From the Good Earth
A Celebration of Growing Food Around the World
by Michael Ableman
 "From
the Good Earth is 168 pages of vivid, often endearing
photos of food at its source and the people who tend
it. If Ableman can grow food as well as he can photograph
it, his must be one magnificent farm. "
-
Chicago
Tribune
"As the photos from his book
demonstrate,
Michael Ableman is a widely traveled master photographer
[and] poetic visionary. He is also an organic farmer
whose fertile and productive land is now surrounded
by suburbs. Who better to show us the traditional,
industrial and sustainable forms of agriculture,
pointing out the new way to farm? "
-
The Millenium Whole Earth
Catalog
"If you consider the Earth as the ultimate creation,
the supreme work of art, it makes sense that Harry
N. Abrams Inc., the fine-arts publishing house, would
put its imprint on From the Good Earth. Through the
essays and photographs of author Michael Ableman, [it]
presents an eloquent case for returning to more sustainable
forms of agriculture. "
-
Chicago Sun-Times
"A testament to the bond between people and the soil
... a powerful visual and written statement. "
-
Wilmington
News-Joumal
"The photographs are superb ... the people, the fruits,
the vegetables almost jumped out of the page ... a
handsome art book with a timely message. "
-
San
Luis Obispo New Times
"The magnificent photographs capture some timeless,
placeless essence about tending crops. [Ableman] stuns
us with his photographic images: the drama of terraced
fields in the Peruvian Andes which seem to reach into
the sky, Hopi Indians in the American desert winnowing
red beans, mirrored almost exactly by a Karen tribeswoman
in northern Thailand, and a refreshing, lush image
from Burundi of picturesque, round, thatched huts in
a sea of verdant green. The physical journey is paralleled
by a spritual one... there is infectious optimism...
and a colourful, worldwide celebration of the glories
of harvesting, marketing cooking and eating. "
-
Gardens
lllustrated, England
"Beautifully photographed ... Ableman is a man on
a '90s mission: to help people reconnect with the source
of their food. "
-
Rocky Mountain News, Denver
"A farmer with a love and
feel for art his instrument
may be the camera, but throughout this beautiful collection
of photographs, which peers into the arts of traditional
agriculture across five continents, it becomes apparent
that the pitchfork, the hoe, the plough, and the shovel
can all be artistic tools. The patterns traced on the
earth, whether it be by the Hopi Indians or an organic
farmer in Western Europe, have an aesthetic quality
and rich variety. Ableman's book is a celebration of
renewed hope. "
-
Hampstead & Highgate Express,
England
"Wonderfully inspiring, all
of the photographs are interesting and full of life.
From the Good Earth could make anybody care about
what they eat and how it was grown. "
-
Photo District News
"Ableman's photographs are no mere snapshots, they
represent camera art and seem to affirm the reality
that nature abhors a vacuum. They seem also to ask
a question -- can an over industrialized world bring
its procedures to the countryside with impunity? Booksellers
call this one a coffee table book meaning look don't
read. I say read and enjoy. "
-
Acres USA
"This book is
a treasure ... photographs and stories from 1 00,000
miles of wandering through America, Africa, Europe,
Asia and China in search of people, fields, markets
and harvests ... laced with quotations, philosophical
and inspirational gems from gardeners and farmers
around the world. Images and text evoke the writings
of Wendell Berry, Wes Jackson, and others -- [the]
sense of place, the connectedness of food production
and consumption ... joyful work and diversity in
landscape and diet. "
-
Acres Australia
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