Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 779.0922
EAN: 9781568987842
ISBN: 1568987846
Label: Princeton Architectural Press
Manufacturer: Princeton Architectural Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 208
Publication Date: 2008-10-01
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
Studio: Princeton Architectural Press

The morning hours before the hustle and bustle of the day commences is the perfect time to pause and enjoy a sense of renewal and vitality. On the morning of December 7 2006 Maria Alexandra Vettese and Stephanie Congdon Barnes each took a digital photo of everyday objects randomly arranged on their kitchen tables and unbeknownst to one another uploaded them to the website Flickr. Noticing a remarkable similarity between their images they agreed to document their mornings by posting one photo to a shared blog every weekday for a year.

A Year of Mornings collects 236 images—always taken before 10 am without discussion between the two women—from this uniquely 21st-century artistic collaboration. The intimacy of these photographs—discarded clothing a view of a snowy day from the window a tablecloth—combined with their striking similarities in color and composition defies the reality of their long-distance collaboration. While clearly kindred spirits the two women have met in person only once. Their friendship is maintained solely online sustained by a shared love for moments of serenity solitude and peacefulness. The annotated photographs in A Year of Mornings radiate an aura of sweetness and light—the promise of a new day.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Enjoy the little Joys in Life
Comment: I not only have a copy of this book for myself, but I also gave out 2 copies for Christmas this year. There's a calming, peaceful feeling when looking through this book. The photos take a small detail of life and find the grandure within it. Life seems to move so quickly. Maria and Stephanie have created a reminder to me to slow down and find the beauty in everything.
The similarities between the 2 daily photograhs are uncanny. The colors always seem to compliment each other. Knowing that these 2 women didn't discuss nor plan daily themes makes me believe that maybe there really are relationships that are connected much deeper than we often think.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Book not as solid as the idea behind it.
Comment: A Year of Mornings: 3191 Miles Apart is a photographic collaboration between Maria Alexandra Vettese (Portland, Maine) and Stephanie Congdon Barnes (Portland, Oregon). The two met online and discovered that each had interests in crafts and a passion for simplicity in images. After a series of discussions, they embarked upon a year-long project in December 2006, in which each agreed to take a photo every morning for a year and then post that photo onto a shared blog. (http://3191.visualblogging.com)
They uploaded photographs that are posted as diptychs, and time after time had uncanny resemblances. On certain days, I wondered if the two discussed what to photograph--such as subjects, angles, etc. For example, the first set of images were both of eggs. There were also diptychs in which comparisons of colors were made--like green grass with a white ladder compared to a pair of green socks with a white embroidered design. Not all of them have such obvious comparisons, but still make for interesting diptychs.
I do have some complaints about the book. First, the paper that it is printed on dulls the colors, and I would've liked to see these images in their true colors, not a muted representation. Second, I wish that they would have showed all of the images from that year instead of just selections, and much larger than thumbnail sizes.
Overall, I think that the idea of the collaboration, as well as the content displayed on the website, was a fantastic idea that was poorly represented in the form of a book. Perhaps it would have been better left as a digital project.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: nice photos, poor layout
Comment: I really loved gazing at these gorgeous photos in the "year of mornings" blog. Though it contains the same beautiful photos, I thought the layout of this book was a bit of a letdown. It could've been put together in a more aesthetically pleasing way, which was surprising, since it's a book of photos. All in all, it's still very nice.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Love it!
Comment: Love this book!!! Have been visiting their blog for more then one year. Always love their photos and life style. Finally it's in print! Love it love it love it!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A picture is worth a thousand words
Comment:
In December 2006, Maria Alexandra Vettese and Stephanie Congdon Barnes each happened to take a photo in the morning and upload it to Flickr. Noticing the coincidence of the common theme, the two women agreed to an artistic partnership: for the full calendar year of 2007, each woman took a photo every day before 10 a.m. and posted it to a blog called 3191. Because they live respectively in Portland, Maine and Portland, Oregon, they have only met in person twice.

Now 236 of the pictures appear in A Year of Mornings: 3191 Miles Apart. The commonplace subjects, arranged in date-paired diptychs, weave a quiet spell of daily life. Jam on bread, braided hair, a cloud-filled sky, each beautifully composed in both senses of the word. Often there's a surprising correlation between the two pictures, either of subject or of layout. They capture the best aspects of morning: peace, renewal, the pleasure of small quiet things. They are little marvels of thoughtful observation.

Five stars for a book that expresses keen artistic vision and a true 21st century partnership. Vettese and Barnes are now collaborating on daily evening photos, which can be seen on their blog 3191 A Year of Evenings. Visit and enjoy.

Linda Bulger, 2008

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