Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Recollections: Three decades of Photography, October 15, 2006
"Recollections" is a must have book for everyone interested in the magic of elegant black and white photography.
John Sexton's "Recollections" as presented in this book are indeed magic. Photography is writing in light and John's photographs are powerful examples of the best this medium has to offer. Three decades of photography have refined his vision and honed his craft to the highest level of any photographer today.
John looks into the soul of the land very intimately then graciously shares his vision with us. Interspersed among the landscapes are clear, dignified abstracts, and isolations of Architecture. His impeccable technique allows refined and magical expressions.
Some are very simple yet elegantly beautiful as exemplified by "Casa del Oro, Monterey" While others challenge your sense of scale and progression as in "Geologic Conundrum, Banff National Park, Canada". You owe it to yourself to explore the rest of this book and discover all the other delights "Recollections" has to offer.
This is not a lightweight book either in the physical or spiritual sense. "Recollections" is a masterful presentation by a Master Photographer.
Bob Darby, Photographer
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Magnificent!, November 1, 2006
The on-line Oxford Dictionary defines the word magnificent simply as "impressively beautiful"; where beauty is said to be "a combination of qualities that delights the aesthetic senses." While both words come to mind in describing John Sexton's new book, Recollections: Three Decades of Photographs, if we are to go by Oxford's rather banal definitions, neither word even comes close to conveying the depths of visual and spiritual pleasures that await anyone who focuses their eye on the masterful B&W images assembled here.
Though I own hundreds of photography books, and regularly peruse most of them for years, I have had a relatively few "Wow!" reactions over the years - indeed, the last such experiences are at least two decades old (!): to Bruce Barnbaum's late 1970s' Visual Symphony and, in the middle 1980s, to Fay Godwin's Land - but Sexton's new Opus not only evoked an immediate heartfelt "Wow!" from me, it also raises the bar on what will trigger a similar exclamation from me in the future. I sat transfixed for hours after receiving it in the mail yesterday, and already consider it a sacrosanct member of the deepest core of my photography library. It is truly an extraordinary work of art; one that I will be savoring - and learning from - for years to come.
It is also clearly the work of a master photographer and printer, at the height of his creative powers; and a "master" not just of the "moment" compared to his living peers, but a "master" as judged in the context of the history of the medium.
Of course, it is impossible to describe the "contents" of this book, except to say that it contains 52 plates (and a few short essays) of such things as rocks, trees, and water. But, as with all great photographic art, by the time you get to even the second image, such conventional, blandly and trivially representational categories are understood as absurd and meaningless. The best of Sexton's images - and there are none in this book that are not! - capture spirit itself.
In short, a masterpiece!
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Spectacular!, January 16, 2007
Yesterday we received your "Recollections" book. What a glorious collection of images to enhance the world of fine art photography! One page is more spectacular than the other. In these days when traditional photography seems to be headed towards the sunset, your artistry promises a new sunrise.
Gordon & Marilyn Bowie
Boise, ID
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