cover image Pond

Pond

John Gossage, John Grossage. Aperture, $40 (6pp) ISBN 978-0-89381-206-5

The subjects of the 49 black-and-white photos in this book are not only ponds; there are also shots of homes, trees, birds, weeds, puddles and streams. Gossage creates evocative compositions of tires and branches partially submerged in a swamp, graceful patterns of birds or leaves spiralling against the sky, a shadow sneaking across a street, a clump of weeds nestled beside a concrete stump, cars driving blindly past a patchwork design of sidewalk, asphalt, shadow and grass. Sines's introductory essay serves only to disorient the reader rather than enhance the photographs; a piece about her own house, her family, her ""Pa,'' it is unrelated to the pictures in mood as well as content. Gossage's work has been exhibited in museums and he has published a previous collection of photos, Gardens. Foreign rights: Aperture. December