An idiosyncratic but lovely collection of shed photographs.
Gordon (In the Shadow of the Cape, 2004) documents century-old woolsheds of New Zealand’s Hawkes Bay in this photography book.
This is an earnest work for readers interested in the particular beauty of a cultivated landscape. The area on the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand is known today for its wine, food, and pleasant weather, but in the previous century, the wealth of Hawkes Bay was built on sheep’s wool. Gordon offers an in-depth look at the physical monuments of that era: the farms where flocks were raised and especially the woolsheds where fleece was stored. Each of the sheds pictured here is at least 100 years old. It’s primarily for their charm and bygone craftsmanship that Gordon sought them out and included them in this work, and he celebrates their architecture and aesthetics more than their function. He photographed the sheds over the course of a journey of thousands of miles, and in an introduction, he describes the trek as doing “what I love best, noseying around a part of the world which goes mostly un-noticed these days, but which, as far as I am concerned, is one of the most beautiful places in the world.” In simple, informative prose, Gordon introduces each property, giving a bit of commentary on its owners and history. The choice of material may seem dry, even by the standards of a coffee-table photography book, but these curious, barnlike sheds will grow on readers as they observe page after page of them. There’s something about the way they sit, weathered and demure against the fairy-tale New Zealand landscape—and the guileless way that Gordon shoots them—that’s inherently calming. By the end, even readers who’ve never thought about the New Zealand wool industry before will consider themselves not only woolshed fans, but connoisseurs.
An idiosyncratic but lovely collection of shed photographs.Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4990-9916-4
Page Count: 118
Publisher: Xlibris
Review Posted Online: June 2, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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