Visual Art

The photography book, On Street Photography and the Poetic Image by Webb Alex and Webb Rebecca is a special and powerful inspiration that can be used as a reflection material not only by photographers but also by all people who have interest in creative processes and soulful imagery. The authors use their own images to provide guidance to photographers and aspiring photographers so as to create awareness on what it takes to come up with beautifully reproduced aperture that are used alongside insightful words, analogies and quotes. For illustration purposes, the authors have included photographs that were taken by some renounced and highly inspiring master photographers like Henri Cartier and Josef Koudelka among others. Having a view of the composition of the photographs enables readers to appreciate the skills that were displayed by the photographers and to understand what it takes to produce a good photographic capture of an event. The authors have used several exquisitely layered ambiguous images that give room for readers to interpret and ponder about the possible meanings of the photographs through a subjective connection of the dots. In this way, the authors arouse the interpretative capacity of reader by giving them room to analyze the layered pictures so as to generate meanings out of them. The photos of Alex and Rebecca, as used in the book, are also important in representing their journey, inner and external explorations and their perceptions of the world. Every page of the book should be taken as an indirect encouragement and a special invitation that readers are given for them to experience the joy of having a deeper exploration of their journey through the world. It takes readers through contemplations and intuitive visual expressions that are vital in understanding life events. One of the photographs used by Allex and Rebecca gives a demonstration of how the camera eye can be used to capture the geographical landscape in a skillful and captivating manner. The photograph shows professional photography that is used to show a beautiful mountain and the green environment that surrounds it. By use of a wide angle shot, the photography manages to capture the green environment and the sky to show the weather and the rich vegetation. The composition of the subjects in the photo is a clear illustration of the photographer’s intention; showing the gifts of nature and the remarkable physical feature, the mountain that can be used as a tourists attraction site or as a site for leisure and adventure for lovers of nature. The exhibition book by Sculthorpe Gaye and the British Museum, The BP exhibition: indigenous Australia enduring civilization is a result of an extraordinary selection of objects that displays the knowledge and beauty that is contained in artistic works and in people’s everyday life as observed in the indigenous Australia. The book was published as an accompaniment to the first UK exhibition that talked about the indigenous Australia. The authors present a ground breaking book that gives an exploration of the implications and the legacy of colonialism. The authors make use of several photographs to give a visual documentation of colonialism and the changing meaning of objects as preserved in the British Museum. Despite the complexity of the encounters that occurred between colonialists and the indigenous people, Alex and Rebecca’s book give a visual illustration of such encounters in a manner that facilitates easy understanding of the influence of such interactions. The present Australian society is still battling to handle the legacy of colonialism in a manner that can enable them to either transform or reconcile diverse world views over the subject of colonialism and its implications on the people. Several photographs are featured in the book to acknowledge the changes that colonialism had on the meaning of objects as presently available in the British Museum. The exhibition that is documented in the book was held as from the 23^rd April 2015 to 2^nd August 2015 at the British Museum of Australia. One of the photographs in the book shows how the British colonizers eroded the indigenous culture as they acquired the indigenous works of art for preservation in the British Museum. The artistic works were taken by the British for preservation in their museum that was founded shortly after having their flag hoisted in Australia. Within a short time, the museum became full of the ruins of empire. The photograph demonstrates a fallen empire. The book has several photographs ranging from masks, spears, baskets and shields that demonstrate the collusion with the denial of the people’s indigenous rights. Besides, the photographs that are used in the book illustrate the people’s brutal history. It is evident in the photograph of a chained Aborigine that is presented to have chains at the neck as they are taken for trial for accusations involving cases of cattle theft. The spears and boomerang that the authors have captured are used to illustrate the process that took place as Jandamarra was being hunted for. Jandamarra was an Aboriginal resistance fighter who came from the Kimberley region and who was shot at long last after a great struggle. His head was taken to England and put on display in a gun factory as a means of showing the brilliance of English weapons.

Beyond the mask: exhibits at ‘Australia: Enduring Civilisation’, including ‘Barama’, a memorial pole (above left) Amanda Dent.

