Chinese Turkestan: A Photographic Journey Through an Ancient Civilization by Ryan Pyle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Hardcover, 192 pages
Published September 5th 2014 by Ryan Pyle Productions
An interesting book, with an interesting topic. A look at a part of China inhabited predominately by Muslims, with thousands of years of history. Pictures of the people and buildings with the old and ancient beside the encroaching Communist China's signature highrise white apartment/office buildings. I enjoyed the use of black and white photography; it appropriately fit the atmosphere the photographer was presenting. My problem with the book was its design. A photographic essay such as this is usually presented in an oversized book (this is close to a standard sized hardcover). The pictures were squeezed together on pages when they would have been done better justice had they been framed by more negative space on the page. And most annoyingly were photos which spanned across a two page spread landing a good portion of the photos central focus (a person) slap dab in the books gutter. I realize the cost of publishing probably was the determining factor in not using a larger format but could suggest perhaps keeping the size and layout but at least using a lay-flat binding so images aren't lost in the gutter.
Comments
Post a Comment