Reviews
Praise for The Poetry of Being
“My way of knowing what I truly think about a book is to sit with it for a while. Leave it out on the coffee table, or by my bed. Forget about it in my conscious mind. And see how many times I intuitively reach out for it, and what I turn back to when I do.
Lynne Buchanan’s latest book, The Poetry of Being, Photographs and Poems by Lynne Buchanan, is one of those I have grown very comfortable with in the last week or so. It sits on my coffee table between the sofa I love to lounge on and the rocking chair where I often work. And I keep picking it up.
The imagery is stunning. Lynne has become a master with her platinum palladium prints. And these are a beautiful cross-section of years of work and study. Some were recognizable to me, others I had never seen before. And being the multi-dimensional woman she is, she has paid a special compliment of her own to each one by writing a haiku for it. I found myself smiling at unexpected times. Always a nice thing.
The book is made even more special by the introduction written by Pradip Malde. I’d like to share here a selection from the last paragraph which states more beautifully than I ever could exactly what this book feels like.
-I believe that Lynne Buchanan subscribes, as do I, to Elaine Scarry’s remarkable credo, which began as a thought experiment in her book On Beauty and Being Just (Princeton, 1999). … It is important to note that Scarry brings our attention to the experience rather than the object. Thus, the beautiful is a process, and one of attraction. The experience of looking, as in The Poetry of Being, is compelling. It holds our attention so that we may contemplate and stay with silence, solitude, mortality, and chaos, all of which would otherwise leave us feeling fragile, vulnerable, and hopeless. To be attracted here is to take a step towards hope.”
– Nancy McCrary
Publisher/Founding Editor, SXSE Magazine
Director, SWSE Workshops
Shopkeeper, SXSE Shop
Gallery Director, SXSE Gallery
“Gorgeous photographs reproduced in quadtone printing process mimicking the original photographs’ platinum palladium prints, it sits in my book shelf between two greats, Paul Strand's 'The Garden of Orgeval' and Keith Carter's 'Fifty Years'!”
– Elizabeth Avedon
Photography book and exhibition designer
Independent curator and writer
“This beautiful book of platinum-palladium prints allows one to enter the forests and find the quiet we all need. Everything about this book is well done, from the size, the texture of the paper to the dark darks of the photographs. And interspersed with the images are Lynne’s haikus; short peeks into her emotions, and a chance for us, the audience, to pause and reflect. During this time of intense climate change and noise finding a book that allows us to look deeply and reflect is such a gift. Lynne’s photographs show us the past, the present and the future in the undeniable power of the natural world.”
– Stella Kramer
Pulitzer Prize Winning Photo Editor
The nuances expressed by both the words and the images are difficult to describe or reproduce in this review. You will need to see the excellent printing and superior arrangement, layout, and design of words and pictures in this photobook first-hand in order to fully appreciate them…So much natural history and development that preceded us and hopefully will follow in the future …
The combination of vast expanses and minute detail, along with the lyrical and other observations and thoughts serve as a fabulous compendium for us to consider both temporary and long-term phenomena, the light and dark moments in our lives. I recommend this book as a resource for getting in touch with what our planet has to offer and to consider the guardianship that it asks us to maintain, as we seek some balance in these times of environmental challenges.
––Gerhard Clausing, Editor PhotoBook Journal
“Lynne Buchanan has beautifully composed the feeling of deep isolation that occurs when the world ceases to exist for a time, all within 112 pages. Between platinum palladium prints of the natural world, we are gifted with haiku that endue the viewer with feelings of darkness at the challenges society is faced with. Never before have I been impacted by the images of nature in this way. I find myself continuing to combo through the pages, finding something new with each look. To open The Poetry of Being is akin to coming home, to grounding oneself within the images and words on the page.
_Kassandra Eller, Writer for Lenscratch
“From the design, the sequencing, writing and imagery your latest book is stunning. There are many remarkable images that I have an instant connection with. I also like the paper you chose, as it has the perfect feel for these images. I see some strong parallels with one of my favorite books: Paul Strand,’s The Garden at Orgeval. Your attention to composition, mastery of tonality and light have all come together to create a great body of work.”
– Michael Tittel
Creative Director, Designer, Photographer, Musician
The Poetry of Being
New Book!
