Andres Serrano’s America and other work

Andres Serrano’s America and other work is not just another photographic essay book. It isn’t just another pretty or sexy book for your coffee table, (but that is exactly where you should keep it.) Andres Serrano and Taschen Books have given us Americans a crucial instrument to evaluate ourselves with this wonderful book, and it is one stronger than any mirror.
America and other work is possibly one of the most powerful photo books I have ever opened, and it may be one of the most important and crucial books of this decade. Make no mistake, when it comes to recognizing diversity or even celebrating it, we are now more a country of rhetorical phrases and slogans than truth. Andres Serrano defies the cheap talk, and shows us the faces of Americans as they truly are. The larger than life images displayed in vibrant color bring the people of this great country together, and on these pages, they breathe as they do in life, (and thanks to Andres Serrano, they always will.)

It could not have been the intention of the photographer to immortalize these souls, but he does that and so much more. Gazing at the first two pages, Boy Scout John Schneider, Troop 422 & Beverly Pabon, U.S. Postal Carrier, I found myself staring and examining the pages as though I was reading the pages, not looking at images. I found myself asking questions. “Who are these people?” “What were they thinking as they sat for these pictures?” “Are they happy?” For me, these two people say about as much of America as the pictures that followed because they say, “look carefully at the person next to you.” Consider their worth and value. America isn’t just a melting pot of multiculturalism Serrano reminds us it is a land of humanity and discovery; hardship and paradise. It is the delightful similarities and contrasts that put the lives of these people into context in this book, and makes each one of them valid and important as citizens of this complicated country. For me, Serrano’s America and other work is a testament that we are not lost as a nation, but perhaps only just getting started if we can look into each others eyes and see the person and not the person’s ideologies.

I am not an expert on photography. I celebrate popular culture and examine it on a personal level. I savor the things I enjoy and try to share them with others who I hope will find the value in what I have. I love art, and free expression. I do celebrate diversity and our differences and similarities, and that is why I love America. It has become apparent to me that not only does Andres Serrano love America, unlike too many, he gets it!

Whether Serrano is showing us a Sikh, a female airline pilot, firefighters, soldiers, homeless citizens, pimps, nurses, nuns, Playboy Bunnies, cowboys, Chinese cooks, Larry Flynt on one page and Bill O`Reilly on the next, or the National Director of the Ku Klux Klan across from Russel Simmons of Run DMC, I believe he wants us to recognize and acknowledge their humanity before we slap a label on them, (even though everyone is identified under their picture.) I believe there is a life on every page that we are celebrating and that life, regardless of belief, sexual orientation, skin tone, age, or occupation, is one of many that makes America such a mysterious and beautiful nation.

I love Andres Serrano’s America and other work. I love it as a photography book, but more importantly, I love it because it forced me to stop and examine the subjects as living breathing people that we should all care about. It made me choke up at the thought of senseless hate and violence based on differences that still exists, and it made me want to take a second look at every person I come in contact with on a daily basis.

I would recommend America and other work just based on the one hundred odd pages of portraits that make up the beginning of this marvelous, larger than life book, yet there is so much more to it. Not only do you get this giant, moving study of life, but what follows is one incredible section after another that celebrates and pays tribute to our existence on so many levels you wonder what Andres Serrano sees that we somehow miss, and then you give praise to the fact that somehow he managed to capture it with his camera.

Andres Serrano’s America and other works is a book that should be in every home in America to remind us all that life is sadly too short and that if we take a moment and a deep breath, me might be able to change the way we treat people who aren’t exactly like us or that share our beliefs. Andres Serrano isn’t just a brilliant and talented photographer, but he might be the first to prove that not only is a picture worth a thousand words, but that those words can make the world better if you just stop and observe and read them carefully.

Taschen Books knows that a good photography book is one that calls to you when its pages are closed and makes you run to open the book and study its pages even when the outside world is pounding at your door. Since this book has found its way into my life, I think I have flipped through it every day, and every day with more questions and thoughts about the lives captured within.

There are sections of the book that deal with sexuality, religion, and death that will not be appreciated or understood by the easily offended, but for those with questioning minds and a thoughtful heart, the beauty of these images will be clear.
Andres Serrano has leapt to the top of my list of favorite photographers with America and other work and those who appreciate and celebrate wonderful, thought-provoking photography, will forever be haunted by the beauty and intelligence of this collection.

Terry Osterhout
January 2005