I was wondering if anyone has seen John Sexton's new book Places of Power and what your thought of it. I just received several copies yesterday to give out as Christmas presents and must say that I am impressed. I have always wondered if he would ever out do Quiet Light and I must say that I think that he has.

-- Jeff White (jeff@jeffsphotos.com), December 02, 2000

Answers

I haven't seen the book, but there is an article and pictures in B&W Magazine. I think the similar work of Peggy Bouke-White, done 70 years ago, is much better. On the other hand, his two pictures of cliff dwellings blew me away.

-- Bill Mitchell (bmitch@home.com), December 02, 2000.

I've seen it, and it's excellent. I noticed that there are signed copies being sold regularly on EBay. The interesting thing is the price, <$70. It's a lot less expensive than the Quiet Light. I've heard that he published it himself. Not absolutely sure on this, though.

-- neil poulsen (neil.fg@att.net), December 03, 2000.

Dear Jeff, You have my mailing address right? Well I thought Sexton other books were ok. I impressed so far with the images that I saw in magazines and Amazon.com from Places of Power. I love the industrial photography genre myself and Sexton really put out some great work. The space shuttle never looked so good. People who say T-Max sucks haven't seen Sexton's work. He probably is one of the best T-Max users in the world. Due to the outstanding examples he makes, I am planning to use T-Max 400. While other films could handle the long exposure, no light, high contrast situation. T-Max users seem to actively look for those long exposures. However my negatives will be developed in PMK Pyro, as Sexton says people who use Pyro become Pyromanics! Can you please tell me what type of technical information he gives in the book? Don't worry I plan to get it from the library.

-- David Payumo (dpayumo@home.com), December 03, 2000.

I was fortunate enough to have taken one of John's workshops last year and to see the 16x20 prints from some of the work in the book and other work that wasn't in the book. I was more than impressed. I work around machinery such as big engines and pipelines and have been inside large power plants numerous times. His work is impressive to say the least. The luminous quality and the way he conveys the expansive nature of the subjects is excellent. I have seen the book and it is a showcase of the art of photography in that genre. I feel it is a book worthy of anyone's library whether his style is your bag or not. James

-- lumberjack (james_mickelson@hotmail.com), December 03, 2000.

I browsed through it today. Very impressive and very well produced. I'll probably go back and purchase it.

10% off all books at A Photographer's Place in New York right now. They are closing as of March 31 and accepting mail orders through the end of January. They have probably one of the most extensive backlists of any photography bookstores anywhere. If you don't happen to be passing through the city, it's probably best to call them at 212-431-9358.

-- David Goldfarb (dgoldfarb@barnard.edu), December 03, 2000.

I received my copy of the book a couple of days ago. Being skeptical of it as I found the last book rather one dimensional, I was not disappointed. The divergence of the subject matter and the perfection in capturing to such precision the numerous complex commercial photographic subjects I find a breath of fresh air.

After listening to many who dish T-Max on this forum, I was supported in my belief to stay the course with this film as this representation of its capabilities in this book is as good as I have seen. Three cheers for B&W. I hope that many purchase the book and support excellence in photography. By the way, I got a signed copy for under $60 on Ebay. Thanks John - Job well done!

-- Michael Kadillak (m.kadillak@home.com), December 03, 2000.

Might Sexton use this opportunity to advocate that Kodak reintroduce T- Max in Readyloads? Might Kodak recognize this book as a marketing opportunity for same? Somewhat ironic that the King of T-Max publishes this book within weeks of Kodak's pulling his preferred film from the preferred packaging of landscape photographers. Here's to hoping that Sexton's advocacy of the film convinces Kodak to return T-Max to Readyloads.

-- B Griggs (griggsb@bc.edu), December 05, 2000.

After reading this post i decided to contact Kodak, with a copy of this complete post. Their response follows: Miles,

Kodak T-Max 100 is still available in the two sheet Readyload packet. No decision has been released wether the T-Max 100 sheet film will be available in the single sheet format.

Thank you for visiting our Kodak web site. If you should have any questions on Kodak products or services, please be sure to revisit our site as we are continually adding information to enhance our service.

Peter Hamann Kodak Information Center (USA) Kodak Professional

800 Lee Road Door C Rochester, NY 14650-3109

1-800-242-2424 ext. 19 (Monday-Friday, 9am-7pm EST) http://www.kodak.com/go/professional

-- miles feigenbaum (mfa1@ix.netcom.com), January 15, 2001.