Animals

Reviews / Votes

"Whimsical some of these black and white photographs are, but there isn't a shred of sentimentality in any of them... [Shay] has sought out the rich ironies of serendipitous happenings, as befits a true working grabshooter -- a photographer whose mission it is to capture the days news, not to pretty it up... This book is a Chicago treasure, just like Shay." -- Henry Kisor, Chicago Sun-Times Showcase "A lively and poignant collection of images of people and their relations to animals. Contradicting the maudlin view of the man-nature connection, the images in Animals disclose the complex and self-projecting habits we exhibit, in all their clarity." -- Doubletake "Shay ... has shot something like 25,000 photographs, many of them for Life and Time magazines... But he'd prefer to be shot himself, he said, before he'd produce a book of dogs dressed up like humans... What is needed when approaching animals is the antic eye of a New Yorker cartoonist." -- Jon Anderson, Chicago Tribune "Unravels the beauty of the animal world in the context of human lives." -- Fore Word "Funny, moving and occasionally provocative... Shay, whose photos have appeared in virtually every major magazine, journeys around the world for these wonderful shots, almost all of which reflect a sensibility that is at once engaged and amused... A delightful book." -- The Globe and Mail "A collection drawn from five decades of the photographer's work celebrates animals with humans in natural and domestic settings, from the image of a man passing a peanut to a monkey to a pig drinking a can of beer, in a volume that also seeks to reveal the animal within human beings." -- Forecast ADVANCE PRAISE "Art Shay has illustrated a sensitivity toward animals and their relationships with people and their environments that is as magnificent as wildlife itself. The photographs are simply wonderful. I would encourage anyone who cares about animals to buy this book." -- Kevin Bell, president and chief executive officer, Lincoln Park Zoo "Art Shay is an American original and his photographs show an eye and an imagination that can look around corners." -- Roger Ebert "Chicago's Art Shay in many ways is to American photography as Nelson Algren was to American writing: that rare and absolutely necessary citizen who's blessed with a cold eye, a clear head, and a warm heart. What is it about Chicago that keeps giving us men like this?" -- Russell Banks "The backgrounds make me nostalgic for the Chicago of my youth, and the subjects for a pristine world before the evolution of the opposing thumb." -- David Mamet "The best images of Simone de Beauvoir and her times have been passed down to us by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Gisele Freund, Robert Doisneau, Georges Brassai, and in America, the Chicago-based Art Shay, all world-class photographers." -- Christophe Loviny