Simply Beautiful Photographs

Simply Beautiful Photographs

Adult
If a picture is worth the proberbial thousand words, Annie
Griffiths' Simply Beautiful Photographs speaks at least a gazillion.
Horses pull a buggy through a snow storm. A lion cub clings to its
mother in a vista of tawny hues. A mother gazes adoringly at her
sleeping baby. A gull swoops over its shadow.
Each page is like a little universe beckoning you to enter.
National Geographic has a humungous photography archive that
goes probably back just as far as there have been cameras. This
collection is set apart not only for range of subjects and locations,
but for the skill and artistry, the passion the photographers bring to
their craft. Simply Beautiful Photographs was a truly collaborative
venture. "Encouraged by the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, 'Beauty is
its own excuse for being," we decided that this book should take us to
a world of beautiful dreams, memories, and meditation. So Lori, Anne,
and the test of the team searched for the most beautiful of pictures:
by memory, by photographer, by place, and by subject."
In my mind they succeeded admirably.
Purple mountains are shrouded in mist. A rainbow seen from
above rises from a reef in the Caribbean. A lighthouse on the Nova
Scotia coast keeps a lonely vigil. A child walking a dog is framed by
a covered bridge. A ballerina helps a friend prepare for a
performance. A river is occuppied by scores of white pelicans.
The book is mercifully short of words. Here and there are
descriptions of various aspects of photography. You won't miss out on
a thing if you skip them like I did. The quotes, though, are pretty
awesome.
"Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart." Kahlil
Gibran
"Wisdom is the abstract of the past, but beauty is the promise of the
future." Oliver Wendell Holmes
"An artist is a dreamer consenting to dream of the actual world."
George Santayana
A polar bear mother hugs her cub. A spotted owl seems to fly
right at you.
"What was any art but a mould in which to imprison for a moment the
shining elusive element which is light itself--light hurrying past us
and running away, too strong to stop, too sweet to lose." Willa Cather
I'm not a big fan of coffee table books which seem to serve as
dust collectors and attempts to impress others with how classy we
are. However, in my mind, Simply Beautiful Photographs is an
investment. No matter how many times you return to it, it will never
fail to transport you.
On a personal note, I am at the library dressed in a Victorian style
children's dress (black velvet bodice, puffy red skirt) waiting for my
grand entrance as Santa's little elf. :)
A great big shout out goes out to all photographers and other visual
artists who speak a truly universal language.





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