Photo Framed
This book is unique and refreshing. I think anyone would enjoy this book from little children to adults as it presents photographs with explanations of the photos on the opposite page and questions to consider as you stare over the picture. There are familiar pictures that I believe most everyone would know, like Buzz Aldrin’s Walk on the Moon or the Afghan Girl which was on the cover of National Geographic. There are a total of 27 photographs sectioned off into 4 categories: portrait, nature, photography and documentary. The author goes into detail about where the picture was taken and other background knowledge regarding the photographs in the book, I found this information quite informative and I learned quite a bit even about the pictures I thought I knew. The author also blows up a small piece of the photo and asks the reader a specific question about the section, just to probe you deeper into the picture. Zooming into each picture, the author makes you become aware of certain details of the photo with written facts. Glossy pages with black and white photo mingled with color photos make this a book a conversation piece. Each photo also has a quote which I loved as I love quotes when they go with amazing photos. My favorite picture was Lunchtime atop a Skyscraper from 1932. Every time I see this photo, I cringe. The photo is black and white, the men’s faces are happy and they seem on top of the world. It’s seeing these contractors sit, all crunched together, relaxing and eat their lunches on a crossbeam on the unfinished sixty-ninth floor, their legs dangling, just hanging there….I just feel all tingly inside. They look so vulnerable with the hazy landscape down below them as they smoke their cigarettes, eat their lunches and there is even one guy who has a bottle in his hand. Ahhh! I have always wondered who took this picture and now, I know. I hope the author makes more of these books, as they made me think about the photograph that were inside and appreciate them more.
