Susanna Howard
Susanna Howard is a Library Assistant in the Reference and Local History department at CDPL.
A picture is worth a thousand words. This month, see what these photography books have to say. From daguerreotypes to digital cameras, enjoy snapshots of other’s lives, and the moments which, in the blink of an eye, they decided to preserve forever.
The accessibility and immediacy of photography are important to its success as a medium, but there’s more to taking a great picture than keeping your thumb off the lens. Both the amateur collection of Vivian Maier: Out of the Shadows (779.092 Mai) and the more professional work seen in Intimate Visions: The Photographs of Dorothy Norman (779.092 Nor) focus on average everyday life, but what makes them fascinating is how each artist composes a photo to tell a larger story.
Our shelves are only so large. Books that don’t fit on the normal shelves are stored in the northeast corner of the library, near the periodicals in our Oversize Collection area. Science, history, and culture are rendered larger than life in these beautiful books, but they’re easy to overlook. If you love The Day in Its Color: Charles Cushman’s Photographic Journey Through a Vanishing America (779.092 San) and Overview: A New Perspective of Earth (778.3 Gra), don’t miss out on Gray Malin’s Escape (779.092 Mal – oversized).
Photography is not just an art form, but an important tool. Sarah Parcak uses satellite imaging to map ancient landmarks in Archaeology from Space: How the Future Shapes Our Past (930.1 Par). Decades before the Vietnam War was televised, history was documented in pictures, as seen in the photojournalism of Margaret Bourke-White: Photographer (779 Bou) and There Once Was a War: The Collected Color Photography of World War II (940.53 The).
All else aside, photography is fun. Cameras are so commonly available these days, anyone can give it a shot. You can take pictures of beautiful landscapes, sentimental moments, or Underwater Dogs like Seth Casteel (779.329 Cas). The Polar Bear Waltz and Other Moments of Epic Silliness: Classic Photographs from Outside’s Magazine’s “Parting Shot” (779 Pol) has some great examples of how the right angle and timing can turn the majestic completely ridiculous.
Check out what’s happening on our website at www.cdpl.lib.in.us or call us at 765-362-2242. The library is open Monday-Thursday 9a-9p, Friday-Saturday 9a-5p, and Sunday 1-5p.
