Customer Reviews

Places of Grace: The Natural Landscapes of the American Midwest

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Mr.Irving has had some wonderful books in the past,but "Places of Grace"is not only his finest,but is the best collection of landscapes i've seen in a long time!This book is a must for anyone interested in the finest of landscape photography!

PLACES OF GRACE consists of a series of stunning photographs by Gary Irving and an essay by Michal Strutin. The book covers states in the upper central plains--Wisconsin, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Ohio and Indiana, although as Strutin notes, some would include other areas.

Strutin asks--what is the American Midwest? She outlines what she thinks comprises the area and discusses the forests, wetlands, huge fresh water lakes, and prairie that can still be found throughout the region. She imagines what the first European explorers must have seen when they arrived. She says, for example, the word prairie is French for meadow. French explorers were the first Europeans to travel extensively through the American plains. They saw the amazing wide open spaces where grass grew 10 feet tall and lacking any other word, likened it to their own grass meadows back home. The French named many places from Des Moines to Des Plains.

Strutin says conservationists are working to restore parts of the prairie to their natural state. She explains some of the research involved in determining the correct proportions of Asclepia (Butterfly Weed); Echinacea; Daisy; and other flora in a region that contains one of the three major U.S. flyways for birds, butterflies and other migratory animals.

PLACES also contains photos and text about non-prairie areas in upper Michigan and Wisconsin where hugh forests once existed as anyone who has ever read Laura Ingalls Wilder's LITTLE HOUSE IN THE BIG WOODS or heard of Paul Bunyun knows. Even today this area is a source of timber and home to many paper mills, though a good deal of the timber is being recovered from the bottom of Lake Michigan where it landed a century ago.

Irving and Strutin could have called their book HIDDEN PLACES OF GRACE. There are many wonderful nooks and crannies that somehow escaped the developer's axe, and today are protected in one way or another. This is an interesting and beautiful book.

A very well composed book featuring fabulous photographs with vivid colors and composition- enjoyable page after page. Books like this succeed for me when I desire to visit these locations. Well done!

Good production values overall make this a nice addition to other landscape photography books. Highly recommended.