Product Details
Hardcover
183 pages
University of California Press
Published 1995
From Library Journal
Rowell is a winner of an Ansel Adams Award for wilderness photography with many books and articles to his name, including Vision (LJ 11/1/93) and The Art of Adventure (LJ 11/15/89). In this volume, he offers parallel visual portraits of the North and South Poles. Part 1 presents side-by-side photos of the Arctic and Antarctic on facing pages, allowing readers to get a comparative view of the two regions. Part 2 consists of two-page features with brief text and photographs to illustrate science, travel, people, islands, etc. Part 3 has one- to two-paragraph essays with background and camera settings for each photograph. Alistair Fothergill's A Naural History of the Antarctic (LJ 8/95) has equally attractive photography but only of the Antarctic. No other publication reveals so graphically these parallel but dissimilar regions. In Rowell's words, they are as "unalike as Kansas and Kenya." Especially recommended for natural history and photography collections.
Jean E. Crampon, Hancock Biology & Oceanography Lib, Univ. of Southern California, Los Angeles
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Book News, Inc.
A stunning collection of photos taken in the Arctic and the Antarctic, presented on facing pages. Rowell's introductory text explains his interest in communicating more than simply a vivid response to the polar environments, as has been done in numerous photos of the regions. Instead he selected photos for inclusion based on their portrayal of a sense of place, context, and description; his selections--aesthetically dazzling nonetheless--inform and invite increased understanding. Brief captions... read more
Book Description
The harsh beauty of the polar regions has long fascinated explorers and armchair adventurers alike. The forbidding terrain and exotic life- forms appeal to our sense of wonder, and while we may think of them as similar, the Arctic and Antarctic are as unlike as Kansas and Kenya. In Poles Apart, Galen Rowell takes us on an exhilarating visual journey to the top and the bottom of the world, using his camera to reveal the fascinating differences in these polar opposites. In Part I, Rowell's side-by-side photographs highlight the contrasts between North and South. The photo essays of Part II continue the comparisons, developing such themes as Arctic and Antarctic science, polar bears and penguins, and visits to the North and South Poles. Part III provides detailed information on the story behind each photograph as well as technical data of interest to photographers. Galen Rowell is known for choosing subjects that, while beautiful, are unfamiliar to much of his audience. Yet his books enjoy wide appeal because he accurately focusesin images and wordson the essential spirit that sets his subjects apart from the rest of the world. So it is with the distant lands and seas of the polar regions, which hold valuable lessons for all of us concerning evolution, geology, history, human endeavor, and the impact of human greed. No other vast areas of the earth remain as pristine, and for Rowell, the Arctic and Antarctic have become metaphors for those intangible elements that define the earth's wild places. In a world fast becoming a theme park of artificial experience, his book is an invitation to understand and appreciate what is real. |
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