Photo Book Reviews

San Francisco-based photographer Richard Nagler’s career spans nearly 40 years and in that time, his images have become a treasured part of many private and public collections. For this latest book project, titled Looking At Art: The Art Of Looking, Nagler stationed himself in front of various art works in museums across the globe.

And there Nagler waited, with the utmost patience, for a serendipitous moment to occur between the museum patrons and the art on display. It was these magical moments he was there to capture and this book presents us with a wonderful collection of 80 full color photos from his unique experiment.

The viewer’s reaction to the piece is what gives the art its heart and soul, bringing it to life. What emotions does it stir within you? Does it cause you to think or simply to react? These—and many more—are questions that the artists themselves often ponder as they create and it was the answers that Nagler sought to document.

Nagler masters that task expertly as he links the viewer and the piece together as equals, parts of a greater entity. Art is meant to be more than just a pretty thing to gaze upon; art is emotion transformed into a form that can be shared for generations to come. In this way, Nagler succeeds with Looking At Art.

Looking At Art: The Art Of Looking; photographs by Richard Nagler, foreword by Malcolm Margolin; Heyday; $45; (ISBN: 978-1-59714-268-7)

For more information about Looking At Art, click here.