The anthology book by Roylance Brian, The Beatles anthology, is an idea that was actualized due to willingness by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and George Harrison to tell their stories tobe captured and communicated through the book. The volume also compiles other sources which include the work by John Lennon. The Beatles took the initiative to open up their management and personal archives to help ensure that the project becomes successful. It was meant to facilitate the release of photographic works that the Beatles took along their search for fame and they were used alongside remarkable documents and memorabilia that were obtained from homes and offices. Every page of the Beatles Anthology is full of personal stories and rare vintage images. The authors use photographic illustrations by including snapshots that were obtained from the Beatles family collections for the purpose of flash back into the days when John Lennon, Paul McCartney and the others were little boys who were still growing back in Liverpool. The Beatles Anthology is a special collection that gives a reflection of the memories of the Beatles. The author also includes photographs of materials from Apple and EMI who also accepted to open up their archives for use in the project. Readers of the book enjoy fascinating stories that give a lot of information about materials that were previously unpublished in both text and through photography. The book gives readers an opportunity to understand the autobiography of the Beatles like their music that has been part of many people’s lives. The novel All the Light We Cannot See by Doerr Anthony is a substantial resource on matters to do with WWII. The novel is mainly set up in France and Germany prior to and during the war although it is not entirely a war novel. The author uses a descriptive approach to focus on the interior lives of the two characters in the book. Doerr does not use much photographs but he succeeds to draw a clear picture of the unfortunate case of death, disappearances and fights that took place during the WWII. With regards to the disappearances, the author textually describes the disappearance of a 14-year old blind French girl called Marie Laure who chooses to flee to the countryside at the time when the father has also disappeared from Paris that was mainly occupied by the Nazi. The author also textually describes the obsession of Werner with gadgets that makes him get admitted to the brutal branch of Hitler youth although he does not get an opportunity to meet Hitler until much later in the novel. It is unlikely that readers of the book will get attracted to it due to the plot but rather because of the beautiful writing that Doerr displays through a perfect selection of words and a descriptive language. The word choices that Doerr make have an illustrative capacity that potentially draws a picture of how events occurred. For example, the author explains the disappearance of Marie Laure by use of a carefully selected description “Abyss in her gut, desert in her throat, Marie-Laure takes one of the cans of food…” The Prophetis a fiction book by Koryata Michael which discusses the mystery of murder in a casual manner. The book descriptively discusses the murder of a young girl that prompts investigations. The investigations affect the lives of two young brothers who were significantly affected by the pain of losing their own sister through a murder incidence that occurred in about two decades earlier. The author textually narrates the incidences to draw a picture of the extent to which the brothers went through a lot of emotional trauma. Their regrettable memories were initially hidden by Kent Austin but they are shown to have existed in Adam Austin. The author gives a verbal narration of the way Adam set up a shrine in honor of his sister. By use of a literary descriptive language, Koryata describes the tendency by Adam to sit in sister’s room within the shrine where he lived while speaking to her spirit as he always he always suffered from the guilt about the sister’s murder. The author uses a style of diversion by introducing football where he describes the brothers’ love for football as a story that occurs concurrently with that of their sister’s murder. The sport is used as a distraction from the emotions associated with murder to present an opportunity for recovery in that the competition that is characteristic of sports helps in rebuilding the town people. In this manner, the author presents a complex design where there are tears on one hand and cheers on another. All these contrasting feelings are presented by use of a descriptive language that brings readers in the picture of all occurrences. The book is a fast read and it has turns and twists that can perfectly keep one’s mind alert when tired or when on a long journey. Dona Sample in her poetry book, Rose garden: A book of poetry, seeks to inspire women so that they can develop a feeling of passion and love. The author expresses an emotional attraction to the rose garden due to its beauty and recalls the inspiration that lead to authorship of the poetry book while fresh in high school. The book is intended to help women maintain their value for womanhood. The author gives a textual description of the appearance of roses that often grow in a range of colors like red, white and yellow. The author uses the role as an allegory of a beautiful woman. In such a way, she implies that women are beautiful and just as the rose plays a significant role in bringing joy so should women be understood as a source of joy to the society. The author creates musicality in the poetry book by use of rhymes that glues readers to read more and more as they also get a deeper meaning. The Rose Gardenis the simplest discovery that has ever been made by Dena Lynn concerning who she is and she has high hopes that the book will bring happiness in people as they always remember the meaning of womanhood. Finally, Peter Schwartz in his non-fiction book, In defense of selfishness: Why the code of self-sacrifice is unjust and destructive discusses the idea of morality to which people are introduced right from childhood. The author points out to the perception of self-sacrifice as a virtue that is widely upheld in the society. He uses texts to describe the widely held perception that is serving others rather than a focus on personal interests is the real meaning of morality as ethicality is measured in terms of people’s altruistic capacities. Schwartz is fully aware of the fact that questioning the societal belief on morality is equivalent to questioning one’s self-evident but he goes ahead to do just that. The author describes the misconceptions on the meaning of selfishness and altruism while making reference to Ayn Rand’s view on rational self-interest. The author uses textual illustrations to support his belief that the people who value self-sacrifice as a justification of morality go against their deep personal interests. He asserts that people who are truly selfish show commitment to moral principles and that they lead a honest and self-fulfilling life. The author describes the lifestyle of the people who are truly selfish when he says that such people do not feed parasitically on others but often offer value for value to ensure that there is mutual benefit. This book mainly uses texts to explain the author’s proportions that contrast with the societally held believes on the subject of morality.