Customer Reviews

Looking For The Light: The Hidden Life and Art of Marion Post Wolcott

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this is a beatifully written biography of an underrecognized photographer who spent 3 years from l939-41 travelling alone thru the south of the US for the FSA (Farm "Security Administration) taking incredible photographs. The book is worth while for the photos alone, not to mention the author's fascinating exploration of her life, and investigation of why she essentially gave up photography. A very affirming book in the sense of the choices one makes in life. I found myself showing the book to strangers on an airplane, I was so moved by the story and the photographs. Check it out.

This is a beautifully written, I would even say, lyrical, biography that is also strong in an area where biographers often disappoint: Hendrickson goes beyond mere biographical details to assess his subject's life. "This is a story about an an artist who stopped, who let go of that gifted, magical thing inside her until it was too late and the gift was lost."

In places the biography reads like a memoir, since Hendrickson includes quotations from the subject and also from people who knew her. Speaking of her parents, Marion Post Wolcott writes: "She once took me to see Isadora Duncan dance. Well, nobody else in the social group my parents were in would have thought of taking their child to the city to see Isadora Duncan. . . . She was exposing me to art. To Daddy, dancing on a stage was something harlots did in burlesque houses."

I had never heard of Maureen Post Wolcott before reading this book, and I have only a passing interest in photography. But you really don't need a reason to know about this woman to enjoy her biography. She's a fascinating woman who is also lucky in her biographer. Based on his work on this biography, I would read anything else that Hendrickson has written.