Americans always love an underdog. And why not? Triumph over the odds is at the heart of our most cherished national stories. This country began when the scrappy, rag-tag Continental army defeated the mighty British Empire, and it was largely built by struggling refuges from other lands. In many ways, victory of the underdog […]
Peter Beard: The Eye of Africa
From the pages of Vogue to the vast expanses of Africa, artist, photographer and writer, Peter Beard introduces us to a world of both unparalleled beauty and brutal truth. As a young man,Beard’s initial interest in the Dark Continent led him to a meeting with “Out of Africa”author Karen Blixen (alias, Isak Dinesen). This meeting aroused in him an abiding curiosity […]
Animal in Art. A Thousand Hounds
Raymond Merritt, a lawyer by trade, is both an expert on photography and a fan of dogs. So when he was asked to write and co-edit, with Miles Barth, a collection of photography that focused on dogs, it seemed a natural way to combine his passions. A Thousand Hounds (Taschen) is the result. “It’s not […]
You Have a Visitor: Observations on Pet Visitation and Therapy, by Renee Lamm Esordi
You have a visitor. For nursing home residents and hospital patients, those four words are enough to send a sublime chill of anticipation down the spine. That’s to say nothing of the spiritual healing and emotional reawakening the patients experience when the door opens and the four-legged therapist actually steps into the room. In this aptly titled book, photographer Renee Lamm Esordi provides […]
Penguins on Parade
Forget the zoo. All right, it’s a lot cheaper and easier to get to than Antarctica and the Falkland Islands, but you’re never going to see countless penguins, seals, albatross or whales surrounded by icebergs—even at the Polar Bear Plunge in San Diego. Wintertime in America is summertime at the bottom of […]
Eyes on the Wild Side with the Legendary Ylla
Animal Fair looks at the amazing life of legendary animal photographer Ylla, almost fifty years after her untimely death in India. One of the last things Pryor Dodge sees on his way out of his apartment is the picture of his godmother which hangs by the door. In the black and white photo, […]