Music for the Eyes [Hardcover]

Robert S. Harris (Author), KC Francis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2004

An end table book that promises to put a fresh smile on the face of poetry and photography.

This unique volume offers insight into the creative process of photographer and poet. Each artist works alone - he, primarily photographing the Western United States, she, writing poetry in and about the East. For this book, they have joined their separate creative efforts into a single work, Music for the Eyes, whose title pays homage to Ansel Adams.

More than 50 exquisite photographs are matched with 50 sensuous poems to make this the fine art book the authors want the world to see and savor.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Surreal images," -- Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

"These images resonate!" -- Prof. Andrew Davidhazy

About the Author

Robert S. Harris celebrates nature’s ability to create inspiring combinations of shape, texture, color and light. He believes these marvelous mixtures are nature’s way of soothing our souls with visual beauty. His method of capturing them on film involves three steps — he seeks nature’s finest designs, he finds an intriguing way to look at them, and then he waits for just the right lighting.

KC Francis sees beauty everywhere from the kitchen of her home to the back stairway in the 1885 building where she has an office with a "fine, old, arched window." Her west-facing view of the Genesee River provides her with an outpost from which to watch the sky and the incoming weather. Poems materialize like snowflakes.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 104 pages
• Publisher: Harris Photoguides (January 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0972134409
• ISBN-13: 978-0972134408
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,505,493 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book for creative day dreamers, October 2, 2004

By 

Di (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Music for the Eyes (Hardcover)

"Music For the Eyes" is a fine arts book with state of the art landscapes, nature and abstract photography combined with compelling poetry. With those credentials, you might not guess that it is also a book for day dreamers or someone that notices an abstract shape or design in nature and is reminded of something totally unrelated. The poetry connects a series of cloud images in the early pages of the book to abstract thoughts.

Here are a couple of the poems that seem to illustrate this creative day dreaming:

LINT

The sky wears

a woolen overcoat

so daydreams

stick.

(great photo shows wisps of clouds that resemble lint...)

BIRD

Who'd dare

snatch a

tail feather

from eternity

(another great cloud shot that resembles plumage...)

The compatibility of the four line poems with the photographs in the first part of the book encourages the authors to extend into longer poems as the book continues.

Both artists also include essays in the book that reveal a behing-the-scenes insight into the creative and technical process that evolved into "Music For the Eyes". The essays offer fine art photography and poetry students a valuable glimpse into this creative process.

I just love this book.

5.0 out of 5 stars "Earth Laughs and Sings ...", October 14, 2004

By 

Frederick R. Gates "Fred and Mary Gates" (Scio, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Music for the Eyes (Hardcover)

Met Poetess KC Francis and her wonderful husband tonight in Hornell at Poet's Theater. This unique blending of heart's language and soul stirring photography by Robert S. Harris make for an experience of lasting impressions. The exquisite photographs and sensuous poems were helped by a special grant which makes the book a bargain at its issued price. Fred and Mary Gates, Scio, NY

5.0 out of 5 stars Go Ahead, judge this book by its cover, October 7, 2004

By 

Cynthia Lower "Cindy" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Music for the Eyes (Hardcover)

To a certain extent, you can judge "Music For The Eyes" by the cover.

The only words on the cover besides the title are credits for Robert S. Harris, a photographer and KC Francis, a poet, so you'd be correct to assume that this is a book that the fine art and nature community will enjoy.

You might guess that the cover photograph depicts some kind of lava flow; but you're not sure, so you check out the first few pages of the book.

Ah ha; on the first page you'll find a thumbnail photo of the cover and a four line poem that mentions the heat of the earth which seems to confirm your lava flow guess but it's still a bit of a mystery.

As you thumb through the pages, you'll notice the poems and photos are elegantly displayed on gray backgrounds as though they were matted for a museum presentation. Near the back of the book, you'll find a section called "Points of Inspiration" that provides some factual information about each photo and poem. This section also gives you an overview of the clever way this book is organized. It also reveals that the cover photo is actually a thermal pool run-off in Yellowstone National Park On another page in the book you'll find another absolutely spectacular aerial view of that same thermal pool along with a poem titled "Alien" that should stimulate your imagination.