Looking for the Summer

Any estimation of the worth of the photography in "Looking for the Summer" will depend upon what the observer wants in his or her art at the moment. If you're looking for the highest caliber nature photography or the best of Jim Brandenburg's work, this is not it. "Looking for the Summer" is a sequel to "Chased by the Light", a personal project that Brandenburg published in 1998 to surprising success. After years of globe-trotting for National Geographic, the man was burned out. In an effort to "restore his soul" and return to his art, Brandenburg devised to make a single photograph per day from the autumnal equinox to the winter solstice, in the place he calls home, Minnesota's north woods. Encouraged by the overwhelming positive reaction, Brandenburg applied a similar principle to a different season. "Looking for the Summer" are photographs taken between the summer solstice and autumnal equinox, again in the north woods of Minnesota but also on the prairie, the landscape of Brandenburg's youth. This time he didn't take just one photo per day. He took many and presumably chose his favorite to represent each of the 94 days. Most photographs are displayed one-to-a-page, though there are a couple of 2-page panoramas. Thirty-seven pages at the end of the book tell "The Stories" behind the photographs which are, frankly, tedious. But I don't think anyone will pick this book up for the text. These photographs are not all outstanding. Some are not even good. Brandenburg has been criticized for obvious technical flaws. In truth, fewer than 10% of these photographs are technically flawed, either out-of-focus, overexposed, or riddled with digital noise. Some of these effects are successful, some not. The quality, in general, varies widely. While many photos are mundane, some are quite striking. The variety of styles and subjects made this book a good choice for gift-giving in my case: plants, wildlife, flowers, water, sky, landscapes, abstract, macro, and even a double-exposure. The naturalism of "Looking for the Summer" is what really endears it to me. The colors are not pumped up. There is not one sliver of Velvia Green or magenta. My favorite photos are those which don't seem sure of their subject. I must look around to find whatever the photo wants to reveal. The best ones are surprising, and I keep returning to them. The quality in "Looking for the Summer" is admittedly uneven. But the photographs don't look like everything else in the marketplace. Having been a nature photography aficionado for 15 years, I tired long ago of the vast majority of nature work, no matter how technically impressive, because it all looks the same.

I am perhaps one of Jim Brandenburg the Photographer's biggest fans. I am not such a fan, however, of Jim Brandenburg the author. But I will say this, his writing abilities have improved drastically from Brother Wolf, and he is after all, a photographer first and foremost. The photography in Looking for the Summer has received a lot of flack because it does not, admittedly, conform to many of the norms we've come to expect in rank-and-file nature photography. When this set of photographs was published in National Geographic, the letters to the editors in the next edition railed on them for being overly saturated, too simplistic, and technically flawed. Yet this refreshing break from overly trite and boring nature photography is exactly what I find so welcoming and enjoyable. Simply put, his photos are stunning! As a week-end shutter hack I find myself staring at every page in this, and all of his other works, and then trying to emulate his works in my own photography. Keep it up, Jim! Can't wait for what ever you're next project might be.

Are you tired of looking at the nature photographs that al look the same? Obviously so was Brandenburg. This book is such a welcome departure from the rules and guidelines that plague photographers, and leave us with bland, rehashed photos that lack any sort of spark. It is simply wonderful.