Book Review: Photo Art Wonders: Celebrating Diversity in the Animal Kingdom by Joel Sartore

Photo Ark Wonders: Celebrating Diversity in the Animal Kingdom

by Joel Sartore (779.59 Sar)

 

This latest entry in Nebraska photographer Joel Sartore’s series of “Photo Ark” nature photography books is what I would call a “coffee table” book. It’s large, thick, and filled with some of the most gorgeous photos of animals you’ll ever see. Sartore’s goal is to photographically document every single species of animal under the care of humans, in zoos, sanctuaries and other controlled environments.

 

Photo Ark Wonders features 462 different animal species. Each example (sometimes more than one per page) lists the animal’s common name, scientific name and a little blurb with a small humorous or fascinating anecdote about the species. Interspersed among the myriad photographs are profiles of Sartore, and his wife and children, who’ve grown to put up with Sartore’s photographic obsession over the years, but not always happily. Sartore also throws in a few fascinating background stories about some of the experiences he’s had while traveling internationally to get his photos taken.

 

Chapters in the book focus on Shape (animals with unusual shapes), Pattern (animals with unique patterns), Extra (a grab bag of various animal features that don’t all go together), and Attitude — my favorite section — in which the photographs Sartore took of various species show off almost human-like attitudes and personalities.

 

Absolutely gorgeous — and don’t forget to check out Sartore’s earlier Photo Ark books!

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try The Photo Ark: One Man’s Quest to Document the World’s Animals by Joel Sartore, and Rare: Creatures of the Photo Ark — on DVD.)

 

( National Geographic’s official The Photo Ark web page ) | ( official Joel Sartore web site )

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Music Book Review: Lived Through That: 90s Musicians Today by Mike Hipple

Lived Through That: 90s Musicians Today
by Mike Hipple (Music 781.66 Hip)

 

If you’re a Gen-X person or just a 90s music lover, Lived Through That is a fantastic stroll down memory lane. More importantly, it serves as a kind of “where are they now” update for many artists whose only hits happened during the heyday of grunge, the swing revival, and riot grrls. The emphasis here is on photography — author Mike Hipple has produced beautiful photo essays showing us how these former stars have gracefully landed in middle age — but each featured artist also receives a page of updated biographical information.

 

Some of these updates are quite surprising, too. Did you know that the frontman of The Presidents of the United States of America became a children’s musician, and has recorded 16 albums as Caspar Babypants? Did you know that John S. Hall of King Missile went on to become an attorney? That Eric Judy of Modest Mouse left the band and opened a neighborhood bookstore with his wife?

 

For the most part, though, the musicians featured here have continued to work in music, even if they’re somewhat removed from the spotlight afforded them earlier in their careers. In that sense, there’s a certain comfort and humility to these profiles, seeing how so many artists that might be written off as “one hit wonders” can find their own stride and keep creating. Some, like Yuka Honda of Cibo Matto, have continued to explore a wide and ever-expanding variety of musical directions, while some bands like Letters to Cleo or Belly took breaks and have subsequently reformed. A few like the Dandy Warhols have continued playing since the 90s. But together, they all show how life continues to unfold in unexpected ways, and we can all relate to these journeys.

 

(If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Now is the Time to Invent! Reports From the Indie-Rock Revolution, 1986-2000 by Steve Connell, Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution by Sara Marcus or Untypical Girls: Styles and Sounds of the Transatlantic Indie Revolution by Sam Knee.)

 

( official Mike Hipple web site )

 

Recommended by Scott S.
Polley Music Library

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

 

Check out this, and all the other great music resources, at the Polley Music Library, located on the 2nd floor of the Bennett Martin Public Library at 14th & "N" St. in downtown Lincoln. You'll find biographies of musicians, books about music history, instructional books, sheet music, CDs, music-related magazines, and much more. Also check out Polley Music Library Picks, the Polley Music Library's e-mail newsletter, and follow them on Facebook!

 

Book Review: Accidentally Wes Anderson edited by Wally Koval

Accidentally Wes Anderson

by Wally Koval (910.2 Kov)

 

This fascinating book, combining exotic photography with descriptions of unusual places around the globe, first caught my eye on a display at a bookstore, and I was intrigued at the time, so I was excited to see it show up in the libraries’ collection! The concept for this book began online, as an international group of devotees started sharing photos tagged #accidentallywesanderson. The photos looked like images that could have come from the auteur film director’s stylistic palette — bright pastel shades, idiosyncratic, oddly symmetrical lines and angles, and simply beautiful in their simplistic composition and often surreal quirkiness. The book collects several hundred images, from locations on all seven continents (including Antarctica!), with intriguing descriptions of each image — sometimes lengthy and sometimes brief. The photographic reproductions are absolutely gorgeous, and will put you in the same kind of mood that watching The Grand Budapest Hotel, Moonrise Kingdom, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, Rushmore or The Royal Tenenbaums might. I’m not sure that this is a travel book of destinations you’ll want to visit on your own, but just knowing they exist brought a smile to my face. My only complaint about the book is the size of the text in the descriptions — the author and publisher have chosen to use extremely small print, which my middle-aged eyes occasionally had difficulty making out.

 

[ official accidentallywesanderson.com web site ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library — Public Service

 

Have you read or listened to this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide Blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Where We Find Ourselves by Hugh Mangum

Where We Find Ourselves: The Photographs of Hugh Mangum, 1897-1972
by Hugh Mangum and Margaret Sartor (779.12 Mag)

For me, it’s a delight to get a glimpse of the period in American history known as “The Jim Crow South” through the viewfinder of Hugh Mangum’s camera.

Mesmerizing individually, taken as a whole, these portraits tell the enlightening story of the people who came to have their images recorded. Mangum, in an economical solution to the expense of negative plates, often used the same negative for multiple exposures. This is fascinating for two-fold reasons: his clients were not segregated by color—here they are recorded for posterity in the order that they came to the studio, and I believe the smaller exposure area made for a quicker portrait, allowing the subject to strike a natural pose. Many of the portraits are charmingly informal.

On one plate, you will see a young black man, experimenting with different poses, different hats, with his jacket on, or off. He’s followed by another black man, also experiments with hats and “looks”. Next two white women are recorded with fancy hats, without hats, together and individually. Another plate starts with a joyful portraits of four white young women, group photos where they take turns being in front of the camera, reminiscent of a modern photo booth. They are followed by five poses of young white man, in some he’s wearing a distinguished bowler hat, in some he’s sideways, and some looking straight at the camera. The final subject on this plate is a spirited young black woman, smiling and posing playfully at the camera.

This book tells a story, not of separate water fountains and separate establishments, but the story of people who were living alongside each other. It’s a moving, spectacular witness to an age and mental geography in America that is still rife with stereotypes and assumptions.

[ page at Duke University dedicated to Hugh Mangum exhibit ] | [ official Margaret Sartor web site ]

See our specialized reading list The Essential Photographers on BookGuide for works by/about other noteworthy photographers

Recommended by Carrie K.
Bennett Martin Public Library

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!