Face of Texas: Portraits of Texans

I like everything about this book, from the writing to the choice of images. It's impossible in one book to encapsulate the entire state of Texas but I think Michael did a great job showing us the faces of people who have power, passion and purpose. The photography is just what I would expect. Very well executed, with a personal style that instantly says, Michael O'Brien, combined with a sensitivity to people that in turn makes each image very accessible. From a production viewpoint the images are very well reproduced and well integrated with the writing. The book is on my office shelf and I refer to it often when I want to reset my sense of seeing after a long day of work. Well done and a "must have" in the library of every Texas Photographer or fan of photography.

This is a beautifully photographed coffee table book picturing Texans from small towns and large cities all over the state. Photographed by Michael O'Brien, a photographer with a background in photojournalism, the book spotlights Texans as diverse as Willie Nelson, Lady Bird Johnson, ZZ Top, small town chearleaders, ranch families, and Laura and George Bush. Michael's wife, Elizabeth O'Brien, a writer, captures each person in a sensitive, personal interview which describes each Texan in that moment in time. The Face of Texas would be a wonderful gift for anyone who lives in the state of Texas or has friends or relatives there, or for anyone who appreciates beautiful photography or Americana.

This is a beautiful and expressive collection of portraits of a wide variety of Texans, from the famous to unknown, real Texans. O'Brien has a great sense of light and clearly connects with his subjects, who are often pictured in their environment, so that you get a real feeling for the place as well as the people. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in photography or Texas.

I will start my review my rejecting all of what the past reviewer Daniel Andrade said about the book. What he said completely reflects the tone of a somewhat jealous person and a selectabley one-sided arguement. The Face of Texas, which I had anticipated since its announcement, did not only capitulate some of Michael O'Brien's famous and somewhat artistic photographs but it also gave me something that other coffee table books did not: it a description of the photgraph...let me explain. Other coffee table books or general photograph books for example often lead me to be confused...I want to know the people in the picture...and yet, no one ever explains the picture. Elizabeth O'Brien did this beautifully, and I found myself more interested in the "nobodys" such as Sloan Peterson and her Austin High prom date rather than Willie Nelson and Troy Aikman.And to make another point on Daniel's bittersome review, let me pose him a question. What do you think of when you think of someone's face? You think of the distinct features that you remember most easily. Let ask you another...what are the distinct features of Texas? People don't think of such things as its racial diversity...they think of cowboys, famous legends such as Earl Campbell and Troy Aikman and Willie Nelson, they think of small town Texas, the hill coountry, the Mexican influences. To refute yet another weak point of his review proves that he must not have looked at the book for very long and may have had some sort of squirmish with the publication of this book. Hardly anything is accurately protrayed these days but how doers that have any wager of me or anyone else buying the book or enjoying it? Not only would I highly recomend that someone buy this book for yourself, but maybe give it to a friend...it seems to make a wonderful present.

This is simply one of the finest books of portraiture you will ever find. If you are a Texan it is a must. If you love photography and the ability of the camera to probe the lives of others and in return tell us more about ourselves you won't want to miss this.Under the sensitive vision and the caring heart of Michael O'Brien the rich, the famous and the common folk come together in this extraordinary look at Texans and indeed all of humanity. Though his photographs span a wide cross section of various ethnic and socio-economic groups, Michael shows us that we have more in common with each other than we realize. We are more alike as humans than we are different.He is an artist as well as an anthropologist who happens to use a camera. We are so much the better for his work.