Book Review - Maddie on Things, Theron Humphrey

Maddie on Things: A Super Serious Project about Dogs and Physics

 

Theron Humphrey

Category: Photography: Dogs; Projects & Adventures

Synopsis: Humphrey takes a photo of his coonhound Maddie in each of the 50 states.

Date finished: 25 September 2013

Rating: ****½

Comments:

I am of two minds with this one.

First off, I love, love, LOVE the photos of Maddie. I love that you get a sense of Maddie’s nature. I love the odd perches and positions she poses in. I love the way the photos are taken. I love the processing and the square presentation.

Got it? I love these photos.

My beef is with the short introductory comments. They were bewildering to me. I read the intro twice and I still don’t have a clue what the book is about. Here’s the deal: Humphrey isn’t a writer and he wasn’t edited (I found two mistakes on one into page alone). And here’s thing two: I don’t think Humphrey really knows what the book is about either.

He could have omitted the intro, and this would have just been a great book of dog photography. But he didn’t. So, I will try to give you a synopsis here. Humphrey was growing disillusioned with corporate photography (no, I don’t know what that is, either). He wanted to do something real. So he chucked his well-paying, secure job and decided to drive around the country—through every state—and meet a person every day. He adopted Maddie to have a companion on his trip. Along the way, he discovered that Maddie’s talent was perching in precarious positions exactly as she is placed. So, we end up with a book of photos of Maddie. Wait, you say, what happened with the whole meeting people and feeling real project? How’d that pan out? Your guess is as good as mine, buddy. I’m telling you, I read the intro twice.

Had the intro made sense, this would have been a five-star book all day long.

So, in short, buy this book, love the photos, but skip the introduction. 

Would you recommend this to a friend?

Yes, but skip the introductory comments.

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