DOUBLE EXPOSURE - Robert Sullivan


 Timothy O'Sullivan was an American photographer in the 19th century. Some of his photos are among the most iconic of the American Civil War. After the war, O'Sullivan traveled to the American West, raising photography to an art form with his pictures of what was still considered to be unusual locations. His work had an impact on photographer Ansel Adams.

Despite the longevity of his work and his obvious skills, very little is actually known about O'Sullivan, which in many ways mirrors the locations he's photographed - unusual and sometimes forgotten locations that evoke strong emotions.

Author Robert Sullivan sets out to learn more about both - O'Sullivan and his chosen vistas. Along the way, Sullivan reflects on America, the changes that have occurred over the past century, as well as how poorly Indigenous People were treated in O'Sullivan's time and how things haven't changed much there.

I really thought I'd find this book to be more enjoyable than I did. I have a strong interest in photography (especially stereo photography - more on that in a moment) and also in good nature writing, so this looked appealing based on the cover and the description. But Sullivan notes in the beginning that this isn't a biography - which is true - but then what is it? Is it a 448 page essay?

Sullivan's reflections get a bit long and tedious and we get the impression that he's reflecting very much for an audience rather than for himself. When he was a bit more casual his writing is more sincere and interesting.

I feel like a great opportunity (or two) was missed here.  O'Sullivan was a photographer and while Sullivan the author explains, sometimes at length, the work O'Sullivan went to in order to create his photo. It would have been nice to have more than a small handful of photos to accompany the book - a very poorly/tiny printed to boot.

But the book is called Double Exposure, and we can see that the photo on the cover is part of a stereo pair.  Stereo photos (two photos printed side by side which, when viewed through a special viewer, brought the scene into three dimensions) were quite popular in O'Sullivan's time. More explanation of this process would have been nice and more reflection on how the stereo cards brought the viewers closer to O'Sullivan's subjects might have livened up the narrative.

I think one must be truly invested in the subject to really enjoy this book. While not invested, I was hoping to learn a few things, but I couldn't stay interested long enough each time I sat down to read this.

Looking for a good book? If you're interested in historical photography or exploration of the American West, you might enjoy Robert Sullivan's Double Exposure: Resurveying the West with Timothy O'Sullivan, America's Most Mysterious War Photographer. But you need to be really interested before you dig in.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

2-1/2 stars

* * * * * *

Double Exposure: Resurveying the West with Timothy O'Sullivan, America's Most Mysterious War Photographer

author: Robert Sullivan

publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

ISBN: 9780374151164

hardcover, 448 pages

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

VINYL RESTING PLACE - Olivia Blacke

Image
 Juni Jessup and her two sister, Tansy and Maggie, have gone into business together in their hometown of Cedar River, Texas, opening a combination record store and coffee shop. Vinyl LPs are making a comeback after all, despite critics thinking the medium was dead.  But speaking of 'dead' ... finding a dead body in the supply closet just as they are looking to have a grand opening is not part of the plan.  Juni's life gets more complicated when their uncle, Calvin, already a suspect in the murder, disappears. And the police officer leading the investigation is Juni's EX-boyfriend (who passive-aggressively keeps putting himself back into her life). Convinced that her uncle would never murder anyone, Juni sets out to prove his innocence - which isn't easy since he's making himself look guilty - because Calvin is family and family is EVERYthing to Juni. As readers of my blog know, I'm not a big fan of most cozy mysteries, but the setting caught my eye and my in...
Read more

THE WALLED CITY - Ryan Graudin

Image
  Jin and her sister, Mei Yee, were taken and sold and then sent to the lawless Walled City to serve as prostitutes or slaves to anyone willing to pay. Jin managed to escape her captivity, but not the Walled City and she now lurks about, disguised as a boy and is trying to track down the brothel where her sister is still captive. Jin will work odd delivery jobs to earn a small bit of money and hopefully have a legitimate means of coming in contact with her sister's captors.  This is how she meets up with Dai, a mysterious boy who has somehow managed to avoid running with any of the gangs in the city but he seems to have his own unusual connections, which Jon could desperately use if she has any hope of finding Mei Yee. But Dai has his own desperate needs.  The story is told from the different perspectives of each character and we do bounce around quite a bit as the chapters are generally short. This never bothered me, which is slightly unusual as often I find this techni...
Read more

THE RAVEN THIEF - Gigi Pandian

Image
 With Tempest Raj now a member of the company, Secret Staircase Construction (a company who, as their title suggests, builds mystery-themed, secret rooms inside homes) has finished their first job. Their client now wants to celebrate to kick off her new beginning - new home and new life now that she's divorced from her cheating ex-husband, famous mystery author Corbin Colt. First up, a mock séance to remove any trace of Corbin from the property, led by Tempest's friend, Sanjay.   But during that séance, while all those gathered sat in a dark room holding hands, Corbin's dead body crashes the party, falling across the table in front of everyone. There were eight people in the room, and they were all holding hands, but all the evidence points to one of them being the murderer.  Suspicions point to Ash, Tempest's grandfather, because he was the only one with Corbin's blood on him. Of course, as a doctor, he was also the only one who checked on the body - ...
Read more