February 2023 MBR The Photography Shelf

The Photography Shelf

Varanasi: City Immersed in Prayer
David Scheinbaum, photographer
B. J. Miller, contributor
Diana L. Eck, contributor
George F Thompson Publishing
c/o Casemate Publishers
1940 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083
www.casematepublishers.com
9781938086960, $45.00, HC, 160pp

https://www.amazon.com/Varanasi-Immersed-Prayer-David-Scheinbaum/dp/1938086961

Synopsis: Varanasi (also known as Kashi and Banaras) is a city in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh dating to the 11th century B.C.E. Regarded as the spiritual capital of India, the city draws Hindu pilgrims who bathe in the Ganges River's sacred waters for prayer and ritual. In Varanasi, one is in a time warp where one is living in history as if time has never stopped, for the people, both residents and pilgrims, continue their daily practices and worship in ways relatively unchanged for millennia -- down a continuum of thousands of years. Being in Varanasi is like being on a thread pulled from a cloth that dates back to the beginning of time. Here, one doesn't "see" a ruin, as one does in other ancient civilizations, but a living city where history hasn't stopped.

With the publication of "Varanasi: City Immersed in Prayer", photographer David Scheinbaum guides us, with his camera, through the city's winding streets that are filled with thousands of shrines and temples at virtually every turn. He takes us on an incredible visual journey to the Ganges, the sacred river where bathers are in prayer, and to the funerary Ghats, steps that lead down to the river where cremations take place, filling the air with incense and burning pyres. Hindus believe that being cremated along the banks of the holy Ganges allows one to break the cycle of death and rebirth and attain Moksha, (salvation) making it a major center for pilgrimages.

Scheinbaum's beautiful, soulful photographs present an ancient, holy city immersed in prayer. Woven through are the words of contributors B. J. Miller and Diana L. Eck, two noted scholars and writers who each shed light on the special qualities that make Varanasi the holy city it has always been.

Critique: A visually magnificent coffee-table style volume (12.5 x 1 x 11.25 inches, 3.59 pounds), "Varanasi: City Immersed in Prayer" is a pure pleasure to browse through one page at a time. Inherently fascinating is unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, college, and university library Indian Travel, Cultural, and Historical Photography collections.

Editorial Note #1: David Scheinbaum (https://npg.si.edu/exhibit/recognize/photography.html) is the former Director/Chair of the Photography Department in the Marion Center for Photographic Arts at the Santa Fe University of Art and Design and Professor Emeritus at the College of Santa Fe. He is the author of Bisti, (University of New Mexico Press, 1987), Miami Beach: Photographs of an American Dream (Florida International University Press, 1990), Stone: A Substantial Witness (Museum of New Mexico Press, 2006), and Hip Hop: Portraits of an Urban Hymn (Damiani Editore, 2012). He and his wife, Janet Russek, have collaborated on three other projects: Ghost Ranch: Land of Light, Photographs by David Scheinbaum and Janet Russek (Balcony Press, 1997), Images in the Heavens, Patterns on the Earth: The I Ching (Museum of New Mexico Press, 2005), and Remnants: Photographs of the Lower East Side (Radius Books, 2017).

Editorial Note #2: B. J. Miller (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BJ_Miller) is an American physician, author, educator, and practicing hospice and palliative medicine physician who is best known for his 2015 TED Talk, "What Really Matters at the End of Life?" B. J. has taught at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, since 2007. In film, B. J. is the subject of Netflix's Academy Award-nominated short documentary, End Game, by veteran directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. His book for approaching the end of life, A Beginner's Guide to the End, was co-authored with Shoshana Berger (Simon and Schuster, 2019).

Editorial Note #3: Diana L. Eck (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diana_L._Eck) is Professor of Comparative Religion and Indian Studies and Frederic Wertham Professor of Law and Psychiatry in Society at Harvard University. She is also the author of Banaras: City of Light (Alfred A. Knopf, 1982); Darsan: Seeing the Divine Image in India (Anima Books, 1981); and India: A Sacred Geography (Harmony Books, 2012). As the founder and director of the Pluralism Project, she produced the Web-based resource On Common Ground: World Religions in America. On the subject of pluralism she has written Encountering God: A Spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Banaras (Beacon Press, 1993) and A New Religious America: How a "Christian" Country Has Become the World's Most Religiously Diverse Nation (Harper San Francisco, 2001). In 1998, she received the National Humanities Medal from President Bill Clinton for her work on religious pluralism in America.

Venice from the Skies
Riccardo Roiter, photographer
Debora Gusson, photographer
Jonglez Publishing
https://jonglezpublishing.com
9782361955748, $49.95, HC, 240pp

https://www.amazon.com/Venice-Skies-Jonglez-photo-books/dp/2361955741

Synopsis: "Venice from the Sky" is a magnificent full color photographic images by Riccardo Roiter Rigoni and Debora Gusson and the fruit of their five years of regular flying by helicopter over Venice and its Lagoon.

The flights were not confined to the city of Venice, but included all the islands of the splendid Lagoon, from Torcello to Burano, by way of Murano, as well as the wonderful island of San Francesco del Deserto, the military defences in the southern part of the Lagoon, the Lido and Pellestrina, not to mention the many now abandoned islands, large and small, located in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Critique: An impressive compendium of full page, full color, and truly impressive aerial photographs, each of which is accompanied by informative commentaries, "Venice from the Sky" would well serve as a template for similar aerial photography projects showcasing other historic cities and landscapes. A pleasure to simply browse through one page at a time, "Venice from the Sky" is unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and academic library Aerial & Landscape Photography collections.

