Customer Reviews

Album for an Age: Unconventional Words and Pictures from the Twentith Century

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

We expect photographers to reveal the world of the 'other'. Art Shay has been doing this for 50 years. "Album for an Age' depicts the lives and deaths of the famous and the infamous, as well as the ugly and the beautiful. We see them in social and historical contexts, and in private and public settings. There are portraits that Hollywood celebrities, artists and poets have posed for, and photos of underworld characters taken in secret by cameras hidden in his or his wife's clothing. There is humor in timely juxtapositions of people and places. One of my favorites is a close-up of a disheveled, grinning, toothless man, living in an Indiana poorhouse, holding aloft a bottle of Coca-Cola in a bizarre evocation of a slick advertisement. The unique contribution of this book, however, is when Art Shay turns his lens on himself, his family , and his feelings. The camera, no longer hidden, becomes a personal journal and a probe. He contrasts photos taken as an observer of an early heart by-pass procedure, with those taken 30 years later of himself, being prepped to receive a pig's aortic valve to replace his own, his only "non-Kosher" part. Most poignant are Art Shay's reminiscences about his oldest son, Harmon, named for his father, Herman, who was murdered at the age of 20. The man who has spent his life photographing celebrities and world leaders, as well as murderers and their victims is now the subject. This book, with its cover photo of a very young Marlon Brando playing with his dog, should appeal to a wide variety of people.

I like this book because you can open it anywhere for anecotes about the famous people the author took pictures of for Life Magazine and business magazines. It's funny, and in parts about his own life, is quite touching. I gave a copy to a friend in the hospital. He said he liked looking at the pictures because the captions told little stories and his visitors had something to read while he dosed. I gave it to another friend who keeps it on her coffee table, as she adores dogs. The picture on the cover makes her feel good. Its a wonderful, beautifully written book to give as gifts to friends and relatives. Its nuttier than fruit cake, sweeter than chocolate, and it last longer.