At a thrift store, I recently scored a $3 copy of the beautiful photobook Inner Light: The Shaker Legacy, with photography by Linda Butler and text by June Sprigg. The minimalist (but very elegant) Shaker sentiment expressed through the images in this book are very special and well worth a closer look.
The book immediately caught my eye because I had visited the Shaker village in central Kentucky many times, but never with a camera. As a kid, it seemed little more than a tourist attraction to me, when I lived nearby. Now that I don't live there, it seems quite a bit more exotic! Note that many of the images are from Kentucky, quite a few are from other Shaker installations e.g. in Maine and Massachusetts. The images from the different sites combine to provide a beautiful introduction that will tempt any photographer to visit.
For the curious (especially our colleagues across the pond who may not be familiar with America's Amish, Mennonite, Quaker, and Shaker communities) I will offer a very brief summary of the Shaker tradition. That tradition emphasizes simplicity, avoiding anything that obscures or clutters the physical or the spiritual sight. The Shaker tradition is also very proudly musical, and that lyricism is very clear in the architecture... and Linda Butler's photography.
In the book you will find beautiful b&W prints of 8x10 images on Ilford HP5+. The compositions are exceptional, and the photographic print quality is very good, on the photographer's side as well as the publisher's. I have a few minor concerns about some masking/dodging effects evident in a few of the plates, but on the whole, the light is exceptionally well used. Page after page, Butler's photographs deliver beautiful, flowing forms that will inspire any photographer of still life and architecture.
I recommend this book very highly. It conjures ideas.
The book immediately caught my eye because I had visited the Shaker village in central Kentucky many times, but never with a camera. As a kid, it seemed little more than a tourist attraction to me, when I lived nearby. Now that I don't live there, it seems quite a bit more exotic! Note that many of the images are from Kentucky, quite a few are from other Shaker installations e.g. in Maine and Massachusetts. The images from the different sites combine to provide a beautiful introduction that will tempt any photographer to visit.
For the curious (especially our colleagues across the pond who may not be familiar with America's Amish, Mennonite, Quaker, and Shaker communities) I will offer a very brief summary of the Shaker tradition. That tradition emphasizes simplicity, avoiding anything that obscures or clutters the physical or the spiritual sight. The Shaker tradition is also very proudly musical, and that lyricism is very clear in the architecture... and Linda Butler's photography.
In the book you will find beautiful b&W prints of 8x10 images on Ilford HP5+. The compositions are exceptional, and the photographic print quality is very good, on the photographer's side as well as the publisher's. I have a few minor concerns about some masking/dodging effects evident in a few of the plates, but on the whole, the light is exceptionally well used. Page after page, Butler's photographs deliver beautiful, flowing forms that will inspire any photographer of still life and architecture.
I recommend this book very highly. It conjures ideas.