Animals [Hardcover]

Art Shay (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 3, 2002 | ISBN-10: 0252027426 | ISBN-13: 978-0252027420 | Edition: First Edition

For thousands of years, humans have pondered the difference between themselves and other animals. 'Reason', say some. 'Souls' say others. More philosophical folk say, 'Taxes'. But few can dispute that animals - like humans, their cousins and neighbours - are among the most sublime wonders of the world we inhabit. These photographs bridge some of the differences by surveying - usually with telephoto lenses - the landscapes that humans and animals share: African jungles, Ohio waterways, the wild streets of New York City and Chicago, circuses, carnivals, zoos from California to Florida, and the sky that arches over all life. Culled from five decades' worth of the acclaimed photographer Art Shay's illustrious body of work, these pictures lovingly and often acerbically capture miraculous moments of creatures great and small, wild and domestic.Artful and moving, they run the gamut of emotions from pity and compassion to laughter and joy. Through Shay's lens, we see snakes slithering among branches decorated with their own molted skins. The hands of man and monkey meet across a Florida zoo fence as a peanut is passed in an interspecies gesture of love. A pampered pooch at a Gay Pride parade gets a drink of expensive bottled water. A mutt returns to his loving master through the wrecked door of what looks like a bombed-out hovel. A lucky lap dog guards her owner's bingo card at a church bazaar.A Chicago woman, not expecting to confront death on her stroll, inspects a dead curbside pigeon. A brave, lost rabbit streaks into the end zone of Soldier Field, more than the nearby Bears were able to do. Louie, a bibulous pig posing for Life magazine, sucks on a can of beer. From behind the bars of her cage a leopard walks in stride with a fashionable zoo-goer clad in a similar, but synthetic, coat. In Shay's often whimsical portraits of his fellow creatures, we recognize our common mammalian foibles. From photograph to photograph, page to page, the ark-like juxtaposition and pairing of images catch the interaction between humans and animals, for better or worse - how we imitate them, and they, in turn, us. By turns compassionate, ironic, and capricious, this masterful collection affirms our abiding fascination with the animal world. Paws, claws, and hooves down, "Animals" is a treasure.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Whimsical some of these black and white photographs are, but there isn't a shred of sentimentality in any of them... [Shay] has sought out the rich ironies of serendipitous happenings, as befits a true working grabshooter -- a photographer whose mission it is to capture the days news, not to pretty it up... This book is a Chicago treasure, just like Shay." -- Henry Kisor, Chicago Sun-Times Showcase "A lively and poignant collection of images of people and their relations to animals. Contradicting the maudlin view of the man-nature connection, the images in Animals disclose the complex and self-projecting habits we exhibit, in all their clarity." -- Doubletake "Shay ... has shot something like 25,000 photographs, many of them for Life and Time magazines... But he'd prefer to be shot himself, he said, before he'd produce a book of dogs dressed up like humans... What is needed when approaching animals is the antic eye of a New Yorker cartoonist." -- Jon Anderson, Chicago Tribune "Unravels the beauty of the animal world in the context of human lives." -- Fore Word "Funny, moving and occasionally provocative... Shay, whose photos have appeared in virtually every major magazine, journeys around the world for these wonderful shots, almost all of which reflect a sensibility that is at once engaged and amused... A delightful book." -- The Globe and Mail "A collection drawn from five decades of the photographer's work celebrates animals with humans in natural and domestic settings, from the image of a man passing a peanut to a monkey to a pig drinking a can of beer, in a volume that also seeks to reveal the animal within human beings." -- Forecast ADVANCE PRAISE "Art Shay has illustrated a sensitivity toward animals and their relationships with people and their environments that is as magnificent as wildlife itself. The photographs are simply wonderful. I would encourage anyone who cares about animals to buy this book." -- Kevin Bell, president and chief executive officer, Lincoln Park Zoo "Art Shay is an American original and his photographs show an eye and an imagination that can look around corners." -- Roger Ebert "Chicago's Art Shay in many ways is to American photography as Nelson Algren was to American writing: that rare and absolutely necessary citizen who's blessed with a cold eye, a clear head, and a warm heart. What is it about Chicago that keeps giving us men like this?" -- Russell Banks "The backgrounds make me nostalgic for the Chicago of my youth, and the subjects for a pristine world before the evolution of the opposing thumb." -- David Mamet "The best images of Simone de Beauvoir and her times have been passed down to us by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Gisele Freund, Robert Doisneau, Georges Brassai, and in America, the Chicago-based Art Shay, all world-class photographers." -- Christophe Loviny

Product Details

• Hardcover: 156 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press; First Edition edition (May 3, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252027426
• ISBN-13: 978-0252027420
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 10.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,691,398 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Contact!, July 23, 2002

By 

Janet David (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Animals (Hardcover)

'Contact'! is the title of the last photo in Art Shay's new book of photographs, 'Animals.' It shows a human hand and a hairy simian hand with a peanut between them; it isn't clear who is the giver and who is the receiver. The theme of this book is the ways in which we share the planet with other animal species and the things we have in common with each other. The cover photo shows a woman wearing a leopard coat, walking past a leopard in its cage. Photos of horses and dogs at work, a hog drinking beer, a squirrel eating matzoh and other animals going about their ordinary daily lives remind us of the ways in which we identify with and influence each other. What is particularly appealing about this book is the spontaneity and unpretentiousness of these photos which take us all over the world, from various locations in the United States to Europe and Africa. This book will delight anyone who has had a warm or interesting or unusual contact with an animal, and who hasn't?

5.0 out of 5 stars Some Pictures Are Worth A Lot More Than A Thousand Words., December 3, 2003

By 

bo champagne (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Animals (Hardcover)

An amazing and thought-provoking book! The simple title belies the depth of meaning of these photographs and the way they are arranged. When all is said and done, Art Shay will likely go down as an American icon, and works such as this will be the reason. You will surely find yourself wondering time and again, "How did he get that shot?!" Shay is not only a master of his equipment, but seems to have also mastered the art of being the fly on the wall that we all wish we could be at times.

You owe it to yourself to go through this book at least three times. I suggest that you initially not read any of the notes, but dive right into the viewing. During your first perusal, it's probably best to look at each picture singly, absorbing the essence of each according to what it has to offer to you. As you turn the pages during your second viewing, notice how the two photographs facing you each time you turn a page relate to each other in some way - be it theme, animal type, photo structure...it's up to you to see it. (I apologize for giving this aspect away to those who would have noticed it on their own, but I saw no mention of it anywhere in the notes, and felt it too important a feature to allow to go unmentioned.)

Now, before and during your third trip through the book, turn to Art Shay's notes at the front of the book, which tell the stories behind the photos. See if you aren't moved even further as you turn each page. Personally, after reading Shay's description of the animal control officer removing a cancer-ridden lady's only pet, I get teary-eyed every time I view that picture. Other pages now cause me to smile or laugh every time I turn to them.

Animals indeed! Yes, this book has lots of pictures of animals, but once you jump on board you'll find yourself on the roller coaster ride of emotions that comes with being fully alive.
Tickets, please!