Customer Reviews

Family

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(20)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The core audience of this book may be people who are fans of the artists, but if you are not, or if you have not heard of these artists, you may also enjoy this book as an artistic endeavor. Fear not, the book introduces these artists to us in many different ways. I was not familiar with these artists before the book, so my review is from that perspective...

The photographer, Lauren Dukoff, produced a photo-album - capturing the moments and the life of a group of musicians - the Family. In this particular case, the photographer herself is also part of the Family, which makes this book an even more intimate and in-depth look at the musicians and personalities. Obviously, if you are familiar with the artists, you can have a better appreciation of the different photographs, scenes and expressions.

There are different types of photographs in the book - performance shots, portrait-style photos, and snapshots of life and the fleeting moment. There is black and white, there is color, there is reflection, spontaneity, costumes, emotion, and a few pictures that capture "the moment".

The book also includes instructions on how to download eight mp3 songs from the artists in the book - this is a great idea for non-fans, as they can get a sampling of the featured artists. A smart thing to do!

The book itself, from a book-perspective is beautifully crafted, with a foreword by Devendra, and an introduction by Lauren who gives us the background story and introduces the artists to us. The main "dish" are the photographs themselves, sprinkled with artwork from the artists themselves.

At the end of the book, we find plenty more: poetry from the artists, bios for all artists featured in the book, and a list of all the photographs shown, in thumbnail format, mentioning where each picture was taken and who is featured in the picture. This is very helpful if you are not intimately familiar with the artist.

All the photographs were taken with film cameras, as the photographer prefers to use that medium over the convenience of digital. And this is perhaps evident in the pictures, as film is a better suited format for capturing the mood and emotion of this beautifully crafted book.

I remember being a child, and one of my favorite things to do was to go through my mom's record collection. Mostly to listen to the music she collect, but also to just sit in front our fireplace and look at the visual images contained on and within that 12 by 12 inch cardboard square. It gave me a greater connection not only to the music, but to the artist, and in some cases, the time period my mother lived in. I was a child of the 80's who grew up on music from the 60's. Which brings us to the here and now, and the scope of today's music. With most music coming in a digital form, so goes the ability to connect to artists via visual representation. You download a song, and if you're lucky, you get a jpeg image of an overly marketed and researched piece of "art." You don't get to see the images of your musician on the road, at home, in the studio. You lose that connection to an artist and their music. One could debate if that is why today's music has very little value to it, because listeners don't have that connection.

Enter in "Family," by Lauren Dukoff. The best way to describe this book isn't as a photography book per se. Instead, consider it a 192 page album cover/CD booklet. You get a view of these artists in a candid setting. They rarely pose for the photos, so you might see how they interact with one another, or their behavioral mannerism. Just as you would come to expect from an album cover/CD booklet, but there is more to this book that just that. Okay, so let me break down this book...

I don't know what I can say about the photos. I'm a photographer myself, and I have opinions on critiquing others' works. I just don't do it. Art is art, and art is a representation of what one thinks, feels, or expresses. How do you criticize an emotion? The best I can offer in the sense of an opinion is if you want some examples of a certain style of photography, then this book is excellent to have in your library. Yeah, there are a couple photos one could question as being bad, such as the lack of good exposure on the "Spleen" photo. However, I have seen worse photos suffering from the same problem, and everyone but I called them genius. So what do I know? To me, my favorite photo is of "Priestbird" and a standoff with a goat. Just the color, the texture, and the limitless abilities of finding a story to go along with that image make it stand out.

Next are the literary portions of the book. You have a compelling forward written by Devendra Banhart, followed by a candid introduction from Lauren Dukoff. Following the photography portion are a collection of poems or monologues by the different subjects. Like I said before, if you think of this book in the context as an album cover/CD booklet, then this collection of writing is a pure delight for a fan of these artists. I'm a Motown kid who grew up in Humboldt County. So while I may not connect with the artist or their music. I know people who would, and understand their views. Following the collection of writings are biographies of the subjects. Again: album cover/CD booklet. With an epilogue of acknowledgements and a glossary/index of each photo and the subjects photographed. The final bonus of this book would have to be the inclusion of free digital downloads. Just in case you don't know who these artists are, and you want to get a better connection to them and their music. The web address and code to download the songs are located on the second to last page of this finely crafted book.

