Leaves & Pods [Hardcover]

Josie Iselin (Author), Mary Ellen Hannibal (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2006

From the delicate new growth that emerges in springtime to jewel-toned fall foliage to winter's brown husks, leaves unfurl, mature, and wither in a life cycle that evokes our own. But a tree's leaves and the protective pods that cradle its seeds not only serve as metaphors for our lives: they actually sustain us. Each leaf plays an essential role, gathering nutrients for the tree and producing oxygen for the planet.

In Leaves & Pods, artist Josie Iselin celebrates the diversity and beauty of these transitory objects with lushly detailed portraits of foliage she has gathered throughout the seasons across the world. As in her previous book, Beach Stones, Iselin arranges found natural objects into striking images, which she produces on a flatbed scanner. In her introduction and captions, nature writer Mary Ellen Hannibal thoughtfully examines leaves and pods in all their variety, explaining why they look as they do and their essential role in supporting life on earth.

Both an art book and a botanical guide, Leaves & Pods reveals the splendor, complexity, and purpose of some of the most common objects in our natural world. This contemplation of nature combines aesthetic delight in familiar objects with scientific fact and philosophical wonder.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Josie Iselin is a photographer and installation artist. She holds a Bachelors degree from in Visual and Environmental Studies from Harvard and a Master of Fine Arts from San Francisco State University. Although her training is in traditional photography, she now produces images exclusively with a flatbed scanner and a computer. Her work has been exhibited at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Intersection for the Arts, SF Camerawork, and art galleries in and around San Francisco, where she lives.

Mary Ellen Hannibal writes often about environmental issues. She has worked with the Friends of the Urban Forest, as well as the San Francisco Botanical Gardens and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. She is also an active member of Kids’ Turn, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping children and their parents to cope with divorce, and she wrote the organization’s de facto manual, Good Parenting Through Your Divorce.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams; First Edition edition (September 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810930781
• ISBN-13: 978-0810930780
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 7.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #329,641 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Josie Iselin is a photographer who has foregone the tradition of the camera; she uses her flatbed scanner exclusively to generate her stunning imagery. Iselin has created six books on forms in nature, each more luscious in detail than the next. Beach Stones was the first, published in 2006 by Abrams, followed by Leaves & Pods and Seashells. A tiny book of Heart Stones came out for Valentine's Day, 2008. In Spring 2010, Beach: A Book of Treasure was published by Chronicle Books. As both writer and photographer, Iselin pushes deeper into what we find at the beach, both scientifically, personally and historically. The collaged imagery is spectacular, the text is lyrical and informative. The mix of science and artistry makes all these books provocative for both the visual explorer--those wanting to know more about the natural artifacts we find around us--and those concerned with where our planet is heading. Her sixth book is due February 2012. Sea Glass Hearts is a luscious gem of sea glass imagery, with hearts to find on every page. The book is also a love song for the beach, a poem describing that moment when we find our hearts desire at the waters edge.

Josie Iselin lives on a steep hill in San Francisco with her husband and three kids.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Words in the Woods, February 5, 2008

By 

Edward L. Hannibal "author of 'Chocolate Days... (East Hampton, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Leaves & Pods (Hardcover)

Warning: open this compact tome to any page and you'll soon be lost in the woods forever. Stunningly detailed scanner-taken photographs are here abetted by a gracefully written text that is both surprisingly snappy and helpful, particularly for non-botanists. Part art book, part nature guidebook, leaves & pods is, like each of its wondrous subjects, perfectly made; hence a thing of beauty.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars ...disappointed..., October 18, 2009

By 

stillwood (Cincinnati) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Leaves & Pods (Hardcover)

It is a nicely made book with good photos, ... and if you want to know about shapes of leaves, fine. But pods??? there's very little about that. As an artist who is looking for information about that I was disappointed.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Leaves and Pods, April 9, 2008

By 

Susan Fredricks (Alaska) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Leaves & Pods (Hardcover)

Have this author's other books and I was disappointed with this format,not like the author's valuable imput regarding the material in her other books. Susan