Customer Reviews

Urban Forest: Images of Trees in the Human Landscape (A Sierra Club Books Publicatio)

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

 

 

This book is absolutely wonderful...David is a photographic genius. I am ordering several for family & friends as gifts.

What could be more mundane--trees in the city? But, take a second (and third...) look at Bayles's work and it will change the way you SEE the urban experience. This is truly great photography--it refreshes our viewpoint, presents the average as exceptional, recasts reality in new forms. Sierra Club has done a brave book--as revolutionary as their titles in the early 60s. Bravo!

Bayles' book is a facinating look through his lens at the interaction between trees and the urban landscape they so frequently inhabit. Many of us take the trees in urban settings around us for granted, but after reading this book it is unlikely to happen again. David shows us the beauty of nature around us in the city. We can still go "out into nature" to find solitude and tranquility, but it is interesting how much is around us if we only learn to see it, not just look at it.

The photographs are technically excellent, and the printing/paper used is beyond reproach. However, there are two minor issues I had with the production. First, there are photographer's notes about each image gathered together at the back of the book. I found myself absorping the image, then flipping to the back to read Bayles' comments. I wish the comments could have been printed opposite the photo to eliminate the flipping. Second, some photos were printed on one sheet of a two-page spread, while others (not seemingly in a series) were printed on both pages. (There were images in a series printed on both pages, but that's not my issue.) I guess I wish there were more consistency in the presentation, either by using only one page except for series of images, or by using both pages. In any case, these are minor issues with a beautiful, thought-provoking book.

This book is a great collection of potographs to interest photographers, arborists, and other inhabitants of out planet.