Photo and Word by David Robertson (review)

3 7 2 WAL 3 4 .3 FALL 1 9 99 P h o t o a n d W o r d . B y D a v i d R o b e r t s o n . B o is e , I d a h o : B o is e S t a t e U n iv e r sit y , 1 9 9 7 . W e s t e r n W r it e r s S e r i e s # 1 2 8 . 4 0 p a g e s, $ 4 .9 5 . R e v i e w e d b y M e lo d y G r a u lic h U t a h S t a t e U n iv e r sit y , L o g a n A t th e en d o f se ct io n 1 o f Ph oto an d W ord , D av id R o b e r t so n w arn s h is read ers to “b e w ary. T h e discu ssio n th at follow s is n eith er b alan ced n or even h an d e d ” (6 ). Ph oto an d W ord is an u n co n v e n tio n al b ook , p art ph ilosoph y, p ar t crit icism , p ar t p h otograp h y, w ith a lo n g sectio n in w h ich R o b e r tso n creates an e xt en d e d co n ce it by d escr ib in g th e varied “r ecip es”— from “D o cu m e n t at io n D in n e r s” to “U glin e ss w it h D e v ile d D e n u n ciat io n ,” “Sw e e t- an d - So u r Id ealism ” to “Le an C u isin e ”— t h at m ak e u p th e gen re h e n am es “p h o t o an d w ord .” Yet w h ile R o b e r tso n w rites in a w on derfu lly qu irky v o ice, h is d efin it io n o f “p h o t o an d w or d” t e xts focu ses o n b alan ce; th e “an d ”— alt er n ately sign ified as & — is as im p o r tan t as th e w ords fram e it. Rober tson ’s in itial poin t abou t balan ce is p erh ap s an o b v io u s on e. P h o t o an d w ord texts are n eith er book s o f w ords w ith illu stration s n or p h oto essays w ith cap ­ tion s: “co m b in ation is im ­ p or tan t: p h otogr ap h s an d w ords m u st h ave m ore or less equ al w eigh t” (5 ). Bu t h e m o v e s q u ick ly t o a m or e in ter estin g an d su btle assertion : th at su ch book s fo cu s ou r a t t e n t io n o n in ter con n ection . H e titles tw o se ct io n s “Aw aren ess” an d “Exch an ge”: th ey are, h e says, “tw o w ays o f con sid er­ in g h ow w e brin g ou rselves in to relation w ith w h at is all abou t us” (11). Both “are n ee d e d fo r a fu ll d escr ip ­ t io n o f h ow h u m an b ein gs n e go t ia t e in...