Customer Reviews

In Response to Place: Photographs from the Nature Conservancy's Last Great Places

Conceptually, the notion of a group of artists responding aesthetically to a specific (Last Great) place as a theme for a photo-essay is intriguing. One can easily imagine how such a project might soar. Although individual photographs in this collection are indeed stirring, there is something about the portfolio as a whole which fails to satisfy; either as a cohesive statement on the need for preservation of endangered ecosystems, or as a presentation of art photography by a dozen acclaimed practitioners.

Another volume devoted to highlighting photographically the need for care and protection of precious spaces on Earth comes to mind here. Although not as highly specific thematically as In Response To Place, The World Wildlife Fund's spectacular Living Planet does a wonderful job of creating a vivid, consistently cogent statement on the immanence of place; something The Nature Conservancy's offering simply fails to do.

While the book cannot possibly evoke the same feelings of awe as the individual pictures hanging on the wall, it sure isn't a bad substitute if you cannot see them and it is a wonderful reminder if you can!