The Eye Is a Door: Landscape, Photography, and the Art of Discovery

2014

"Spirn’s new book is both beautiful to look at and enlightening to read. She points us toward the stories that surround us and the patterns which envelop us. In short, she makes us see again. Few people have been able to so consistently produce work that changes the lives of people throughout the world. Her ability to direct our attention to that which is both invisible and right before us is unparalleled.” Chris Aiken, Choreographer

“…simultaneously gorgeous and chaste. There’s a matter-of-fact flawlessness to these photographs.” Mark Feeney, Boston Globe

“Spirn shows readers how to make thinking with photographs a do-able, teachable skill. Everyone who works with photographs, no matter how experienced they are, will come away from the book with new ideas and sensitivities.” Howard S. Becker, author of Telling About Society

“The Eye Is a Door begins a new conversation in a time of artistic volatility when media are being invented, redefined, and combined. Anne Whiston Spirn speaks to us in a unique and magical convergence of images and words seen from an entirely new perspective, and invites us to join the conversation. I promise you, it is not one to miss.” Will Steacy, photographer

“A series of clear essays and suites of superb photographs, and aid to understanding and living intensely.” Laurie Olin, landscape architect