Customer Reviews

Botanica

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

With much anticipation I purchased this book prior to it's release. Having already owned most of the other books published by Mr. Schatz and even the odd print I felt that it was not much of a leap of faith. To say that the book is dissappointing is to say that "The Care Bear Movie II: The New Generation" was not a great movie. The book is simply horrible. Like the idea of remaking the Care Bear Movie II but in an unknown language with subtitles I wonder why it was done at all. I wish I had kinder words but the book leaves me with a real sense of bewilderment - Why? Why sooo bad? The dreadful composition. The alien color. The amount of work that is out of focus (which is not a skillful use of a technique but just a disaster)does not work for this subject matter. The idea was solid but the execution screams out that it was put together in one evening after a few beers.

Truly breathtaking close-up photographs of flowers. Tulips, lilies, roses and the more exotic fritillaria and passion flowers have never looked like this before. Nevertheless, it is their natural beauty that grows on each page. Just as his book, WATER DANCE, makes you reconsider underwater photography, Howard Schatz has brought a new perspective to the garden flower.

Alice
Friday Harbor, WA

This is an unusual book of flower photographs by the renowned photographer Howard Schatz who is well know for his highly original flowing, gravity defying photographs of dancers and models captured underwater. This passion with flowing human form has translated into a unique view of flowers which are choreographed and photographed from a similar perspective. Schatz's flowers are dramatic, detailed and colorized and present an artistic view of flowers that is new and challenging. This incredibly beautiful book furthers the classic art form of flower representation. Buy it and you will be pleased and astonished.

The purpose of visual art is to capture our attention. Whether
a photograph compels you to gaze or to revisit the image again
and again, it must astonish. Schatz, who has repeatedly
in the past fifteen years made a name for visually seductive
images, here combines form and color to change our view of
nature. These photographs do not merely force us to rethink
the geometry of flowers, they make us wonder.

Ronald

Howard Schatz's photographs of flowers can only be described as his newest artform -- once again this photographer has re-invented how we look at beauty, first with his underwater photography and now looking anew at the blooms of life.

The full-page plates are exquisite and I highly recommend this as a holiday gift.

Howard Schatz and Beverly Ornstein's new book- "Botanica" is a feast for the eyes. The photos of flowers have luscious colors and I kept wanting to sniff the pages to check out the aroma! Perhaps they will do a"scratch and sniff"in the next book. Like all of their previous books, the production qualities are excellent and a section at the back with small photos of the individual pages with explanations are helpful. This is truly a work of art and will make an excellent gift for yourself or someone on your Holiday list. Who deosn't like gorgeous flowers??

Being in the wholesale nursery business it is refreshing to see both flowers and plants used in an artistic manner.
This book rivals Mother Nature! Turning what nature has to offer into an artistic kaledioscope of color and beauty.
This truely shows the ingenious imagination and ability of Howard Schatz to share his vision with others.

Whether you are a lover of flowers or you just enjoy great photography, you'll be blown away by Schatz' images.

The vibrant colors pop off the page. The shapes of many of the flowers are not to be believed. The creativity exhibited in so many of his other works continues here.

With his first book on flowers, Schatz has raised the bar extremely high for future photo books of flowers.

This is a pretty cool book for those that like Bordnick or O'Keefe. Floral still life, playing with color. It's been a fun addition to my collection.

This book is a sensual treat. Flowers are quite literally the sex organs of plants, and Howard Schatz's photographs of them are as unabashedly erotic as they are beautiful. The colors are so incredibly luscious and the floral images exude such sexuality that the viewer can't help but viscerally respond. This is a book one will want to savor repeatedly.