Okay, now you're asking, if everything I have said is so positive, why am I giving it four stars? It's a great book, if you think of it in the context that I have lamented over and over again of it being an album cover. However, for me, as an individual, I can't say it's perfect for me. It's a great book, and I'm sure for a collection of people out there it is a treasured find. If anything, this book may be just that to me, the perfect obscure gift to certain friends who I know would enjoy this book. All in all, it's a great book, full of eclectic images and insightful information about other artist I knew nothing about.

Photo books of musicians or music scenes are tricky business. Too often, these tomes come across as either lifeless documents of some alien world to which the reader has no relatable context, or they function as vaguely voyeuristic glimpses into the lives of those who are lauded as heroes. The pictures of Lauren Dukoff's Family, however, attempt something greater in scope than simple documentation of moments in time. In Dukoff's photos of Devendra Banhart, fellow musicians, and friends, the photographer strives to connect her subjects through their like-minded spirituality, musical ideology, and overall appreciation of art that, in turn, make them "family." The images are of the intimate sort, whether they be of Banhart overlooking the beautifully greenery outside his home/studio in Topanga, CA, Bat For Lashes' Natasha Kahn putting on makeup in her Brooklyn, NY home, or Vashti Bunyan holding an acoustic guitar and laughing. These pictures not only pick up on the humanity of their subjects, but also tie together the musical and artistic threads that bind them. And in this sense, Dukoff succeeds in documenting the "family" she envisions, and manages to create a larger, more thought-provoking narrative.
By Frank Valish

I like the title of this book, Family. It really sets the tone for the content. Yes, the pictures are simple and 'snapshot' like in nature. It's as if you're looking through the group's personal "family" album. I really don't know much about them as individuals or as a musical group, so I missed out on some of the deeper meaning and expressions of the photos.
If you're a fan, or know them like 'family', you'll enjoy this simple and beautiful compilation of photos.
If you know nothing of the music or musicians, it'll be like staring at a stranger's photo album.

My favorite music by current musicians, is for the most part all played by those bands/performers that fall into that FREAKFOLK camp. I love that acid folk from Donovan, Pentangle, Dylan 65-66, Tyrannasaurus Rex, right to the first "modern" freakfolk---HOPE SANDOVAL (Mazzy Star). So, to have a book with photos of all my favorite musicians, to sit and look at while their CDs play in the backround, is an absolute JOY. For anyone that has albums by Dev Banhart, Espers, Vetiver, Feathers, etc, then you know their CD art doesnt center around photos of the performers. (unlike the LP covers of the first wave of psychedelic folk artists, where the photograph of the artist WAS the album cover.) So we know what Donovan, Dylan, etc looked like...what about THESE guys? I could walk past these new guys, and forget to scream and faint. So, the first positive kick I got, was AH, that's what Andy Cabic from VETIVER looks like. AH, that's what the people in ESPERS looks like, and the people from FEATHERS, at their favorite energy spot. (Joanne Newsom is the ONLY one in this book, who had her image central to her CD artwork. Maybe MEGAPUSS is another exception, but then again, that's just DEVENDRA BANHART and another guy, and Banhart's image is recognizable from his music press coverage.) So for those who enjoy the visual "LOOK" of FREAKFOLK musicians, this book is just PERFECT for you. Also, if you collect photography books about musicians, the photography here is lovely, intimate and warm. Shot with analogue film, about 75% in B&W, 25% in color, the first book I'm immediately reminded of, is Linda McCartney's book of photography about the Psychedelic 60s' musicians, called "SIXTIES-Portrait of an Era". Linda was shooting photos for Rolling Stone magazine at the time, documenting that short period when "The beautiful people" were tripped out, creating the music which influences these young musicians 40+ years later. "FAMILY" serves the same purpose, that Linda's book does. It documents a time, a philosophy, a community, for us today, and those who will be handed this era of music in the future. "FAMILY" is a fantastic document of beautiful young (and young at heart) musicians, all neo-hippie freaks, living that "golden age" of hippie communes, home studios in Topango Canyon or Woodstock, grooving out in the woods, or preparing for, or taking to, the stage. Many photographs have a certain "posed" character to them, maybe because many were taken for promotional purposes, album covers, and for this book. The candid photos, have the fierce energy of a live performance caught on tape, verses a studio rendition of a song. The majority of photos consist of Devendra Banhart, the close friend and muse, of Lauren Dukoff.