Editorial Note: Riccardo Roiter Rigoni is a native of Venice, Italy, who has worked as a photographer since 2001. He has been a contributor to a range of books, magazines, and newspapers and is the author of the books, "Venezia Sensation" (2008), and "Venice Timeless Moments" (2012). He shot the world's first photo of a mask over the Venetian sky. "Every photograph is like a bag full of letters with different recipients," Rigoni says. "The photographer is only the postman". (https://craftsmanship.net/contributor/riccardo-roiter-rigoni)

Equivalents: Scott Mead
Scott Mead, photographer
Brad Leithauser, contributor
Prestel Publishing
www.prestel.com
9783791386553, $50.00, HC, 128pp

https://www.amazon.com/Equivalents-Scott-Mead/dp/3791386557

Synopsis: In his previous photography book, "Above the Clouds", Scott Mead contemplated the endless horizons outside of a plane's window and the inner and outer journeys they bring about.

Now with the publication of "Equivalents", Mead turns his gaze back to earth, where the view is just as extraordinary.

Inspired by William Eggleston, Mead's former teacher, "Equivalents" is comprised of a series of paired photographs focuses on composition, texture, light, shadows, and color to show how nature and the built world can mirror and contain each other. Although not always immediately obvious, the qualities these images share and the relationships between them help us see the world with a new perspective, with results that are in turn evocative, exhilarating, and lyrical.

Writer and poet Brad Leithauser's thoughtful and reflective introduction sheds additional light on the complex and joyous interaction between the photographs and the emotions they create.

Critique: A fascinating photographic compendium of paired images that is very highly recommended for personal, professional, community, and academic library Contemporary Photography collections, it should be noted that all royalties from the sale of "Equivalents: Scott Mead" from Prestell Publishing will be donated to the Ukraine Relief Effort.

Editorial Note: Scott Mead (https://scottmeadfineartphotography.com) is an American-born photographer and philanthropist living in London. A photographer for many years before a career in investment banking, he returned to photography over ten years ago after rediscovering boxes in his attic of his large-format negatives and prints, unopened for decades. Numerous exhibitions and group shows have since followed, and his works are held in many private and institutional collections around the world. His previous book is Above the Clouds (by Prestel).

Wild Patagonia
Anthony Garvin
Archway Publishing
1663 Liberty Drive, Bloomington, IN 47403-5161
www.archwaypublishing.com
9781665730365, $55.95, HC, 146pp

https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Patagonia-Anthony-Garvin/dp/1665730366

Synopsis: With the publication of "Wild Patagonia", armchair travelers can accompany author and photographer Anthony Garvin as he explores the remote and wild land that is Patagonia.

"Wild Patagonia" is a visual celebration of the awe-inspiring beauty and grandeur of Patagonia. It features 154 stunning full-color photographs of the mountains, rivers, lakes, glaciers, and wildlife of this remote land at the far ends of the earth.

Covering the mountains and landscape of both the Chilean and Argentine Patagonia, this collection provides an opportunity to explore the most famous features of these countries, including Torre del Paine National Park in Chile, Los Glaciares National Park in Argentina, the Lake Districts of both countries, and the fjords of Chile.

"Wild Patagonia" also captures spectacular images of the wildlife of the region, including the puma, Andean condor, grey fox, red-headed woodpecker, sea lions, and a wide variety of birds.

Of special note is how, along with the photography, Garvin also shares his experiences and offers practical tips for travel through this relatively unexplored but beautiful region.

Critique: A magnificent coffee-table style (8.5 x 0.56 x 11 inches, 1.66 pounds) volume, "Wild Patagonia" is informatively enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of Maps, a two page Epilogue, and a one page Bibliography. A beautiful book to simply browse through one page at a time, "Wild Patagonia" is especially and unreservedly recommended for community and academic library Photography & Travel collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists that "Wild Patagonia" is also available in a paperback edition (9781665730372, $46.95).

Editorial Note: Anthony Garv (https://www.designwestgraphics.com/mountainhigharts/bio.html) has photographed landscapes in most of the National Parks within the United States and several national parks in other countries including Argentina, Canada, Chile, Nepal, and New Zealand. His images of glaciers, mountains and waterfalls convey the elemental power of nature regardless of whether the photo was taken in the Western United States, the Alps, Patagonia, Nepal or other mountainous regions of the world. Through his films and landscape photographs, he conveys the awe which he feels in the wilderness.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

The Midwest Book Review is an organization of volunteers committed to promoting literacy, library usage, and small press publishing. We accept no funds from authors or publishers. Full permission is given to post any of these reviews on thematically appropriate websites, newsgroups, listserves, internet discussion groups, organizational newsletters, or to interested individuals. Please give the Midwest Book Review a credit line when doing so.

The Midwest Book Review publishes the monthly book review magazines "California Bookwatch", "Internet Bookwatch", "Children's Bookwatch", "MBR Bookwatch", "Reviewer's Bookwatch", and "Small Press Bookwatch". All are available for free on the Midwest Book Review website at www (dot) midwestbookreview (dot) com

Anyone wanting to submit books for review consideration can send them to:

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575-1129

To submit reviews of any fiction or non-fiction books, email them to Frugalmuse (at) aol (dot) com (Be sure to include the book title, author, publisher, publisher address, publisher website/phone number, 13-digit ISBN number, and list price).

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review