I got back from a few days in Saskatchewan to find a nice Blurb book waiting for me, and as I read it I first thought I’d highlight my top 3, then top 5, then top 10. Anyhow, here are the notes.
First, this is the best-ever Annual. To make it clear that I’m not uncritical, let me say that I sort of hated last year’s, thought the backgrounds were overworked and distracting. The quality of 2011 photos is higher, and Mark's design mojo was on fire. It’s a really outstanding photo book. Having said that, here are the ones that touched my heart. 19: Earth & Sky/Manayon. Actually a picture of a mountain (or a building, or, uh, Bong, what’s the brown thing?) 21: Cathedral of Trees/Roberts. They’re having a conversation too slow, graceful, and complex for us to follow. 33: Jumping at Ponte Sant’ Angelo/Lahuerta Ibiz. How in flaming hell did this get staged?! I stared and stared. 37: Fly By/Waller. Probably the most technically dazzling shot in the book. Miraculous. 38: Stowe Grotto/Mitchell. They say photography is a two-dimensional form. They’re wrong, as any fool can plainly see. 43: Waiting Offshore/Walters. The horizon not being smooth really bothers me. I had to look and look and look and look. Make your own theory. 46: Too Many Steps/Coyle. This is unsatisfactory, because it needs to be printed 40 inches or so high. 51: .../Roschin. Actually a picture of blood vessels. 58: Playful Planes/Gjersem. You can’t not smile. And I don’t even like planes. 65: 6/Miserere. At least a thousand perfect details. 71: Eternal Vigilance/Cassino. Actually a picture of flowering trees. 72: Morning Calm/Theriault. No grain. No street people. No asphalt. Can’t possibly be Frank. Fucking great picture though, whoever took it. 73: Night at Sea/Thrane. Really unsatisfactory; needs to be printed at least six feet wide. 75: At the Beach in Binz/Zahn. Actually a picture of clouds. 81: The Inspector/Brewer. What a real wizard looks like. 88: Lunch/Jeyon. Actually a picture of trees and stones. 91: The Bridge to Runde/Øksne: When I grow up I want to learn to take pictures like this. 94: So happy that Mark used my favorite (not my best, my favorite) Guo-Yuan-Snooker-Club picture. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
