Kate Brooks: In the Light Of Darkness: A Photographer's Journey After 9/11 Hardcover – 19 Sep 2011

Description

Review Many photo books have the character of single-use books; after viewing it once it is enough but it is pleasant but it goes on to the book shelf to forget about it forever. Not this photo book, or at least not so fast. The young photographer, Kate Brooks has not just pressed her most beautiful and exciting photographs between two covers; what she shows is an extraordinary diary of photographs and words, a document, in a form in which I have never seen before. As one can read in a short summary of the book, this diary of Kate Brooks is the result of a ten year long odyssey. At the end of her journey, not only has Brooks changed but also the parts of the world, which she has been travelling through, have changed. And it feels authentic to me that Kate Brooks does not primary want to get acknowledgement as a war photographer. Most of the events photographed have just happened, accidentally, chaotically but Brooks' is still driven by the wish, to understand the Arabic world better. Although the images, which are of great quality and have received many deserved awards, are clearly in the foreground, the special feature about this chronicle is the fusion of text and image. However, one realises that Kate Brook's strength is photography and not writing, her language fits the form of the diary so well, that the tone similar to a staccato, some repetitions and the simple sentence structure have never bothered me. On the contrary, especially because Kate Brooks has not obsessively tried to do the literary expectations justice, her text appears as authentic as her images. Similar to the photographer, the viewer can ask why Kate Brooks was able to survive. Why has she experienced so many serious dangerous situations and has been able to be so close to deadly stories. A guardian angel? Chance? Luck? The question remains. My conclusion: a strong woman, whose strength might be explained by her youthful high spirit and a portion of naivety. But whatever the reason is - the results captured in words and photographs of her ten year long journey through the Arabic World after the 11th of September 2001 offer the readers and viewers an extraordinary view into the real and the apparently foreign culture. And that is why one is not surprised that Kate Brooks has won numerous awards for this body of work. This is a photographic diary for anyone interested in the Arabic world who might be reluctant to read a thick non-fiction book or dry narrative. Original Review in German language by Dr. Werner Fuchs, translated August 18, 2011 --.de, August 22, 2011Many photo books have the character of single-use books; after viewing it once it is enough but it is pleasant but it goes on to the book shelf to forget about it forever. Not this photo book, or at least not so fast. The young photographer, Kate Brooks has not just pressed her most beautiful and exciting photographs between two covers; what she shows is an extraordinary diary of photographs and words, a document, in a form in which I have never seen before. As one can read in a short summary of the book, this diary of Kate Brooks is the result of a ten year long odyssey. At the end of her journey, not only has Brooks changed but also the parts of the world, which she has been travelling through, have changed. And it feels authentic to me that Kate Brooks does not primary want to get acknowledgement as a war photographer. Most of the events photographed have just happened, accidentally, chaotically but Brooks' is still driven by the wish, to understand the Arabic world better. Although the images, which are of great quality and have received many deserved awards, are clearly in the foreground, the special feature about this chronicle is the fusion of text and image. However, one realises that Kate Brook's strength is photography and not writing, her language fits the form of the diary so well, that the tone similar to a staccato, some repetitions and the simple sentence structure have never bothered me. On the contrary, especially because Kate Brooks has not obsessively tried to do the literary expectations justice, her text appears as authentic as her images. Similar to the photographer, the viewer can ask why Kate Brooks was able to survive. Why has she experienced so many serious dangerous situations and has been able to be so close to deadly stories. A guardian angel? Chance? Luck? The question remains. My conclusion: a strong woman, whose strength might be explained by her youthful high spirit and a portion of naivety. But whatever the reason is - the results captured in words and photographs of her ten year long journey through the Arabic World after the 11th of September 2001 offer the readers and viewers an extraordinary view into the real and the apparently foreign culture. And that is why one is not surprised that Kate Brooks has won numerous awards for this body of work. This is a photographic diary for anyone interested in the Arabic world who might be reluctant to read a thick non-fiction book or dry narrative. --Translated on the 18 August 2011 from www..de, original review written by Dr. Werner Fuchs in German Language About the Author Kate Brooks' photographs have been published in TIME, Newsweek, The New Yorker, Smithsonian, Newsweek, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. She has been recipient of numerous awards and her photographs have been exhibited in the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East.