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Rating: 
Summary: SIGHT BEYOND THE PHYSICAL
Review: It is obvious that the present day photographer, John Dugdale, has been greatly influenced by the 19th century Transcendentalist writer, Henry David Thoreau. In this superb book of Dugdale's photographs and selections from Thoreau's journals, it is as if the writings were done specifically for the images, not over 100 years previously.Dugdale has, for many years, been one of my favorite photographers. He uses a process for printing his photographs called cyanotype which was invented during the time that Thoreau lived and worked. The wonderful elegance and simplicity of his subjects and images fits perfectly with Thoreau's philosophies of life. Dugdale, because of HIV, is 80% blind, but, somehow, uses what sight he has combined with a pure spirituality and sight beyond the physical to create images of rare beauty. So, we see a single rose alongside these words of Thoreau: "Love is the burden of all Nature's odes..." A still-life of flowers, two birds, which may be made of milk glass, and a human hand are viewed with Thoreau's "Perhaps what most moves us in winter is some reminiscence of far-off summer...;" a solitary man with one hand against an old, tall tree by a pond and a field are perfect for Thoreau's "Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each..." And perhaps most moving of all, part of the back of a nude man is used with Thoreau's "My life was ecstasy. In youth, before I lost any of my senses, I can remember that I was all alive, and inhabited my body with inexpressible satisfaction..." The book begins with two short, wonderfully written appreciations of the artists by Frank Crocitto. This collection is magnificent beyond any contemporary words. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Rating:
Summary: SIGHT BEYOND THE PHYSICAL
Review: It is obvious that the present day photographer, John Dugdale, has been greatly influenced by the 19th century Transcendentalist writer, Henry David Thoreau. In this superb book of Dugdale's photographs and selections from Thoreau's journals, it is as if the writings were done specifically for the images, not over 100 years previously. Dugdale has, for many years, been one of my favorite photographers. He uses a process for printing his photographs called cyanotype which was invented during the time that Thoreau lived and worked. The wonderful elegance and simplicity of his subjects and images fits perfectly with Thoreau's philosophies of life. Dugdale, because of HIV, is 80% blind, but, somehow, uses what sight he has combined with a pure spirituality and sight beyond the physical to create images of rare beauty. So, we see a single rose alongside these words of Thoreau: "Love is the burden of all Nature's odes..." A still-life of flowers, two birds, which may be made of milk glass, and a human hand are viewed with Thoreau's "Perhaps what most moves us in winter is some reminiscence of far-off summer...;" a solitary man with one hand against an old, tall tree by a pond and a field are perfect for Thoreau's "Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each..." And perhaps most moving of all, part of the back of a nude man is used with Thoreau's "My life was ecstasy. In youth, before I lost any of my senses, I can remember that I was all alive, and inhabited my body with inexpressible satisfaction..." The book begins with two short, wonderfully written appreciations of the artists by Frank Crocitto. This collection is magnificent beyond any contemporary words. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
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