'Thoughts On Landscape' Newly Available

I'm pleased to pass along the news that Frank Gohlke's little gem of a book, Thoughts on Landscape: Collected Writings and Interviews, is newly available from Amazon. Gohlke is one of the best writers who is also an accomplished photographer—his thoughts and essays are articulate and thoughtful, and he's even lucid in interviews, of which there are several present here. In fact, one of the best chapters in the book is "Lieben und Arbeiten" from a 1984 Colorado College interview, which contains the famous aphorism, "At its best...photography asks us to return to the world from art."

He's written very little: the contents here span from 1976 to 2007. Everything of his I've ever seen is here. Present are his fine 1977 essay on Ben Lifson, and of course "A Volatile Core," from Aperture 98, which begins like this:

Some facts: On May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens in the Cascade Range of southwestern Washington state erupted explosively, two months after the first signs that a 123-year period of dormancy was ending. An earthquake caused the weakened north face of the mountain to avalanche into the Toutle River valley, instantaneously releasing the pressure on the upwelling magma below. The result was a lateral blast of incredible force that devastated 230 square miles of commercial timberland, recreational forest, and wilderness. Trees representing one billion board feet of timber were killed where they stood, flattened, or pulverized and blown away. Valleys were filled with debris, rivers were rerouted, old lakes were reshaped and new lakes created. Where before there had been a gleaming symmetrical cone 9700 feet high, there was now a gaping horseshoe-shaped crater whose rim was 1300 feet and whose floor was 3000 feet lower than the old summit. Perhaps two million animals of all species were killed, including sixty-five human beings. During the seven hours of the May 18 eruption the release of energy was estimated to equal one Hiroshima-sized bomb per second.

I have often been attracted to places where very little happened: plowed fields, front yards, quiet intersections; the things that took place in my photographs were non-dramatic, hardly events at all in the common understanding of the word. A tornado or a volcanic eruption is at the other end of the spectrum....

Even so, this is not so much as book for readers as for thinkers, and if you digested one chapter per month you might be taking it too fast. Not that it's difficult (it's not), just that it's contemplative and reflective. He has thought deeply about photography and landscape, and what he has to say makes the reader do the same. One could keep this volume for years and dip into it now and again with pleasure and avail. If you like to read about photography, recommended. Lord knows how long the print run will last.

Of course if you prefer the pictures I'm not going to argue.

Mike

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Original contents copyright 2010 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Comments

[Ken Tanaka]

"Lord knows how long the print run will last.

Print run? We don' need no stinkin' print run. The book is on Kindle for $9.99. An excellent book for the Kindle, too.

[Mike Johnston]

Ken,
Actually, you're right, and yes, you're right--it IS an excellent book for the Kindle. Perfect book to carry around for a long time and delve into now and then.

Mike

[yunfat]

On iTunes, free stuff...

Lecture:
http://deimos3.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/Browse/arizona-public.1482614403?i=1088582147

Podcast:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/accomodating-nature-the-photographs/id264356445?i=81163063

[jean-louis salvignol]

Another 1-click order on..amazon.fr, and nothing for you, Mike!

Why ?

[Charles Mason]

"Usually ships in one to two months"---this is the tag line for this book. I don't know about the rest of you, but I am disheartened by Amazon's service regarding photography books. I have had books on order since last July! They send notes out that they hope to ship by October of 2010. Don't know what gives. This book looks fine, and is inexpensive, so I have ordered it (through Mike's link of course $$). But I have no faith that I'll actually see it soon...

[Joe]

Yes, a wonderful book. I ran all over the campus of the University of Arizona on a rare rainy Saturday trying to get ahold of the copy, since at the time it wasn't available on Amazon yet. Mr. Gohlke had a line at the opening of the New Topographics show that just blew my mind. It was echoed in both this book and the materials in the New Topographics catalog, but it was to the effect of "I realized nothing I could say could possibly be as interesting as the world itself already is", and reading these essays now afterward has really been revelatory.

[Petersson]

Mike, have I thanked you yet for an excellent website? I find it better than most photo oriented magazines. I am still enjoying the book that you recommended before Christmas which presents a broad variety of contemporary photographers.

Well in short, thanks!
Erik Petersson
Stockholm

[Phil Martin]

listed as not available on the UK Amazon site.

[Mike Johnston]

"Another 1-click order on..amazon.fr, and nothing for you, Mike! Why?"

Jean-Louis,
I wish I knew, I wish I knew. I applied three times for an affiliation with Amazon France and I was turned down all three times. I don't know why.

Sorry...it's not for lack of trying!

Mike

[Mike Johnston]

"Usually ships in one to two months"

Charles,
That's Amazon's standard line for when they don't have the books in their own warehouses and need to make an order from the publisher. However I checked with the publisher and this book should ship sooner than that.

