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ReviewsIn the Mind's Eyeby David Bly Reviewed by Xenia Stanford
David Bly is a journalist and photographer. On the staff of the Calgary Herald as a writer and copy editor, he also adds his photographs and captions to the newspaper once a week under the heading In the Mind's Eye. These are so appealing and inspirational I have been clipping and saving them for years. Thankfully I discovered that Bly has collected some of these into books. The two available are as follows:
Shadows and LightShadows and Light is fittingly dedicated "to my mother, Ardath R. Bly and my grandmother, Maude B. Rasmussen, who taught me to see." The first photograph illustrates that depth of vision his grandmother instilled in him. It is of a spider web that almost looks like it is made of thick string rather than a fragile silk. It is caught on a twig as its anchor. The caption reads:
This is exactly what Bly's photographs do - open your eyes to a different view and encourage you to reflect on it in a different light by the words. These are not just photos with captions - these are photo essays or perhaps better yet - photo poems. With one sentence Bly captures an essence of an eternal truth juxtaposed with a photograph that now speaks more than the words and pictures alone. The whole is greater than the parts. I guess I am not the only one who clips his photo column from the paper. The Foreword explains as follows:
One of his sayings has been made part of the 17 slides of thought-provoking quotes about Helen Keller (Stringfield); though I am not sure the photograph is his, since the only ones I've seen are black and white.
Did I tell you all the photographs in his photo books are black and white? That's probably because I forget for In the Mind's Eye creates so many colours within. Another quote often used is the following eye-opener: If you see the beauty of trees Journeys Worth TakingThe second book, Journeys Worth Taking, Bly dedicates:
This is true because the insights and observations he offers have relevance to everyone and anyone from anywhere. Though the photographs are from North America, the words even alone are meaningful. However, the photographs are mind stretching in isolation as well. The Foreword in this book opens with a quote from Henry David Thoreau:
Bly appoints himself David Bly, Inspector of Storms and Sunsets:
I would have said Journeys… has more children and family faces, while Shadows and Light is more scenic but this is far from true. Both have a mixture of people young and old, scenery from the beautiful waterfall to unusual views of mundane places, animals from the chirping bird to the lazy pigs - something for everyone. I couldn't choose - I have both (though I must confess I am still an avid clipper of his new photos). Gifts Worth GivingBoth are beautiful books and make wonderful gifts to young and old alike - wonderful gifts for the soul and spirit - gifts to lift us up at the end of the day or perk us up in the mornings. You will want to give them to special people in your lives - people who need cheering up. But once you see these books you will want to keep a copy for yourself. This will save you from covering your refrigerator with clippings. You can move it instead to the coffee table or the breakfast table - where when the depressing stories in the newspapers pull you down, you can rise again by mentally ingesting these photo poems. For an example, see the opening lines and Figure 1 at www.knowmap.com/open/0204_editorial.html To order, see Special Books of Photographs with Inspirational Sayings at www.knowmap.com/age/ Biography of the photographer/writer: He then attended Ricks College in Idaho where he majored in journalism and since graduating in 1972 he has worked as a reporter, photographer and editor in the United States and Canada. He taught journalism and photography at Lethbridge Community College. His first newspaper job was at the Rexburg Standard-Journal where he was asked to submit a photograph each week for the editorial page. The photos were to be accompanied by quotes. Rather than digging for quotes to fit the photo, Bly wrote his own. The boss and the readers all liked them and Bly has continued this tradition through to the Desert News in Salt Lake City, the Lethbridge (Alberta) Herald, the Taber (Alberta) Times and since 1989 the Calgary Herald. It is no mystery why both books have many photographs of children. Bly and his wife Janet have six children and several grandchildren. In addition to his work as copy editor for the Calgary Herald where he also contributes a weekly column on our Heritage, Bly has also written The McIntyre Liar (Tree Frog Press, 1993), a novel about a city teenager with a summer job on the McIntyre Ranch. He has won several awards for this book including the Alberta Writing for Youth Award, the R. Ross Annett Award for children's literature and the Alberta Children's Title of the Year award from the Alberta book publishing industry. He has had two short stories published, of which "The Piano in the River" won second prize in the Calgary Herald Sunday magazine short story contest in 1989. You can listen to David Bly's audio clips for young readers about his favourite books and writing as a career at www.cbc4kids.cbc.ca/general/words/authors_books/bly.html Works CitedBly, David. Photo and Caption at www.nuhsd.k12.ca.us/brhs/faculty/Stephan/ Bly, David. Photo and Caption at www.knowmap.com/open/0204_editorial.html Stringfield, Joni Lynette. Helen Keller (slide presentation).
June 25, 2000. Last accessed December 10, 2002 at www.nuhsd.k12.ca.us/brhs/faculty/Stephan/ To Order
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David
Bly was born in rural Alberta. After graduating from Magrath High School,
he spent three years as a missionary in Africa. 
