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Seashells have intrigued and perplexed mankind since our earliest beginnings - some 600 million years after the first shell-producing invertebrates appeared. Across the ages, seashells have been employed as tools, glorified on canvas, and lauded in prose. In his new pictorial essay book, dedicated to the late Stephen Jay Gould, photographer Bela Kalman explores the natural and cultural history of seashells. Bela Kalman was born in Hungary and immigrated to the United States during the 1956 uprising. In addition to his career in advertising photography (he owned Studio 350 on Newbury Street), Kalman's highly acclaimed work is represented in numerous museum collections and has appeared in many magazines, exhibits, and books, including 'Angkor, Indian Country' with Tony Hillerman, 'The Third Eye', 'Flowers', and 'Rare Orchids'. In 1984, he was appointed a lifetime American. He lives with his wife in Boston and on Cape Cod. Sea Shells |
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In his previous successful volumes, Flowers and Rare Orchids, acclaimed photographer Béla kalman captured the colorful beauty of and provided new perspectives on flowering plants. Now, in his latest work, Kalman turns his exceptional eye to succulents, creating a unique photographic collection of 120 full-color images that is at once striking, otherworldly, surprising, virtually three-dimensional, and nothing short of spectacular. Photograph after photograph, Kalman's work captures the many textural, sensual, and sculptural qualities of these plants, bringing to mind the work of contemporary sculptors Henry Moore and Isamu Noguchi. The variety is staggering and fascinating and wild: some succulents look like golf balls lightly dusted with moss, some resemble an Art Deco skyscraper. Some have antlerlike growths, while others could pass for a plate of fresh spinach linguine or a model of a spaceship from another planet. Kalman's visual point of view reveals the natural artfulness of these exotic plants—whether the size of an olive or a mature diva—in every breathtaking picture. Succulents |
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Exotic and breathtakingly beautiful, orchids are one of the largest families of flowering plants on earth, and easily the most diverse. Master photographer Béla Kalman spent more than three years shooting thousands of plants exclusively for Rare Orchids—images of new hybrids, obscure specimens, and classic blooms in all their glory.
This spectacular book features more than 120 species and named varieties, from the native North American lady's slipper to greenhouse cymbidiums, corsage cattleyas, collectors' paphiopedilums, and windowsill moth orchids— a wealth of remarkable plants that are too seldom seen. Captions give specifics and anecdotes about each orchid, and essays on the history and mystique of orchids and the complex, lengthy process of hybridization round out the book. Avid hobbyists maintain orchid societies in nearly every American city. Confirmed enthusiasts, would-be growers, and, indeed, anyone who delights in the splendor of these lovely flowers will welcome Rare Orchids. Rare Orchids
Photographs by Béla Kalman. A Bulfinch Press Book, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, MA. 141 pp., 140 color photographs, 93/4x97/8". |
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Flowers. Although the word defines this book, it is too small to describe it. In the hands of a brilliant photographer, these are flowers as we have never seen them before—flowers so spectacularly beautiful that, once seen, they cannot be forgotten. Flowers |