Customer Reviews

An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I like the big white pages. To me, it feels like being in a gallery, without the background chatter and the one woman with too much perfume who talks too loud, you know who you are. All the white space lets you focus on just that photo, that moment. The detailed captions are a treat for the mind.

This isn't a book of snapshots. Each photo demands contemplation and admiration that she got consent to access this location. Except Disney, of course. Their letter of rejection and their reasoning at the end is droll, compared to what she was granted permission to capture. Several of these locations I knew of. Many I didn't. Some are upsetting, as they should be.

Bravo!

I purchased this book following a visit to a superb exhibition containing many of the photos in the book. The concept, the photographs, and the accompanying text for each image, were absolutely enthralling in the exhibition. Photos in the exhibition were all quite large, and many were incredibly complex. We spent a long time examining each one. As you might expect, the photos in the book are not nearly as large (duh!), but also were not reproduced with the same clarity. Much of the detail is lost and some of the images seem very dark. I have to say I was a bit disappointed, as I had purchased two copies of the book as gifts for people who were unable to attend the exhibition; although I knew there would be a loss of quality in each reproduced image, I was not expecting the loss to be as great. It is a shame, because Taryn Simon's work is exceptional.

Having seen the small exhibition at the Whitney Museum devoted to this body of work (It's currently on view there until early June.), I strongly believe that this book confirms what many people - myself included - have thought of fellow Brunonian Taryn Simon's work ever since she made her spectacular debut with "The Innocents" a few years ago. "An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar" demonstrates that she has become one of our most important documentary photographers, stretching her artistic terrain to encompass much more than the fine environmental portraiture that she demonstrated so well in "The Innocents". Stylistically, Simon is indeed all over the map, but she still has made memorable color images which pay homage to work from the likes of Lewis Baltz, Richard Mishrach, Walker Evans and Richard Avedon to name but a few (I might add too that like most of these photographers, Simon works primarily with a large format camera, using availiable light only to photograph her subjects.). If there is a serious artistic criticism to be made of her latest body of work, then it's probably one related to her sequencing of images (It's a point that I've remembered vividly well from an intermediate photography course I had taken years before, which was taught by distinguished photographer Harold Jones, the founding director of both New York City's Light Gallery and the University of Arizona's Center for Creative Photography.) - though this may be more the fault of her editors than of Ms. Simon herself. If you're unfamiliar with Simon's memorable imagery, then "An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar" is a superb place to begin your artistic journey.

The photos would stand on their own, but the narrative associated with each one of them makes the book stand apart. If you want to know more about the author and her work before buying the book I would recommend the video that can be found on [...].

This book creates its own space in a way only a few can do. Its images are (almost all) just right - including the right size. They aren't large but they invite intense observation and they look terrific.

It's really amazing all the work and effort that was put into creating these images. I saw her show at The Whitney like the other reviewer, and i really enjoyed her work so i bought the book on amazon (I'm not trying to plug amazon, but it was a lot cheaper here than other places i looked) The photographs absolutely stand on their own, but the captions are extremely important to the images. The book is simple, as are the images, but it is definately unique and unfamiliar.

For people who are interested in photo art Simons Book ist a must have. Her intelligently chosen situations - the hidden and unfamiliar - remind me in their cool and calm way of being photographed the work of Edward Hopper. Simon absolutely knows how to catch the right moment and the right light. You get a view deeply below the surface of our modern civilisation.
Beside of this, the book is of great heavy quality, it's worth its price.
Well done, Taryn!

She has been here for awhile, and we have been totally unfamiliar with her work until recently, thanks to the TED talk she did.
As it gets laid out in her book, An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar, there are things and places that are hidden in plain site, so to speak, but once you know the origins and explanations of the subjects, the experiential skew shifts, dramatically.

We are not usually fans of the photographs that are supplanted by accompanying text, to make their point felt. This photographers work is a HUGE exception.
We actually gave a copy of her book, "The Innocents", away on our site, [...]
Highly recommended, speaking as new converts to her work.

Many of these images are copies of ones in the National Geographic. Almost exact copies.

"I am at war with the obvious" - Eggleston

it wasn't as i expected, small pictures, as unique as they were very few were visually stunning.