Book-It 'o11! Book #11
Mar. 17th, 2011 02:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alivemagdoleneThe Fifty Books Challenge, year three! (Years one and two, just in case you're curious.) This was a secondhand find.
Title: Yes We Can: Barack Obama's History-Making Presidential Campaign by Scout Tufankjian
Details: Copyright 2008, powerHouse Books
Synopsis (By Way of Front Flap): "Yes We Can is the story of Barack Obama’s historic, world-changing journey from junior Senator from Illinois to President of the United States of America as documented by Scout Tufankjian, the only photographer to cover his entire nearly two-year campaign, and is the only photography book showcasing images of Obama's unforgettable Election Night speech in Chicago's Grant Park.
Obama’s grassroots journey touched something profound in America, inspiring millions of Americans, young and old, rich and poor, and from every racial and ethnic background, bringing together disparate people throughout the electorate in the service of change. Yes We Can is a comprehensive and intimate portrait of this transformative campaign, which ushered in a new era of American politics. With more than 200 color photographs, the book takes the readers to each emotional stop on this epic journey, punctuated with highlights from Obama's most memorable speeches.
From coffee shops and diners to auto manufacturing plants and bowling alleys, Tufankjian followed Obama as he wooed potential voters in middle class neighborhoods as well as in poverty-stricken Indian reservations. She covered the primaries, the debates, and the final weeks of the hard-fought campaign, shooting more than 12,000 images— compiling the widest variety, the most intense moments, and the greatest ecstatic receptions to greet the young politician on the campaign trail. Yes We Can is as much about Americans and their visions for the country's future as it is about the man that gave them voice-- and hope."
Why I Wanted to Read It: The photography from the 2008 campaign is still staggering to me, as professionals struggled to find ways to place themselves in an increasing world of citizen journalism.
How I Liked It: The book serves as a piece of history, of a sort. Not so much of Obama's campaign but of the dizzying infatuation that continued to rise after it up until around the time he actually took office. One look at Tufankjian's book description on the Facebook site versus the description with the original publication suggest quite a bit about the realization of the glowing light celebutician candidate versus the human president we received.
Tufankjian's photography, the meat of the book, is appropriately stunning, expertly pulling poignant portraits of supporters and capturing environments simultaneously.
The selected prose (the most stirring parts of Obama's most stirring speeches) and the juxtapositions can be a little over the top, even for an Obama supporter. Still, the sometimes gushing enthusiasm in and of itself serves as a sort of time capsule of Obama's grace period.
For that and for the superior photography, the book is worthwhile.
Notable: The book captures Obama with a number of notable figures, as expected. There are actually two different pictures of Jesse Jackson's emotional reaction during Obama's Election Night speech.
However, there is but one picture of Hillary Clinton, a distance shot sometime after she conceded and possibly their first appearance together in the interests of party unity. The shot is from so far away, it's not immediately clear the figure actually is Clinton.
It'd be easy to assume that the Clinton versus Obama contention was still hot enough even after the election that the photographer wanted to take some care, but there's a shot of Bill Clinton more traditional to the style of the book's treatment of such figures (a close-up).
No pictures of McCain nor Palin appear in the book.
Title: Yes We Can: Barack Obama's History-Making Presidential Campaign by Scout Tufankjian
Details: Copyright 2008, powerHouse Books
Synopsis (By Way of Front Flap): "Yes We Can is the story of Barack Obama’s historic, world-changing journey from junior Senator from Illinois to President of the United States of America as documented by Scout Tufankjian, the only photographer to cover his entire nearly two-year campaign, and is the only photography book showcasing images of Obama's unforgettable Election Night speech in Chicago's Grant Park.
Obama’s grassroots journey touched something profound in America, inspiring millions of Americans, young and old, rich and poor, and from every racial and ethnic background, bringing together disparate people throughout the electorate in the service of change. Yes We Can is a comprehensive and intimate portrait of this transformative campaign, which ushered in a new era of American politics. With more than 200 color photographs, the book takes the readers to each emotional stop on this epic journey, punctuated with highlights from Obama's most memorable speeches.
From coffee shops and diners to auto manufacturing plants and bowling alleys, Tufankjian followed Obama as he wooed potential voters in middle class neighborhoods as well as in poverty-stricken Indian reservations. She covered the primaries, the debates, and the final weeks of the hard-fought campaign, shooting more than 12,000 images— compiling the widest variety, the most intense moments, and the greatest ecstatic receptions to greet the young politician on the campaign trail. Yes We Can is as much about Americans and their visions for the country's future as it is about the man that gave them voice-- and hope."
Why I Wanted to Read It: The photography from the 2008 campaign is still staggering to me, as professionals struggled to find ways to place themselves in an increasing world of citizen journalism.
How I Liked It: The book serves as a piece of history, of a sort. Not so much of Obama's campaign but of the dizzying infatuation that continued to rise after it up until around the time he actually took office. One look at Tufankjian's book description on the Facebook site versus the description with the original publication suggest quite a bit about the realization of the glowing light celebutician candidate versus the human president we received.
Tufankjian's photography, the meat of the book, is appropriately stunning, expertly pulling poignant portraits of supporters and capturing environments simultaneously.
The selected prose (the most stirring parts of Obama's most stirring speeches) and the juxtapositions can be a little over the top, even for an Obama supporter. Still, the sometimes gushing enthusiasm in and of itself serves as a sort of time capsule of Obama's grace period.
For that and for the superior photography, the book is worthwhile.
Notable: The book captures Obama with a number of notable figures, as expected. There are actually two different pictures of Jesse Jackson's emotional reaction during Obama's Election Night speech.
However, there is but one picture of Hillary Clinton, a distance shot sometime after she conceded and possibly their first appearance together in the interests of party unity. The shot is from so far away, it's not immediately clear the figure actually is Clinton.
It'd be easy to assume that the Clinton versus Obama contention was still hot enough even after the election that the photographer wanted to take some care, but there's a shot of Bill Clinton more traditional to the style of the book's treatment of such figures (a close-up).
No pictures of McCain nor Palin appear in the book.
