Hot Light/Half-Made Worlds: Photographs from the Tropics

by Alex Webb

Gathers photographs taken in Haiti, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Barbados, India, Zaire, Ivory Coast, Uganda, and Trinidad

Genres: Photography, Art

96 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1986

Reviews

[Chris Schneider · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alex Webb proves once again that he is one of the best at what he does, blending street photography, documentary photography, and art in the manner of Alec Soth, Todd Hido, and Joel Sternfeld. The way that Webb composes an image astounds me, often looking almost like a collage as he uses corners and door frames and poles to split scenes into segments, each one with its own interest. There is amazing depth as well, with foreground and background complimenting each other masterfully, not ironically. What he is not doing is reporting-- he is not trying to be specific about what you are to learn in looking at the images. Instead, like poetry, he is leaving you with an impression, a feel, one that may not be a statistical fact but is far more authentic than any number or percentage could be.