Customer Reviews

The Sea

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"The Sea" is a magnificent book of photographs. Anyone who loves the the world's great bodies of water will be awed by Philip Plisson's stunning seascapes. He has captured the oceans in all moods, in all their glory - gentle, tempestuous, mysterious, terrifying, powerful. There is the beautiful tranquility of the Caribbean, and the stormy violence of the North Atlantic. And Plisson also captures the elusive quality of light, and the way it falls on water. His successful efforts to capture the right light, at the best moment, to enhance the particular quality of the sea he wants to exhibit, is worth the price of the book alone.

Many of his remarkable images feature lighthouses, ancient tall ships, and modern sail boats, regattas, and sailors alone with the elements. The vast sea, however, is the dominant presence in all the photographs.

There is very little text here. The monumental photographs speak for themselves. Yann Queffelec's Introduction does provide a perfect setting, and Elaine Georges' text is well written.

I bought this huge, (11.5" X 14.5"), coffee-table book for a sailing mate's birthday, and he absolutely loves it. There are a total of 400 photographs, and four fold-out panoramas. I have looked through my gift so many times that I decided to purchase one of my own. I highly recommend this beautiful book!

This opening phrase from Walt Whitman's epic poem 'A Song for all Seas, All Ships' best describes this visually stunning photographic essay of the many manifestations of the sea, that mighty body of water that reigns the planet and as such reigns the hearts and imaginations of poets, painter, writers, and dreamers alike. Philip Plisson is highly regarded as a marine photographer and has here selected some of the finest of his works that explore the massive body of water, of history, of romance, of treacherous vagaries, and of man's humble intervention with oceans around the world.

In rich color these photographs are most expressive when they deal solely with the body of water itself, the myriad surfaces of calm, tranquility, storm and rage and the eruptions of violence against rocks and cliffs and ships. Thankfully there are no written words to distract from the images, though there are notes in the postlude that describe the various areas of origin of the photographs.

This is a book for lovers of the sea. In scale of the book's size as well as the content of visual imagination this is a mighty work. Or as Whitman phrased it 'Sail forth - steer for the deep waters only, Reckless, O soul, exploring...' Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, March 06

Wow, substantial is an understatement - 195 photographs (most of them 22x14 +) and 16 panoramic foldouts. Aside from the calm, the charming and the rapturous faces of the sea that you can normally imagine, could the sea be like the desert, hot lava, an impressionist's oil painting, fields of grain, bubbling rocks and sand paper...? Find out in this book of photography. I always thought photographs are comparatively realistic. But Philip Plisson's skills conjured up powerful imagery from reality to fantasy, from abstract to molecularly concrete. It is a feast to the eye and possibly shocks to the senses.

My husband saw this in a coffee shop one day and so I bought it for his birthday. THe pictures are absolutely beautiful and exquistitly done. Each picture has a caption to describe each scene. Would highly recommend to any water lover!

It is simply a beautiful book. The exquisite photography depicts some breathtaking scenes. Just enough text to answer questions you may have. It's all about the visuals and, really, needs be nothing more.

There are terrific photographs of the sea, boats, the seashore and all things maritime. We love it! It's a perfect coffee table book for a summer house by the ocean. The photos were taken by someone who obviously loves the sea and is great for people who share that feeling. The only issue is that the editor (I guess) chose to leave descriptions of the photographs (and even page numbers) off of the pages- possibly for aesthetic reasons. The index, located in the back of the book, is helpful to identify where each of the photos was taken, but paging back and forth is a little difficult.

I see why the bargain price on this book. Some really good pictures, a lot of repetitious not-quite-good shots. Somewhat disappointing.

To begin, I am a professional photographer who specializes in marine subjects - lighthouses, storms, sea birds, etc. Phillipe Plisson, the photographer responsible for the photography in The Sea Day by Day, is my favorite marine photographer. Guichard gained considerable notoriety with his sequence of photographs of a lighthouse keeper off the coast of France slamming the door of the lighthouse shut just as a giant wave swept over the lighthouse but at least IMHO, Plisson's body of work is much more impressive than that of Guichard. The book is available on Amazon at an extremely reasonable price and provides hours of potential enjoyment at one's coffee table. I highly recommend it either for yourself or as a gift for anyone with a penchant for the sea.

A book that captures and embodies the beauty, rawness and richenss of the sea and its importance to the world community.

A must for the coffee table.

Focuses on dark, unknown and irrelevant portions of the oceans, such as Britain's coast...