The book opens with a short forward by Devendra, then Lauren Dukoff writes about how she got into photography, how she developed her friendship with Devendra before his career started. She discusses her idea of FAMILY, as those people who shared Banhart's stage, his albums, his life, and his musical influences. Then, photos and more photos, until you hit the poems at the end. Now, I have one bit of criticism, or it could be a great compliment, depending on one's point of view about how photography OUGHT to be displayed in books. So many artbooks with photography, will have a caption either OVER a corner of the photograph, or off to the side in the "margin", that tells you WHO is in the photograph, WHERE it was taken, and WHEN. This book doesnt work like that. NO page numbers, NO margins (except when the photo doesnt reach a page edge), and NO discriptions. You just go from page to page, and enjoy what you see. Now, the problem is that we DONT know what most of the musicians look like from their CD artwork. So, you have to turn to the back of the book.. There, tiny repos of the photos are shown, with the nessacary info...WHO, WHAT, WHEN, etc. this is annoying at first, until you LEARN what the people look like. Then that struck me as really cool. You dont esthetically absorb photographs, while using your "left brain" to work out the intellectual part, the WHOS and WHATS and WHENS. Intead, the book keeps us connected to our "RIGHT BRAIN", the artistic part, to view the people, enjoy their youthful beauty and lifestyle. Connecting them to NAMES, to BANDS, is a different process, occuring on a different page. Also, not all the photos are portraits. Lauren snapped cool pics of Devendra's artwork, and the homes of many other musicians as well, and their artwork too. (Its no secret that artschool produces lots of musicians.) But for some, there'll be frustration flipping to the back of the book, trying to locate a particular photograph, with no page numbers to help, on those two pages of tiny contact photos matched to the subject's names and other info.

There are other MEGACOOL bits with this book. Little goodies like poetry by various musicians, a nice short bio about every musician or band photographed in the book, and a website where you go to download songs by 8 different musicians who are part of the FAMILY in the book. Except for the song from VETIVER's second album, I didnt recognise ANY of the music or musicians. AND THAT"S EXACTLY WHAT YOU WOULD WANT! Because one of the BEST parts of the book, is finding out about other folk musicians, from Bert Jansch (Pentangle), or Vashti Bunyan from the 60s folk scene, right up to FEATHERS (cool Vermont band), ESPERS (Fantastic philly band), and Vetiver (Hope Sandoval sang on their first album.) I might have wanted to see a little more of the other freakfolk acts, and a little less of Devendra, but it's obvious that the photographer and he are like family, so its understandable. Diffenately the book functions as a discovery guide for fringe acts in the FREAKFOLK family, and who could critisize that? I recommend the book to all freakfolks, from the 1960s up til today. Because good music, especially the music that revolves around communes, mind expansion, poetry, art, and free spirits, will always be around us. Naturally, the times changed, but freedom, beauty and hope never do. BUT, the souls of free spirits, hippies and poets, share the quality of SEARCHING for that revelation of beauty. In 40 years, lets hope another family of FREAKFOLKS find a way to get their music is recorded and heard. And, lets hope that another photographer arises in those forward looking days, to document a future generation of beautiful freaks expanding their minds, finding FAMILY in those wild and bizarre ways that all free souls recognise and explore. This is a book for us, and for them.

This large-format album is more of a photo scrapbook than anything else. The author / photographer has compiled photos she has taken over the years of musician friends of hers, especially Devendra Banhart. Family has both black and white and color images, and shots both artsy and candid.

If you are familiar with the artists here, it might hold more interest for you than it did for me. I didn't know any of the musicians, and maybe that's why the photos seemed less than inspired. For me, the images didn't stand on their own without knowing the subjects.

On the plus side, this is a loving portrait of a group of artist friends and their close ties with one another. You can see the affection in the images.

I was interested in this book largely because I was hoping for beautiful photography, rather than having any particular interest in the subjects; while I like Devendra Banhardt, I don't tend to get absorbed in fandom. The photography in this book, while quite passable portraiture, really doesn't speak much to people who are not fans of its subjects, which is I suppose the entire point of the book. The printing seems a bit grainy. It's an attractive coffee-table book, but if you're not a fan who thrills to every image of your adored, don't bother.

Family is a photographic collection taken of Devendra Banhart and his intimate friends and musical collaborates that he has informally labeled "Family." When opening the book to the photo of Banhart's home, I feel as if I am being warmly invited in the front door. It's just another day; a simple moment...and it is being shared with me, and me alone.

