Book Review: Barns of Arkansas by Naran Patel

Worst Picture Book Ever

I don't enjoy doing bad reviews, really, but this is the WORST picture book I have ever seen!

Many of the pictures are blurred, some HORRIBLY so! I would list page numbers but there are none. Mr. Patel has no understanding of depth-of-field. In one shot the foreground grass is in focus but the barn, i.e. SUBJECT of the picture, is completely out of focus! Quite a few barn pictures have power lines running through the image that could have been composed out of the frame by an observant photographer or, at the very least, edited out in post. The vast majority of images are set against the ugliest white skies I've ever seen published in such a book. I won't even mention the typography!

It is the perfect example of how bad an ego trip can get. This is a self-published book. The author is an engineer who photographed barns during weekends of his three-year stay in Arkansas while working on a chemical weapons arsenal that is being destroyed. I'm glad he got around and saw more of the state than our chemical weapons stockpile, but as a life-long resident of the state, I find this book insulting. The only positive thing I can mention is that I'm glad I only borrowed the book from the library and didn't pay money for it.

Buy it on Amazon (for someone you hate)