Joel Meyerowitz Tuscany book in discount rack at Barnes & Noble

TheFlyingCamera

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I just got a copy of the Joel Meyerowitz book about Tuscany ("Through the light" I think is the title). They had it on the "discount" books rack at my Barnes & Noble for $12.98. The book is beautifully printed and produced, and it shows Joel working with a Deardorff 8x10 and a 250 Wide-Field Ektar on the inside dust flap. If you're interested, now's the time to hunt it down and get a copy on the cheap.
 

roteague

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TheFlyingCamera said:
Tell us how you REALLY feel, Robert

What do you dislike about it so much?
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Actually, that is the very first book of his work that I saw, and it really turned me off from his work. I find his work banal, lacking in any type of feelings and a general disregard for the land in general. Just my opinion.

Sorry for the original post, his work sets me off. I'll try to keep it in check in the future, realizing that some people actually like his work.
 

jovo

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TheFlyingCamera said:
I just got a copy of the Joel Meyerowitz book about Tuscany ("Through the light" I think is the title).
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I remember when it first came out. I think Michael and Paula had just released their books on Tuscany, and a local professional photographer had also put up an exhibition of that area. I was not inclined to purchase the book at all. It seemed very superficial and 'prettily' sterile. It was one of those moments when one thinks that various locations (Yosemite, Zabriskie Point, Iceland, Death Valley, Slot Canyons, the 'wave', etc.) are the 'de jour' sites for the full time photographer of landscapes, and 'fine art' who feel that just showing up and making an acceptable image is good enough. Well....I didn't think so then, nor do I now.
 

roteague

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TheFlyingCamera said:
I picked it up because I liked some of the images, and the place has a resonance for me
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I think that is why I react so negatively to his work Tuscany is such a fantastically beautiful place, at least from what I have seen in photos (I've never actually been there). I feel like his work trashes such a wonderful place.
 

donbga

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I agree totally about this book. Compared to what Smith and Chamlee did his work was just so so. And not compared to their work it was so so. I did have the opportunity to casually view M&Ps Tuscany work and that maybe why I never warmed up to Meyerowitz's vision of the same area.

His book 'Cape Light' is another story though. I think it is orginal in concept and execution, though at times the images can be a bit repititous. Still it's a good effort.

All of his books can be purchased online for practically nothing.
 

Shawn Rahman

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donbga said:
His book 'Cape Light' is another story though. I think it is orginal in concept and execution, though at times the images can be a bit repititous. Still it's a good effort.

All of his books can be purchased online for practically nothing.
Click to expand...

I'm a fan of Meyerowitz, and I think the Tuscany book is okay, although the muted, washed out colors page after page gets a little monotonous.

"Bay/Sky" is flat-out wonderful, and a worthy companion to Cape Light. Robert: If you haven't already, try to muster the patience for that book.
 

patrickjames

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I have been seriously turned off by a comment that I read of Meyerwitz' talking about Eggleston's first solo show at MOMA in which he expressed that Eggleston was a mediocre black and white photographer until he saw Meyerowitz' work and began to "copy" him. He also went on to say that Eggleston only got the show because Meyerowitz didn't have a lot of money to make prints and Eggleston apparently was rich. These comments and a video I saw of him shooting recently (as well as his attitudes on his 9/11 book) have completely turned me off to his work. He doesn't seem like a very pleasant person, at least by my definitions.

Patrick
 

Shawn Rahman

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I have also seen a couple of videos of Meyerowitz where he has come off snobbish and childish. I try not to let it affect my perceptions of the work. Must be the "seriously asshole artist" syndrome. My favorite photographer, Cartier-Bresson wrote the book on this.
 

David Henderson

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I have never thought that Meyerowitz' book does this region anything like justice. This is an area that has been photographed much better by a lot of people. I'm not surprised that his book is being sold cheaply.
 

Monophoto

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Meyerowitz book "Cape Light" was probably the single most influential factor in causing me to gravitate toward large format work. It is one of my favorites.

But I find "Bay/Sky" to be pretentious and boring.

Unfortunately, the Barnes & Noble I was in yesterday didn't have his Tuscany book.
 
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