Customer Reviews

Salute, Walt Whitman

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'Duane Michals, now in his seventied, has taken a look back at his life and work. In his travels, he has found continued comfort, inspiration, and extraordinary vision in the writings of his spiritual companion, Walt Whitman. Suffering retrospectives and the accumulated critical accolades and dismissals that a long, illustrious career bring, Michals finds an open meadow in the ageless words of Whitman. Salute, Walt Whitman is both an extension and visual summation of Michal's decades-long exploration of desire. In Michal's homage to Whitman, a litany of images unfolds, evoking the sensuality and rapturous longing that was part of this singular American poet's great contribution.' And it would be difficult to distill the impact of this monograph better. Duane Michals is at once a famous photographer and a poet and a mixed media storyteller. In this volume, one of many published about Michals' work, the emphasis is on the poetry of Walt Whitman, in many ways, Michals' spiritual mentor. In this SALUTE, WALT WHITMAN he uses a model to make visual the imagery that Whitman so eloquently wrote. From 'Leaves of Grass, 1855' comes the following:

The smoke of my own breath,
Echos, ripples, and buzzed whispers...
loveroot, silkthread, crotch and vine, My respirations and inspirations....
the beating of my heart....
the passing of blood
and air through my lungs.'

MIchals combines fragments of Whitman's poetry with his sensuous black and white photography of his nude male model and the result is alchemy. In the words of Duane Michals 'I think photographs should be provocative and not tell you what you already know. It takes no great powers or magic to reproduce somebody's face in a photograph. The magic is in seeing people in new ways.'

This is a volume that combines photographic art with poetry and the only thing that would have made it even better would be the inclusion of some of Michals' own poetry such as the following: 'It is no accident that you are reading this. I am making black marks on white paper. These marks are my thoughts, and although I do not know who you are reading this now, in some way the lines of our lives have intersected... For the length of these few sentences, we meet here. It is no accident that you are reading this. This moment has been waiting for you, I have been waiting for you. Remember'. And we will... Grady Harp, August 11

This is a very personal book. It is not just about the poetry and letters of Walt Whitman or the handsome young model that Duane Michals uses in every photography, but rather is about the refined and universal ear and eye of Duane Michaels. For it is Michaels who selects these wonder and moving poems and excerpts from letters and then combines them with elegantly orchestrated photographs that resonate with the works of Whitman but also stand alone to express some of the themes that Whitman explored throughout his life. Primary in these is that mankind is a fully integrated part of nature and the universe and that perception of beauty in nature and perception of beauty in the human condition are akin. Many are familiar with Whitman's poetry but his letters around the dying young wounded soldiers in the Civil War have incredible power in their direct language, their underlying philosophy of death as part of the total experience of living, and the tragic moments when beautiful young men take in their last breath are expressed by Whitman with a sublime simplicity that is not sentimental but connects death to life and the sadness of the human condition. Duane Michael's study and selection of these exact works by Whitman then resonate with his beautiful black and white photography of a handsome young man who serves as the image of 'everyman' in this series of photographs. There were four themes that emerge in the photographs. First there is the young male as part of nature, exploring in the forests, swimming in ponds, catching frogs, and these images certainly convey a sense of male beauty as being one with the beauty of nature. There is a second grouping of photographs where the male body is used in a more poetic fashion, with vines spelling 'cosmos' over the chest of the model, or asleep either holding flowers or else with flowers coming from the mouth of the model. Then there are a series of photographs with the model in Civil War uniform or shown with bandages to relate this young model to the many young handsome men who have died before him in battle. Finally there are a series of photographs where the young man is accompanied by an older wiser gray bearded model, evoking Whitman and his connection with humanity.

In addition to the letters regarding dying solders and a wonderful essay on Whitman's daily observation of Lincoln coming to the White House to work each morning, there are two essays by those who knew Whitman, including a man, Peter Doyle, who was Whitman's companion and probably his lover at one time. These offer further insight into Whitman and Duane Michals handles these prose works with care, including an old photograph of Whitman and Doyle together. By the expression on the faces of these two men, you sense that they continually entertained each other, as all successful couples must do.

I highly recommend this book demonstrating the mastery of Duane Michals as he resonates and reflects on an earlier master, Walt Whitman.

I have to say that I disagree with the one reviewer's response about this book. I own this book, bought it at the Strand in New York. The photography seems to be Duane Michael's way of interpreting Walt Whitman's poetry in a contemporary artwork. The photography was meant to accompany the poetry; rather than the poetry accompany the photos. After all, the poetry was made long before the pictures were. At first I found the photos cliché, but after spending time with the writings, and not just the pictures, you can see how the two connect.

The entire piece seems to be an expression of love for men. The poetry seems to be about love for young men; men who Walt Whitman spent time with in the hospitals as they were dieing from being wounded in the War (Civil war?). He expresses a sincere love that is sentimental about the beauty found in youth. The book celebrates youth visually in the athletic-built model found in each photograph, and the writings of one of America's most beloved poets. All the photography is in black and white. My book is of a very fine quality. I wouldn't recommend this as a normal gift unless you are a true fan of Duane Michaels, but if you are a real fan of his work then you should truly own it.

I love this book very much but I did not buy it. I go to libraries to read this book many times. There's only one model in this book. The first several pages made me astonished for the beauty of the model. His body looks like ancient greek statue so much that I think Duane Michals emphasize this in purpose. There are also other fabulous photos inside this book that make me feel so moved. The only disadvantage of the book (for me only, maybe you don't think so) is that I don't like Walt Whitman's poems, not at all. His peoms in my opinion are too shallow and no ryme, like the talk of a farmer who reads little and who does not have talent in poems at all. (Maybe his proses are good.) I cannot tolerate seeing bad poems beside at the time of looking at wonderful photos.(that's why I did not buy the book but just read it in library).

If you like Walt Whitman's poem , consider the masterpiece of photos of Michals(the photos inside this book are a masterpiece absolutely), go and buy one for yourself, or at least borrow it from a library.