Kyle,
I received your book on, of all days, Independence Day (it was delivered yesterday to my office and I didn't see it until today). My first impressions are - WOW. It reached me on so many different levels: the 'familial' based on one of our LUG family creating a masterpiece; the photographic, based on the technique in achieving the images - bounce flash, rear fill flash, and the inadvertent (?) self portrait on page 127; the contextual notion that the Second Amendment (I am a left wing Democrat, christian more of an Episcobuddhist, anti-war, anti-violence, etc. ) must be always enforced, and in light of the recent idiocy in the WH seems ever more important; and finally the sub-context of all of the animals is just delightful.
This is so much different, and better, than what I had expected after reviewing the online images. Seeing the images in print form allows for so much more detail; the messiness/neatness of the subject environs; the additional items, or lack thereof, in their living areas adds so much more to the meaning of each photo. I can't help but wonder how much of the shoot was staged vs. their actual environment. And the captures of the animals are priceless. This was no easy task.
I was also struck by the verbosity or lack thereof of the subjects when commenting on their gun ownership and what stuck me most was the argument that the Second Amendment, like all of the Amendments, must be upheld against the moneyed interest purchasing politicians attempting to take away ANY freedoms. This is akin to the NRA, ACLU and Sierra club all agreeing on the same thing.
I don't like guns. I was going to say I don't have any guns but that isn't exactly true - I have an old flintlock from the Spanish American war that belonged to a relative of mine standing in the corner of my living room. Why? It just looks neat. This book doesn't necessarily change my need to have or not have guns but it does cause me to rethink any notion of banning guns.
Well, done, Kyle, well done.
