Aquarium

by Todd Newberry, Diane Cook, Len Jenshel

Why do a million people a year visit the tiny seacoast town of Newport, Oregon, whose population is only 8,400? It isn't the beautiful beaches or the quaint fishing harbor, it's the Oregon Coast Aquarium. In cities large and small around the world, recent innovations in aquarium design have transformed what were once damp, stodgy science displays into lively and exciting introductions to the fascinating undersea world.

Attracted by the new spectacles offered to aquarium visitors, Diane Cook and Len Jenshel have traveled around the world photographing these dramatic environments and their enthralled audiences. Fifteen aquariums in North America, five in Europe, five in the Caribbean (including three in Cuba), and three in Japan are included.

Seventy photographs, half in color and half in black-and-white, are accompanied by an interview with the photographers by Lawrence Wechsler, the much-honored New Yorker writer.

128 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2003

Reviews

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

Photographs by Diane Cook and Len Jenshel, essay by Todd Newberry, interview by Lawrence Weschler.

A married couple of landscape photographers, Cook shoots in black and white while Jenshel shoots in color. The book is a series of photographs from each, intermingled, shot at numerous aquariums around the world.

I didn't always get what they were going for with their juxtapositions, as revealed in the interview at the end of the book. Some of their photos seem more successful in retrospect. Generally, I preferred the black and white, but there were a handful of each that I really liked.

Weschler is an astute interviewer. I read an excellent book by him about artist Bob Irwin years ago, Seeing Is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees. My Dad recently read it and looking for other Weschler works, came upon Aquarium. I agree with him that Newberry's introductory essay is a little cheesy. Weschler's interview, however, is not to be missed.

There are definitely some cool aquariums out there as well as less savory ones. I read Aquarium in one sitting, so if underwater creatures and aquariums are your thing, it's worth a look.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aquariums provide a unique cross between architecture and nature. You can find books and articles describing various aquariums and their collections, about the care and feeding of the residents, and other related topics. This book is something else altogether.

The artists responsible for “Aquarium” used their artistic talents and their cameras to look at aquariums and the animals who live in them (and the people who work at and visit them) as art. Design. Interplay. Perhaps, despite the authors' stated attempts to avoid it, anthropomorphism.

Pick up this book if you want to look at aquatic wildlife and their captive settings in a unique perspective. You may or may not enjoy it, but it will make you think. Avoid this book if you are wanting to take a traditional look at these animals and their man-made homes.

RATING: 3 1/2 stars, rounded up to 4 stars.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool look at the artifice and beauty of aquariums, with contrasting views from married photographers.