Mike

[Dennis Ng]

Just got it. One thing not sure. When I go in, the Amazon definitely has TOP ref but the kindle one, I am not sure. Hence pls check. Or is that buying kindle version you do not have anything?

BTW, after and I stress it is after the launch of iPAD, it seemed my family which has 1 iMac and 5 mac notebook decided to buy kindle instead. We have got 4 so far! I think for reading books (without much picture may I say), kindle is better.

[erlik]

Mike, it may be Amazon.fr rejects your application because you're not a citizen. IIRC, you cannot register .fr domain without having either citizenship or a company registered there. It may be something like that.

[Charles Mason]

Thanks Mike-- I'll let you know when it ships

Charles

[Tim]

I must admit my first reaction to the text is to wretch. Possibly reading a little too much into it, but from the style and priorities presented.... :

"force that devastated 230 square miles

This much is probably a fact.

of commercial timberland

Now why is this the first perceived use for that land? Big hint, it's a volcano, it doesn't care about petty human-interest perspectives and there's not much you can do to make it go away.

, recreational forest, and wilderness."

I'm sure they'll heal themselves. Volcanoes are part of the natural processes that created whatever landscape you like to photograph; it changes, sometimes dramatically and quickly; so deal with it and enjoy the *new* genuine wilderness created.

Random related calculation: if that 230 square miles were in the Amazon rainforest, it would be felled in about 4 days flat. Quit bitchin'.

[Mike Johnston]

"I must admit my first reaction to the text is to wretch...." [snip]

In five years of running this blog, that's one of the strangest comments I've ever gotten. Not THE strangest, but right up there.

He's describing the effects of a massive volcano. What in the world would you have him write?

"Hey, a mountain blew up. Didn't catch it myself. But who cares? Sh*t happens. Buncha animals died. But they would've all died eventually anyway. Some humans died too, but I didn't know 'em, so who cares. Trees were destroyed; they'll grow back. Volcanos. I'm sure there've been bigger ones. Worse things have happened other places. Big yawn. Forget I brought it up."

And by the way, "retch" is the verb. "Wretch" is...well, a noun.

Mike

[Jamie PIllers]

I took a workshop with Frank Gohlke quite a few years ago. It was an intense week at the Anderson Ranch art/craft center in Aspen. The workshop was about the photography of "place".

Frank is a great teacher; someone that has clearly thought a LOT about the what and why questions of photography. He was willing to share anything and everything he knew. He even enticed William Christenberry to stop by the workshop for a day and share his thoughts.

Frank inspired me to look carefully at my community and attempt to find its essence in images. The work I did there has never left my consciousness, after all these many years. If you're reading this.. thanks Frank.

Jamie Pillers
Oakland, CA

[Tim]

Oops, you're right, it should have been `retch'. Yes, I appreciate the comment was unexpectedly critical; here's where I'm coming from.

Foremost, it's a matter of style: the way it comes across, where the first thing that seems to matter is *commercial* forestry, underlined by the subsequent reference to trees in terms of "board feet of timber" and said trees being "killed" in various ways when they could merely have been trees, and destroyed, regardless of the purpose intended for them by mere mankind. It's reads like an attempt to make it human-interest.

My background here is Feynman's mini-rant against the written presentation of scientific research in human-interest terms - "a drug has been found [intrinsically good] .. that might cure cancer [stupid thing to say]". Similar principle here. It should be left to the audience to appreciate events for what they're worth.

Of course I wouldn't go for your proposed "sh*t happens" rewrite, much as it contains some truth - I would not commit the facetious style to Blurb.com. But the text could have said more with fewer words - left it after the 230 square miles. Or made it a separate sentence, detaching at the subsequent `of'. Or been more objective about the geological / landscape changes. Or save a proverbial thousand words, insert one or two (before+after) relevant photos instead.

Relatedly, have you noticed that only one Big Picture photograph of the volcano in Iceland has slow shutter speed motion-blur in the cloud? (#19 in the recent set; it spoke to me more than other photos recently.) If one were seeking (reasonably, I think) photographically to portray the inherent drama inherent of a volcano eruption, avoiding the above profusion of words, then what photographic trickery can you choose to convey that message?

[Mike Johnston]

"Or save a proverbial thousand words, insert one or two (before+after) relevant photos instead."

Tim,
Perhaps I should have mentioned that one of Frank Gohlke's most extensive and best-known bodies of photographic work was made on Mt. St. Helens after the eruption. I assume people know these things, but maybe some don't.

Mike

[Tim]

I didn't, so now I know something new; thanks. Google has found me his site, so there will be investigation.

And it's an area I find interesting: one of these days I'll write an artist's statement about why I make whatever photographs I do, at which time no doubt I'll struggle with the articulation in much the same pedantic kind of way.

[Tom Brenholts]

Just letting you know, this is the first photography book I've ever bought. I bought both the pictures and the essays. Thanks for the direction.

[Ben]

Kindle, smindle. I'm reading this fantastic book right now on my iPad!