8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Picture Perfect: Beth Gwinn's Work, October 4, 2001
This review is from: Dark Dreamers: Facing the Masters of Fear (Hardcover)
Photography is a difficult craft to master. I've photo-illustrated my own books for years, studied photography on my own, and have accidentally taken a few good portraits, but I've never been able to take the time away from writing to spend in my own darkroom or in Photoshop (for digital photography) to bring my craft where I'd like it to be.
The curious reader may certainly find examples of my work in any of my published books, but the real point of this piece is not to talk about my work but to talk about Beth Gwinn's work.
Beth Gwinn has obviously put in a lot of time behind the camera to master the elusive art of photography, because this collection of photos is the work of a solid professional.
I wish Amazon.com had run a few of them to show the quality of the work, because these are portraits that do exactly what a photograph SHOULD do: Show us the subject in a new light.
I could point to page after page of personal favorites -- the shot of Clive Barker, positioned in front of one of his paintings captures him perfectly; and Christa Faust, the dark lady of the field, looks absolutely smashing in black.
But suffice to say that if you have any interest whatsoever in seeing a portrait of your favorite writer that goes beyond the sterile "deer in headlights" publicity shot most publishers use for dust jacket photo mterial, you'll find much to like in Beth Gwinn's work.
Stanley Wiater should need no introduction, if you know anything about this field. He's paid his dues and chronicled the field for years. He was obviously the set-up man for the photo shoots and arranged dozens of dark dreamers to sit (or stand) for these shots.
I also like the write-ups provided by the writers. They vary in length, but all provide a glimpse (or more) about the writer in question. A nice touch.
The publisher of this book, Cemetery Dance, probably does require an introduction to the Amazon.com community at large. Suffice it to say that Rich Chizmar knows how to put together a book: The book is oversized and beautifully bound in black cloth with silver stamping, the dust jacket is simple and elegant in its design, the binding is sturdy, and the paper stock is glossy, which enhances the reproduction.
If the market for this kind of book was bigger, Rich, I'm sure, would have sprung for some more shekels to print the photos using a duotone (or tri-tone) process, which involves running the pages through the press again to achieve a deeper, richer black, but let's face it, there's enough people to support such first class treatment for ANSEL ADAMS AT 100, but genre books like this are lucky to see the light of day, and for that we should thank Gwinn, Wiater and the publisher, Cemetery Dance.
I have in my book collection several similarly themed books. SOUTHERN WRITERS, THE WRITERS DESK, THE FACES OF FANTASY (Patti Perret), and dozens of photo books by the Big Name Photographers. Obviously, readers want to see the faces behind the words, and books like this that require a lot of traveling and coordination to put together are visual treasures -- real keepers.
Bottom line, then: Buy this book and leaf through the pages and marvel at the portraits, and thank your lucky stars that there are small presses out there that devote their limited resources to books of this nature.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I liked it., February 27, 2006
This review is from: Dark Dreamers: Facing the Masters of Fear (Hardcover)
I don't often see pictures or read interviews from a number of artists and authors I'm familiar with, so a book like this that can package photographs and often words from the author/artist themselves on the genre of horror and their hand in it sounded like a good idea to me, and indeed so it turned out to be. I enjoyed it. Just some random thoughts on the individual sections:
Ackerman - He looks like an old-time fop in this picture. Amusing.
Atkins - I liked his comments.
Barker - Nice photo - I was struck by his pensive and hard to pigeonhole expression.
Bradbury - Looking every bit the icon he is.
Cave - Looks the part of "the elderly man of letters."
Clegg - Somewhat creepy looking.
Daniels - Looks like a used car salesman.
Eggleton - He looks like what many people imagine a horror artist would look like. He has that "gothic badass" look in his photo.
Ellison - One of my favorite authors in the group, I was amused to see him looking like a rakish, sketchy salesman of some sort in his picture.
Faust - A theatrical pose from an attractive woman and talented author.
Fletcher - For some reason, this picture brings to mind a fading, aging Hollywood actress from years past.
Gaiman - Another one of my favorite authors, this picture looks like they self-consciously attempted to make him look "cool." Well, it worked.
Giger - I hadn't seen many pictures of Giger, and this one makes him look truly imposing, with a stony visage like some terrible Greek god.
Golden - His words resonate here.
Hamilton - Never saw a picture of her before, she's an attractive woman, and sort of gothy-looking as well.
Herbert - I've read a number of his books, but somehow didn't remember seeing him on a jacket cover. My first thought was "Wow, he looks sort of like Roger Daltrey." *Very* British looking.
Hodge - A talented writer who looks like a bit of dandy in this picture. Another picture with somewhat of a theatrical feel. His written section was amusing, if not a little alarming.
Koontz - His written section was very uplifting, if it's true.
Laymon - I like a number of his books; in this picture he comes off looking quite creepy. Probably intended, knowing his works.
Lee - A funny picture. I've read some of his books, but I'd never seen a picture. He's unshaven, wearing slob clothes, a Black Flag shirt, and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. He looks like what some people might think a stereotypical horror convention fan or aging punk rocker might look like. Good stuff.
Lumley - Ha! Great picture. I'd never seen Brian Lumley before, though I've enjoyed his books. He looks for all the world like an old British politician.
Newman - Self-consciously crazy looking picture - he looks like his job and a guy who writes the books he does. Not totally unlike Weird Al Yankovic back in the day either.
Taylor - Cute and elegant.
Tem - Steve Tem's written piece is interesting.
Tessier - He looks like like one of those American authors you see in pictures from Paris in the 1920s in this picture; of course this seems to be intentional.
Wagner - Great picture. This picture makes Karl Edward Wagner look like a rip-roaring wild guy who lived life to the fullest. He died too young though, so I suppose you could also read it as a cautionary photo.
Yarbro - I'd read a few of her books, never saw a picture, but she looks like my high school history teacher.
Those are some of my thoughts as I flip through the book. If anything interested you, pick it up and give it a chance for yourself.
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