Uncommon Places

Stephen Shore

Uncommon Places is a book of photography, and pretty good photography at that. The only real problem to be had with it is that, well, the places actually aren't all that uncommon. I can see how they'd look that way to someone born and raised in New York City (though one wonders about, say, the corner of 20th and Walnut Streets in Philadelphia making an appearance), but if Shore is trying to make a point here about the commonality of these places being uncommon-- and nothing in the accompanying text would seem to indicate that-- I missed it.

The most interesting pieces in the book are those which feature human subjects. There are only two. (There are others with humans in them, but they aren't the focus.) These draw the eye, invite reflection about the various choices of colors used in setting up the model and the background. The others, by dint of such things being by chance, just seem like really sharp nature photography.

All this really makes it sound like I didn't enjoy this, doesn't it? That's not the case at all. It's quite a lovely pastiche of photographs, and the kind of thing that will actually get picked up and leafed through if it's on your coffee table during a party. Not much in it, however, is really compelling.