[rollei_list] USA Characters Welcome Project

The USA Characters Welcome Project book arrived today but I haven't had too 
much time to peruse though and take it all in.

Tom Brocaw's introduction reads vaguely similar to Kerouac's intro to Robert 
Frank's "The Americans," although Kerouac's intro and descriptive adjectives 
are much more picturesque. (YIKES!)

 

Sylvia Plachy's pictures are notable and one can almost identify those taken 
with the Rollei. I think the out-of-focus backgrounds tip us off as to which 
are the Rollei pictures.

 

The photos in this book pretty much live up to the theme, and therein lies the 
rub I believe. That is to say, I don't think the photogs demonstrate "great" 
photography as much as their ability to adhere to the theme. From the 
appearance of many of the photos I'd say they followed the theme out the window 
and didn't give much thought to anything else.

 

But, for the most part the book is an interesting collection of American photos 
and will surely conjure up thoughts on how this collection is reminiscent of 
Robert Frank's Opus magnum of 1957. I expect it will be popular in Public 
Libraries. I am not certain though how long it will remain in my collection.

 

 

_________________________________________________________________
Rediscover Hotmail®: Now available on your iPhone or BlackBerry
http://windowslive.com/RediscoverHotmail?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_HM_Rediscover_Mobile2_042009

Other related posts: