Relationships

by Terry Carroll

Relationships is a photography monograph, a visual narrative of small, "telling moments" from around the world, 1977-2007, illustrating the title's broad theme. The photography is reminiscent of classic mid-20th century photojournalism: rich black-and-white images of people and other creatures, un-posed, often lightly humored, engaged in life and living. One image per page, 137 images total, each a story. A single-page essay by the photographer concludes the book. Printed by Stinehour Press of Vermont, stitched and bound by Roswell of Arizona in a 9 x 12" horizontal format.

144 pages, Hardcover

First published April 25, 2008

About the author

I am a writer and photographer, ambidextrous in the two forms since my mid-teens in the 1970s. With both I engage in personal reportage: through non-fiction narrative writing and human-interest photojournalism. Sometimes I mix the two, but mostly I don't. Instead, I attempt to make each medium tell its own stories.

I attended San Francisco State, where I earned a bachelor's degree in creative writing (1982) and a master's degree in American history (1988). A Bay Area native, I grew up in the town of Martinez and have settled in Oakland. I publish through Oakland House Press, which is my own operation.

A confession: I don't read much fiction. As a high school student and college English major I did -- gobs of fiction. But I've come to rely of film for my fictional storytelling medium. In fact, I don't read many books, generally. Mostly what I read are three New York publications: The New Yorker, the New York Times, and The New York Review of Books. I read those constantly, all day, every day. (Heretically, I use book reviews as my means of consuming the gist of what is out there in books.)

Film (and theater -- I subscribe to the Bay Area's American Conservatory Theater and Berkeley Rep.) serves for me as a complete package for narrative and visualization, for both my writing and photography. I'm probably in the wrong venue, here at Goodreads, but I do read constantly ... just not books so much.

So about my book ratings: Most of them are for books/plays/poetry that I experienced years ago, going back to my hungry teen years in the 1970s. My ratings are given as autobiographical impressions of what those books meant to me in my life. Many that I've rated as four or five stars probably wouldn't get such high ratings if I came to them new, now. Also, almost all of my ratings are four or five stars. That's another thing: I don't read books to completion unless I really love them, and I generally don't rate books that I haven't read to completion (do you?). Further, as someone who has produced two books of my own work and have written for publication, I know how incredibly hard the task is; and I believe (maybe naively) that most books are produced from the heart. I don't believe in pissing on the dreams of others, so I mostly only give out good ratings or none at all.

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful photos that look at the complex ways people are connected. Really appreciate the way the pictures in this book allow you to see past all that separates us from each other; the photos take you to a place you where you see all the things we have in common with each other.