Customer Reviews

The Regulars

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Back in the mid 2000s, a photographer bartended at a dive bar in downtown Philadelphia. She served her customers beer, whisky or wine, and then took their picture. The result is a series of portraits that beautifully and honestly tell the story of the city of brotherly love, and in turn, America's. The stories, the portraits and the wonder they convey is found in The Regulars by Sarah Stofla.

The patrons at McGlinchey's bar, where Sarah bartended, came from every walk of life. They were black, white and every color in between. They were old, young or too young to look that old. They were mostly exhausted, forlorn or anxious, much like the country at the time.

The book doesn't have much prose in it since the complete story is told by these portraits, proving once again the age old adage, "a picture is worth a thousand words."

The book made me wonder about how different the collective story would have been had Sarah taken these portraits in a dive bar in Los Angeles, San Francisco or Dallas. How about London, Madrid or Tel Aviv What would have the common theme been?

The book has definitely renewed my respect for portrait photography and the simplicity of storytelling that Stolfa does so well. Definitely worth checking out.

I am not a huge portrait fan, but this book blew me away. The emotions of the subjects along with the beautiful lighting made this a great collection of portraits portraying everyday people. Sarah Stolfa did an amazing job on these pieces, and I would love to see more books published with her work.

Sarah Stolfa is a talented photographer who captures intimate moments within a rarely explored environment. Anyone who appreciates good photography will enjoy this book. It is a must for all photography book libraries.

A series of pictures of people sitting at a bar...wow I couldn't have found anything similar at any bar in any city or town in the world...what a waste of ten bucks and a waste of the author's time to boot...