Product Details
Hardcover
168 pages
University of Texas Press
Published 2000
From Library Journal
Majestic, intelligent, sculptural: the horse is our partner in work and play and holds a unique place in the human psyche. In this, his eighth book, East Texas photographer Carter photographs horses and their domains in his characteristically unsentimental yet timeless manner. Including the occasional kinetic image of sculptures, Carter avoids the typical cuteness reserved for pictures of these animals. He presents horses as resolute, serious, powerful, and sincere, like figures remembered from a dream. Carter manipulates focus so that details are revealed and obscured selectively, a technique heightened by his deft use of tone and grain. The result is a series of 75 resonant and striking black-and-white images in homage to this beast. The book design is remarkable: full pages are devoted to each image, with titles prominently displayed opposite. Interspersed throughout are brief quotes about horses from various spiritual and cultural texts. An exuberant introduction by critic John Wood and an artist's statement sandwich the photographs. A solid addition to this photographer's oeuvre, this book is recommended for large academic and public libraries. Debora Miller, Minneapolis
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Book Description
"I look at horses as improbable art." --Keith Carter Haunting in their mystery and beauty, Keith Carter's horses fill the frame like spirits in a dream--but without ever ceasing to be real horses. Whether he's photographing thoroughbreds preparing for the elaborate maneuvers of dressage or a farm nag grazing in a field, Carter meets horses on their terms, not his. Looking into their enigmatic eyes in these photographs, you wonder, "What are these creatures thinking?" until you realize that Keith Carter's horses never really give up their secrets. This volume collects some 75 duotone images of horses and riders, most of them never before published. Accompanying the pictures is a photographer's statement, in which Keith Carter describes the genesis of this project and muses on what it is about horses that draws him to them as photographic subjects. Distinguished art and photography critic John Wood places Carter's equine photos within the wider Western tradition of painting and photographing animals, while praising Carter's rare ability to portray animal subjects without producing kitsch. In his words, "Carter is probably photography's first truly great master of the animal photograph, and none of his other animal photographs are more powerful than his photographs of horses." |
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