Customer Reviews

Hutterites of Montana

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

 

 

Once in awhile, you find a book that outstrips others and stands on its' own. This isn't the glam photography of Annie Liebowitz, the sexually overt Herb Ritts, nor is it the intentionally odd portraiture of Diane Arbus. This is an artist in the same league as Ansel Adams, Richard Avedon, Galen Rowell, and Phil Borges. Simply put, Laura Wilson is a thoughtful artist, whose vision and understanding are the product of a level of artistic and a respect for history that few others show. If there is one word that stands above all it is this: craft.

This book is the result of years of visiting and slowly getting to know the Hutterites, not an easy task. A friend of Richard Avedon, Laura Wilson's greatness and strength show up in her photos which depict the people as they are. If you can, buy them all! Her work is an education in the type of commitment it takes to make and pursue fine art.

This is not a coffee table book. Nor is it a book to be wasted on a library shelf. The photographs and brief accompanying text are meant to be consumed slowly, revisted, again revisted, appreciated like two fingers of old sour mash sipped during the bleak. It is irrelevant that a few of the photographs appear slightly grainy. What the artist brilliantly captures are facets of modesty and humility among a gracious people who, by choice, live a somewhat remote, sometimes trying life.

Laura Wilson's photographs are truly extraordinary. I first was introduced to them by a recent essay on the PBS News Hour. The few photograps that were shown left me mesmerized and eager to see more. The presentation of the photographs in the book, however, is extremely disappointing. Rather than helping the photographs, the layout gets in the way. Several of the best photos are split between two pages ( e.g., the photo of the women on the haystacks is split 75%/25%). Also, many of the photos are blown up so large that graininess becomes a significant problem.

Laura Wilson's photographs deserve a far better presentation than they are given in this volume.

-

This book could easily qualify as a very readable ethnography of Hutterites and is a great example of the beauty of Black and White photography. It explores the Hutterites alternative lifestyle and shows how they very sucessfully coexists with modern American culture.

Highly recomended, many large pictures taken and reproduced with superb craftsmanship.