Nantucket: Seasons on the Island [Hardcover]

Cary Hazlegrove (Author), David Halberstam (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1995

A tiny haven 30 miles off the coast of Massachusetts, Nantucket is one of America's few remaining island treasures. From its cheerful, red cranberry bogs in the fall and the quiet desolation of winter to its profusion of daffodils in the spring and warm, sunny beaches in summer, Nantucket lends itself perfectly to the camera's lens. In this evocative volume, longtime resident and renowned photographer Cary Hazlegrove has captured the essence of Nantucket with a selection of her most memorable images of the island -- a breathtaking aerial view of a beach, a charming detail of cobblestones, the striking composition of a lighthouse, a heartbreaking sweep of the moors. Accompanied by poignant, often humorous quotes from Nantucket locals and a thoughtful introduction by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer and part-time resident David Halberstam, this book provides a constant source of dreams and inspirations.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

These pretty colorplates celebrate the isolated beauty, and the feelings of solitude, sparked by sandy, windswept Nantucket. Taken by a resident who has parlayed her passion for place into a photography profession, these are Hazlegrove's best of her stock of 80,000 slides. They show off the spare terrain, foggy moors, quaint streets, and weather-beaten Cape Cod^-style buildings to handsome effect, and her gray images of winter contrast artistically with the chromo-exuberance of her springtime frames. Any visitor or resident to the isle ought to be enraptured, as is resident David Halberstam, who introduces the collection. Gilbert Taylor

Review

Hazlegrove has felt the tug of Nantucket and has had a long steady hand in discovering her light, her time. Boston Globe

--Mark Wilson, Boston Globe, April 1995
To the wandering photographer's eye, Nantucket shimmers on the mind's hoizon -- a jewel at sea that speaks of another country. It is easy to forget that Nantucket is in Massachusetts.

Yet what can seem so tempting, so seemingly easy to pick, may take on the proportions of a mirage if you've suffered a crowded 2-1/2-hour ferry ride with barking dogs and screaming babies on a humid August day.

Better to come back in the less crowded months to soak in the moors, painterly skies and sheltered harbors.

Failing that, pick up a copy of Cary Hazlegrove's Nantucket: Seasons on the Island. This talented island photographer (she now splits her time between the island and Texas) has been photographing the island since 1978.

Her three projector slide shows show the tourists what they might see if they hung around for the other 11-1/2 months.

Coskata Pond, Great Point, Polpis, Cisco, Siasconset, Main Street, Madaket, Surfside, Sankaty, Quidnet, Miacomet -- it's all here. The book doesn't dwell on people. In only a few photos -- mostly beach scenes -- people may line the shore. But whole chunks of the book depict only the tracings of people in an island setting.

. . . . Hazlegrove goes about the business of island light and island scenes with an open eye. Winter brings the warmth of town lights, the loom of storm clouds over a vacant, snowy beach, a frozen harbor hard by an icy jetty.

"There is a special magic in the wintertime," says Jo Godwin, innkeeper, on a chapter opener on winter. "It's a little bit too windy and a little bit too cold, but I need that time to figure out where I've been and where I'm going."

Spring brings daffodils, forsythia and budding trees. Spring often arrives late, the cold ocean cooling the island while the mainland bakes in the spring heat.

"The sky says spring is here and the air says spring is here, but the temperature doesn't say spring is here," says firewood dealer Faith Vollans. Summer, of course, is beaches, dune grass and lots of roses.

Fall brings the cranberry and vegetable harvest and the warm hues of the moors. With fall comes a warmth that can linger into November as the mainland shivers from the killing frosts. Warm ocean extends the season on the island, perhaps paying back what warmth was stolen from spring.

Any photographer working on Nantucket has dues to pay -- the long winters, the difficult access, crowded summers, exorbitant summer rents, scarce winter jobs. Any photographer willing to weather these hardships will be rewarded with subjects in a light often missing from mainland locales.

Hazlegrove has felt the tug of Nantucket and has had a long steady hand in discovering her light, her time.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 120 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (March 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081180724X
• ISBN-13: 978-0811807241
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 10 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #457,100 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Images that are simple and beautiful., April 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Nantucket: Seasons on the Island (Hardcover)

Cary captures parts of the island that you'll never see if you only _visit_ Nantucket. Having spent the first 18 years of my life on Nantucket (NHS '94) I can truly identify with her photos. Her photos of little known corners and landscapes bring me back to the island.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cary is in touch with the island, May 12, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Nantucket: Seasons on the Island (Hardcover)

Cary Hazelgrove is the only photographer on island who has a sense of the real island! She doesn't just take "pretty" pictures like any other photo book of the Island. I can feel these images!....I hope she continues with her excellent work.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cary's book takes me back to Nantucket., January 23, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nantucket: Seasons on the Island (Hardcover)

If you love Nantucket, you've got to have this book. Cary, in my opinion, is the best photographer on the island. Her photos are so beautiful that I'm transported back to Nantucket as I look through the pages of this book. Somehow she captures the full feeling of being on Nantucket and for that I'm grateful. It's a magical place and Cary's photos bring back wonderful memories every time I look at them.