cover image 100 Views of the Adirondacks

100 Views of the Adirondacks

Nathan Farb. Rizzoli International Publications, $45 (168pp) ISBN 978-0-8478-1032-1

Depicting details in full color from Adirondack wildlife and offering double-page spreads of mountain panoramas, Adirondack-dweller Farb's sequel to Adirondacks takes a worm's- and a bird's-eye view of these New York State natural phenomena, situated, writes Governor Cuomo in a foreword, in ``the largest and most environmentally sound wilderness area east of the Mississippi River.'' Farb's pictures capture seasonal color vividly, but more than a few contain inconsequential postcard imagery, commercial and contrived. He is unduly fond of mist, for example, and photographs that show it draped on mountaintops are mawkish. Farb's work with the elements is equally conventional when he aims his lens skyward at branches filigreed with ice, or buries his nose in a shapeless, ethereal mound of snow. At his best when approaching nature unceremoniously, Farb captures many more appealing views, such as a simple but striking meadow stretching out before mountains and several clear, clean and lyrical studies of ponds, rivers and streams. (June)