Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Grassland- Phil Underdown


Photo: Phil Underdown



One of the great joys I recently had at a Photo Book Club event in SF was coming upon Phil Underdown's book called Grassland. And a joy is exactly what it is- both to hold and behold. It's a precious little thing- precious, not pretentious; it has a child's wonder about it, the magic of seeing things for the first time. The colors are bright and cheery (unlike the somewhat washed out jpegs online), but not overbearing; and despite the fact that each of its twenty or so photographs are run across the gutter, they're printed on weighty stock that unfold flat out into uninterrupted 4X6 images. The result is one petite photo exhibit of portable joy and pleasure that you can pocket anywhere!

There is one not insignificant drawback however- mainly, that it is simply no longer available. In a world of instantly forgettable and interchangeable images, this uniquely original book, this small and wondrous artifact, made for one very personal and memorable experience...

No comments: