Customer Reviews

Alone Together: Life on an Island in Maine

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

 

 

Naturally, being the author of the text of this book, and a fan of Graham's photography, I give it five stars--but also because the review format insists that I rate it.(Another example of the domination of the machine. Otherwise, I would have left the rating blank.)

To avoid any confusion, it should be noted that the photographs by David Graham were taken before the contents of the house were removed and that the book is, in fact, a catalogue for his current exhibition in Philadelphia.

Graham used my essay on the Kellams, which also appears in my book Against the Machine, as text, arranging his photographs in the sequence I speak of in the essay.

There are only a few copies left.

For thirty-five years, I have lived with this island dominating the view from my living room windows. The poignant life story of the "Kellams of Placentia Island" is a legend on Swans Island and throughout the neighboring community. These beautiful photographs do justice to the elegant simplicity and loving retreat created by this couple. Thanks to David and to Nicols for respectfully saving this piece of our heritage.

The photographs are terrific, and the narrative does a beautiful job of connecting them. It's a photography book, after all, not just a story with pictures. Anyone who has ever spent any time on a coastal island in Maine will appreciate the sensitivity and beauty of the photographs, and I found the story of the Kellams very meaningful. The story of their life should cause us all to reconsider our priorities.

Having been twice to the island that is the subject of this pictorial essay, I was eager to buy the book. However beautiful the pictures are, and they are exquisite, I would love to have seen much more of the island itself rather than the home of the couple who escaped modern life to live there for decades. After all, they must have spent a great deal of time out of their house! However, the title honestly lays out the focus "Alone Together" and the emphasis is on their story.
Because of my specific interest in this place, I am happy to have bought the book to share with the pilot friend whose float plane took us there. But for most people I would think this book is too pricey for what's inside; 32 pages of pictures with the story of the couple. I would love to have read, and seen, more of the island's own story: its flora and fauna, geology, shorelines, streams, and seasonal changes. I guess the book I really want has yet to be written!

I was extremely disappointed in this book. I read a review for it in my local paper and was so intrigued I pre-ordered it at least a month before it became available. I checked my mailbox each day and when it finally arrived I read it and looked at the pictures for maybe 30 minutes. I'm not sure how I missed this, but I was expecting a life story, not a breif narrative with photos. The photos were lovely, but as the narrative, simply left more questions than were answered. What a great book this could have been!

This is not really a book - just a pamphlet. Perhaps the style is meant to follow the simple life the kellams led. You will not get many facts re. the kellams and in fact it turns out that the house was tipped upside down and presumably put back enough to take these photos.

Having said all this it is still a poignant look into one couple's life on an isolated island. I think i would wait and buy it used.......