After reading the subtle and straightforward introduction by Lauren Dukoff, I start to view the textless photos. My mind wanders within seconds, filling in the details of each unique situation. I feel the torn paper, smell the drifting smoke, hear the guitar strumming, and imagine the circumstances surrounding the images. Relaxation over comes me as I feel like I am the other part of the moment--the unseen person in the background. I have to remind myself that I am viewing flat static pictures and that these are not vibrant personal memories of my gentle friends. But at some point I surrender in the battle and allow myself to take Dukoff's place and be a part of the laughter, the silence, the artwork, or any other characteristics the pages surrounds me with.

No matter if the subject is staring directly in your eyes or if they are going about their business as if you were a dust particle on an old paper cup, I feel like I am part of their world. Lauren Dukoff has an undeniable talent for blending away the camera lens and making the viewer a true extension of the life filled moment. The photography encourages deep intimacy, while leaving any pretentiousness far behind. I am taking it in slowly, intentionally forcing the journey to continue as long as possible. I listen to the downloadable companion tunes to complete the excursion.

After it all comes to an end, I question if I am alone in being truly fascinated. I am confidant that many people randomly plucked from the population would quickly flip through this book and feel the complete disconnected opposite, thinking nothing of it. But for those of us that are attracted to Devendra Banhart's style of creativity and have an eye for offbeat art-engulfed lifestyles, some form of connection is virtually guaranteed.

I find Family beautiful, sincere, peace inducing and encouraging. This is a solid publication to be enjoyed for a long, long time. Take a moment to visit [..]family to fulfill your curiosity.

Family is a book by Lauren Dukoff, whose photographs are pure art. Lauren's father gave her a 35mm Canon camera when she was beginning high school, and Lauren immediately took to photographing people, especially her friends- musicians and artists. The photographs contained in her book have beautiful textures (especially the black and white), vivid colors, lovely play on light and artistic shapes and forms. Lauren's photographs are true forms of art.

I majored in Art in High School, and I've always admired the great photographer's ability to find artistic forms through the lens that makes a photograph, art. The worlds greatest photographers started out like Lauren, very young and instinctively knew their subject matter of choice. Francesco Scavullo, as a young teenager first photographed his sisters, then his neighbors before moving into the professional world of photography. Francesco said "I don't look back. I don't look ahead. I just look around." Looking through Family, you can see Lauren is always looking around. The great candid Hollywood photographer, Peter Stackpole also started out taking photos in high school. He would hide his camera in his desk and through an old inkwell hole in the desk take photos of his classmates and teachers.

Lauren's photos have this same candidness of her friends going through their ordinary day, also very similar to Linda McCartney's gorgeous pictures. There is an old photographer from Slovakia named Karol Plicka who photographed ordinary Slovak people, buildings, objects and scenery in the 1920's to the 1950's, whose photographs are treasured works of art today, because even though the photos are of people unknown, the art of his work, which captured those moments in time, is uncomparable. The same holds true for Lauren's photos, as the only person I knew in one of her photographs is Neil Young singing in California, yet all her photos hold this artistic merit, even though the people are unknown to me.

Lauren's photographs were taken in the U.S. and Europe as she follows her musician friends wherever they perform. One of my favorites is taken in England, where her friends are walking in tall grasses. There is a lovely feeling of movement in the photo. Another favorite of mine is her friend Devendra Banhart wearing Bob Dylan's hat and Mick Jaggers suit, as he is sitting on Jim Morrison's soft burgundy sofa. The textures from the lighting are so real, you can almost reach out and feel the softness of the velvets. Besides these intimate moments of Lauren's friends captured with her camera, the book contains poetry and biographies of her friends. There is also a free musical digital download, which lets you hear her friend's music. I hope Lauren Dukoff makes more books, as her photos are pure art forms, and you can tell like Scavullo, Lauren doesn't look ahead, and she doesn't look back, she just looks around.

One doesn't read a book of photographs for the accompanying text, so it was a very pleasant surprise to find that the Introduction by the photographer was a pleasure to read. I especially liked her metaphor for describing the value of mentors: You're not born with slick shoes; someone has to help you pick them out and show you how to tie the laces.

The book is a collection of photos of a "family" of loosely associated musicians. I must confess that I know none of the young musicians featured in this book. It doesn't matter. The photos are still interesting and compelling. And it is a refreshing change to see a young photographer using film rather than digital technology. I'm no expert, but the use of old-fashioned film seems to give many of the photos a warm intimacy that is often missing from digital photographs.

And this book has really beautiful end papers!