An eclectic, exciting collection of photos infused with a wandering curiosity.
In this book of photographs taken in various states and countries, a man embraces the “flâneur” spirit and presents the vivid subjects encountered on his aimless explorations.
In a brief but effective artist statement, Labry reveals how he got his start: as photography manager for the Texas House of Representatives, where part of his job was “to unobtrusively chronicle the members’ interactions in the House Chamber.” The instrument responsible, a Leica M series film camera, also took the pictures that make up this collection. Years ago, the author dubbed his trusted camera “Nola” in honor of his beloved hometown. While many places are represented in these photos—Berlin, Paris, Texas, Ireland—none is more lovingly and vibrantly captured than New Orleans. “Some of my earliest childhood memories are of natural light,” Labry writes, and his description of the city’s particular glow suggests that there’s no better birthplace for an aspiring photographer. In these 89 photos, he returns again and again to art as a subject. Photos capture murals, paintings, and graffiti, but images of statuary persist throughout the collection. “Statue of Andrew Jackson,” “Statue of Professor Longhair,” “Statue of Slave Girl,” “Statue of Ignatius J. Reilly” are just some Labry has included. Seeing as the artist has already produced a book of photos of Joan of Arc statuary, this is clearly an abiding interest for him. But the images of people are the true standouts. “Fast Food” and “Jackson Square” both capture folks slumped on benches; “French Quarter” shows a man playing a guitar on a stoop. “Mardi Gras” depicts an older man and a young boy intimately conferring in what looks like the bed of a truck. These beautiful images are evidence of Labry’s excellent eye for human figures and how they occupy space and frame. In this volume, the living are more exciting subjects than the inanimate. The author writes: “All photographs are as much or more about their creator than the thing photographed.” These works tell readers their creator is a keen and compassionate observer of a city’s human denizens.
An eclectic, exciting collection of photos infused with a wandering curiosity.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 99
Publisher: Manuscript
Review Posted Online: Aug. 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A football star’s bracing account of his battle for racial equality—and how powerful forces arrayed against him.
A principled athlete strives for social justice.
Kaepernick forthrightly details the activism that earned him global renown but cost him his NFL career. In 2016, the San Francisco 49ers quarterback “was filled with disgust” after police shootings of fellow Black men in several American cities. Before a preseason game, he made a spontaneous decision: “It hit me in that moment that I should find a seat” during the national anthem. He did the same at two more games before reporters noticed. Kaepernick will forever be associated with “taking a knee” during the anthem, but he credits Eric Reid—a teammate who agreed with Kaepernick’s message—for suggesting that they kneel together during subsequent anthems. The protest changed everything for Kaepernick. President Trump vilified him. Kaepernick and his wife received death threats. And though he’d taken the 49ers to a Super Bowl, no teams would sign him. He will likely make news for his take on Jay-Z, whose lucrative partnership with the NFL was criticized as an attempt to launder the league’s reputation. Visiting Africa, where Kaepernick learns about “African leaders who willingly sold their own people to the enslavers,” he “couldn’t help but to think about Jay-Z and the NFL.” In opening chapters, Kaepernick recalls suffering traumatic racial abuse as a child. Being in “white spaces”—he was adopted by white parents—placed him “under a microscope every minute of every day.” He isn’t always nuanced, depicting some people he disagrees with as cartoonishly clueless. But his writing about how college and pro teams “lied” to him about injuries underlines his “feeling of being a disposable commodity.” A decade has passed since Kaepernick played in the NFL, but he stays fit in case “a team needing a QB” calls.
A football star’s bracing account of his battle for racial equality—and how powerful forces arrayed against him.Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2026
ISBN: 9781538777879
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Legacy Lit/Hachette
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.
The veteran actor, comedian, and banjo player teams up with the acclaimed illustrator to create a unique book of cartoons that communicates their personalities.
Martin, also a prolific author, has always been intrigued by the cartoons strewn throughout the pages of the New Yorker. So when he was presented with the opportunity to work with Bliss, who has been a staff cartoonist at the magazine since 1997, he seized the moment. “The idea of a one-panel image with or without a caption mystified me,” he writes. “I felt like, yeah, sometimes I’m funny, but there are these other weird freaks who are actually funny.” Once the duo agreed to work together, they established their creative process, which consisted of working forward and backward: “Forwards was me conceiving of several cartoon images and captions, and Harry would select his favorites; backwards was Harry sending me sketched or fully drawn cartoons for dialogue or banners.” Sometimes, he writes, “the perfect joke occurs two seconds before deadline.” There are several cartoons depicting this method, including a humorous multipanel piece highlighting their first meeting called “They Meet,” in which Martin thinks to himself, “He’ll never be able to translate my delicate and finely honed droll notions.” In the next panel, Bliss thinks, “I’m sure he won’t understand that the comic art form is way more subtle than his blunt-force humor.” The team collaborated for a year and created 150 cartoons featuring an array of topics, “from dogs and cats to outer space and art museums.” A witty creation of a bovine family sitting down to a gourmet meal and one of Dumbo getting his comeuppance highlight the duo’s comedic talent. What also makes this project successful is the team’s keen understanding of human behavior as viewed through their unconventional comedic minds.
A virtuoso performance and an ode to an undervalued medium created by two talented artists.Pub Date: Nov. 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-26289-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
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