WYNN BULLOCK: REVELATIONS

I want to extend a long-overdue congratulations to you for a superb job on the publication of Wynn Bullock: Revelations—I received my copy about a month ago (which I ordered from †the University of Texas Press)—and I have been poring over it again and again, drinking in the inspiring imagery, and reading the wonderfully insightful text—I especially enjoyed Brett Abbott's "Revelations" essay—and the timeline with so many anecdotes and details was also wonderful—I think Brett Abbott did an amazing job in his research, no doubt with lots of help and guidance by you, I'm sure—but it was all such a pleasure to read. It truly inspired me.
I guess I have been guilty of waxing existential since I was a little kid—questions like "why are we here" and "where are we going" used to consume my daydreams, I guess like most kids... and when looking up at the night sky on a clear evening, it always seemed to me that we are all part of something so much bigger than just ourselves and this amazing Earth (Planet Ocean as I tend to see it!)... and that the stars, and galaxies and everything "out there" (and "in us") †is turning out to be the same "stuff"—everything in the Periodic Table of Elements—I found Wynn's observations and insights regarding the space time continuum and the concept that we—and all things—are radiant energy a mind boggling, but ingenious observation that was surely ahead of his time, and as I've read your new book, and revisited Wynn's images more and more, I can see and feel this even more strongly in his work... .he was REALLY onto something wonderful and powerful, and I only regret I never had the opportunity to meet him—and am thus even more grateful that you saw to it that this beautiful book—and a phenomenal new retrospective show in Atlanta -- came to fruition for us all. Kudos to you for a job well done!
~ Chuck Davis, marine photographer and cinematographer, Pacific Grove, CA www.tidalflatsphoto.com

There are not many advantages to getting old! But one has to be acquiring some form of wisdom and, hopefully, retaining one's memory. For me, 1957 was a turning point in my life. I had been hooked on photography since I was 10 years old and I was now 14 years old and actively looking for work as a newspaper photographer (even though I was under the legal age to work!). I had made a few dollars working in a camera shop and went to Sydney's Wynard Railway Station bookshop where most overseas magazines and newspapers were sold in those days. Before me was "Family of Man" and I opened the book to see Wynn Bullock's "Child in Forest" image. I was captivated.
 
I am now 71 years old and teaching creative photography -- and that image has remained foremost in my creative mind for 57 years. In recent years I have been fortunate in establishing links with Wynn's daughter Barbara who is two years younger than I am. Wynn's book "Colour Light Abstractions" has been a favourite since Barbara mailed it to me a few years back and it told me a lot about my idol Wynn Bullock, but I sensed there was more. When I received "Revelations" in the mail, I knew I had found those answers. This is truly a remarkable book and reveals a great amount of detail, in words and images, of Wynn Bullock and his life. It should be compulsory reading for all emerging photographers – especially those who think a mobile phone is a camera also!
  ~ Ken Ball, Fine Art Photographer and Teacher, Australia

A contemporary of Edward Weston and Edward Steichen who was acknowledged by each for his artistry, Wynn Bullock as gone relatively unnoticed in the pantheon of 20th-century photography. Yet as evinced by this volume and its companion exhibition at Atlanta's High Museum, he was a master of both abstraction and realism, a purveyor of forms in the natural world and the human realm whose beautifully composed images beckon a larger audience. In the 1960s, Bullock's series Color Light Abstractions was far ahead of both public taste and technology; his frustrations with color printing led him back to black and white. Here his Kodachrome originals have been wondrously revived digitally, nearly 40 years after his death.
  ~ American Photo Magazine, May/June 2014 issue

The Revelations catalogue arrived today and it took my breath away. What a beautiful publication on so many levels. Not only is the design of the book striking, it is a fitting representation of Wynn's work. I have not had a chance to read the essays yet (although the book has been beckoning me all afternoon). I look forward to finding time to enjoy what you and Brett have written. In the meantime, I couldn't wait to share my first impression of the publication with you - and what an impression it was! Congratulations to you and to everyone who worked to make the publication come to life. Bravo!
  ~ Lindsey Kouvaris, Curator of Exhibits and Collections, de Saisset Museum, Santa Clara University

When you sit down with Wynn Bullock: Revelations, you want to become a better student of photography. You will view photography with a different eye. . . and expect more. Wynn Bullock's photography is timeless. Going through the pages of this book you see what a mindful, poetic, and curious photographer he was…. Each image makes you pause. This is a profoundly beautiful collection of work. Though nothing compares to seeing the print in front of you, this book is the next best thing and allows you to have this unprecedented collection in your home. Revelations was the perfect title.
  ~ Rfotofolio, A Curated Online Gallery Space for Fine Art Photography. Click here to read the full review

This afternoon UPS rang our door bell with THE BOOK! What a magnificent thing to hold in my hands and then to open … open to an open door ahead of the title page … an invitation to enter the Bullock world. I am a reader who does not skip Foreword and Acknowledgements. Then the Abbott essay. Brilliant. Today I stopped at Plate 12. No sense trying to gobble it all down at once …. What a treasure for me to discover … plate by plate. Will take my time. [My wife] Elaine will too. Today she held it and smelled the new book smell. Her turn to read and look will come soon. Much congratulations.
  ~ Neal Whitman, poet

I just received a copy of the "Wynn Bullock Revelations" book that I preordered from Amazon last December. The book is absolutely beautiful and exactly what I have been looking for for many years. Wynn's photography has always been an inspiration to me and gives me great pleasure to view over and over again. I want to thank you and everybody involved in creating this book. It will be a valued presence in my home."
  ~ Dennis Stefani, photography collector

Fortunate for the reader, included in this [Wynn Bullock: Revelations] retrospective is a large selection from his oevre "Color Light Abstraction".  His later black & white photographs are reversal prints (sometimes inverted) that are a delightful challenge to read.  As a book object, this retrospective is dense with photographs, the writing clear, informative and footnoted and accompanied by an illustrated chronology.  The interior photographs are beautifully printed as originally conceived without the mild cropping of the early books illustrating his work, with the photographic plates having generous white margins, captions; including dates of the work….  Recommended."
  ~ Doug Stockdale, The PhotoBook, online book reviews.  Click here to read the full review.