictures!" How wrong they are. Dale does a great job of presenting the working Lab in everyday situations, from the field trial to the duck blind and the upland field, and he does it with a great sense of humor.

This book, however, is not a training manual. If you're wondering how to train Labs to do what Dale shows them doing, check out Mike Gould's "The Labrador Shooting Dog". Another great look at working Labs is Paul and Julie Knutsons' "The Pointing Labrador." Both books have great photographs of Labs in action, by the way, and the training techniques to back them up.

The updated, expanded edition of The Last Album: Eyes From The Ashes Of Auschwitz- Birkenau is out, and no less hard-hitting than the original. These black and white photos were not supposed to reach the world: the Nazi order to destroy all personal photos brought to each concentration camp was meant to destroy memories as much as evidence. Despite this mandate, author Weiss uncovered an archive of over 2,400 photos brought to Auschwitz by Jewish deportees across Europe - photos hidden and saved, at great risk to their owners. These photos accompany a traveling exhibition which is making its way around the world, presenting over 400 of these photos and how the deportees arrived at Auschwitz - and how Weiss came to discover them and to research their roots. A 'must' for any serious Jewish history collection - and many a general interest holding, as well.

"The last Album" by Ann Weiss is well organized and well written. It contains 400 remarkable
photographs that were brought to Auschwitz-Birkenau by victims in 1943. These photographs were taken
prior to the Holocaust and depict people bursting with life. This is an extremely unique book, and contains material that was lovingly researched for a period of 15 years. The beauty of this book is that the
photographs and the research accomplished brings to life people that were lost during the dreadful time of
the Holocaust. The book like the author is soft, sweet, articulate and brilliant

I read this book by chance, yesterday, Memorial Day 2003.
Been crying.
It's like Schindler's List or Sophie's choice.
How could they do it?
How can we let them continue doing it?
The animals still are around us, although using another names, another symbols, another motivations.
I kept reading, hoping to find some of the people to be safe at the end, but almost everybody was killed.
Binim, Rozak, Mayer, Bronka, so many of you.
I miss you, my friends.

After reading this book, I feel this should be in every house in every country. You hear so much about the people and the numbers killed that sometimes it doesn't seem real but this book makes it very real. The pictures are so powerful and at the same time so ordinary - they could be pictures of anyone's parents or grandparents. The most haunting pictures are those of the children - you have to wonder how many survived. The stories of the survivors bring it all home - "There's the aunt of the little girl I used to babysit", etc. I found it amazing that these pictures did survive 40, 50 years before being discovered again. Anyone who denies the Holocaust happened should read this book and then try to still say it never happened. Thank you Ann Weiss for bringing these pictures and the stores behind them out of the darkness.

This book is an amazing piece of history. The fact that so many photos brought into Auschwitz have survived is phenomenol as all personal effects were automotically burned by the Nazis murderers. When viewing the photos in this book, which were brought in by those of the Sosnowiec-Bendzin transport, it would also be advisable to read Tadeusz Borokowski's book "This way to the gas ladies & gentleman' as this book covers the particular Sosnowiec-Bendzin transport and outlines in gruesome and terrifying detail what became of many of those on this transport. The photographs bring back to life many who are gone and also tells you those who survived, which is a relief to realise that some of those from the Polish ghettos made it. These photos bring back a lost world that will never return and along with Roman Vishniac's collection of photographs are a piece of history that is very much worth investing in.

A Living Lens is a wonderful collection of photographs that not only demonstrate everyday life of Jews throughout the United States but it is accompanied by a rich text authored by witnesses to this history. Of all the photography books about the Jews of the 19th and 20th centuries thids one ranks at the top. A must see and read.

This collection and commentary was great....and more than met our expectations. It sits now on our coffee table for all to review and reminisce.

Beautiful book, well written. A book for anyone to share with their children to teach them an important part of our US history.

As the grandchild of Polish / Ukraine immigrants who read the Forvitz, this book lovingly captures the memories of a time long gone.

Earlier this year, I had participated in a tour, including the old Forward Building in Lower Manhattan, with our guide being one of the photographers for this beuatiful book. I was so happy with the book which arrived in exellent condition.

Thank you.

Renate Stone

This is a magnificent, beautiful book. We left it open on the kitchen table, and everyone who passed by turned to a new, exquisite image. I've now snatched it back to my office and expect to browse repeatedly when I have a chance for a cup of coffee and a brief get-away moment. It is truly a gift.

Maine The Home Place by Murad Sayen is an especially appealing photography book. Not only is this book visually pleasing as you view beautiful scenes in Maine, but it also is very emotive as you also "feel" Maine. The quality of the photos is superior and most of them look as much like paintings as photos. If you are ever fortunate enough to look through this book, go directly to page 28 ( one of my favorites)and enjoy the compostion of hands. There have been numerous artists who have highlighted hands in their composition but never with the unique approach that this one does. I have only had this book on my coffee table for one month, and have already "sold" 5 copies. People's responses were so positive that 5 lucky people will be getting this book for Christmas. Maybe you could be lucky also. If Maine was ever your home, I think you will enjoy having this book around as much as I have, and Maine was never my home.

The thing that strikes you as you turn the lush pages--the land and seascapes, the faces--is the surface sense of calm. And yet, below those surfaces there is always a suggestion of great energy, of processes being carried out. In the cover photo, for instance: a country church, maple trees in their October regalia, a cemetery, the cornstubble foreground--lies the hint that things are in motion, even there below the ground. The world is moving toward a new incarnation.

This dualism--or energy and calm--kept me turning pages, forward and back, over a period of many days, looking closely at colors, faces, cloud formations, ice crystals on a pond, dawn sunlight on a lighthouse.

At first I quibbled that Sayen has confined his camera to so few regions of the state; and yet, in truth, this only reminds us that art, in order to be universal, must be local. To develop the kind of intimacy that Sayen (a confessed "outsider") obviously has with his subject, it is necessary to keep it focused.

With "Maine: The Home Place", Murad Sayen has created a masterful book, far more than another of the garishly colored "coffee table" books that publishers seem to crank out each year. This is a book that bears repeated readings, and which, for me, continues to offer fresh discoveries. In addition to the photographs, there is a series of elegantly written essays and photographer's notes. For anyone looking to be delighted and deeply moved by the complexity within simplicity, "Maine: The Home Place" is a volume that will do that.

When I opened Maine: The Home Place, I didn't know how much I was opening up. I looked through it, then I realized I needed to look into it: I did so at two pages a day until I went through the book. I especially love two of the pictures (although each page and picture looked more like a composition in a painting than a camera capturing a scene): The Androscoggin at Bethel, November and North Pond, Greenwood, October. There is a disarming directness in the simple presentation that drew me into the pictures, and into myself. The captions reminded me these places are here, in this world. What I found myself doing since I opened Maine: The Home Place is seeing myself and the world around me differently. Cezanne says that "Art is a harmony parallel to nature." I am wonderfully confused by Murad's presentation of nature and art that has gotten into my heart through my eyes. What more can you ask from a book than to make the world and yourself more alive? Maine: The Home Place is a book that will do that year after year, picture after picture. Great job, Murad Sayen.

Murad Sayen shows us in his amazing pictoral that Maine is more than a magnificent coastline dotted with harbors and lighthouses. His photographs and essays capture the essence and beauty of Maine that those of us who are fortunate to live here can now share with the rest of the world.

He is masterful in his use of lighting. The effect is mystical and invokes a strong emotional response to his work. For all those who want an unlimited opportunity to escape to Maine, whenever the spirit moves you, I highly recommend Maine: The Home Place.....the way life is!