Octave of Prayer – Minor White

The (softcover & hardcover) book, Octave of Prayer, Edited by Minor White and published by Aperture books (1972), was a distillation of Whites thoughts on how a photograph could have meaning beyond the image on the paper. And in true White fashion, he has included only one of his own photographs in the book, but probably most important to him, most of the text. As stated in the title page, a exhibition on a theme.

Some of the photographers and photographs (all black & white) that are included could also be viewed as very straight forward work, but with the context that White places them in, they start to take on other meaning.

After viewing the book, it comes as no surprise that White is really strong on the idea of “equivalents” and finding meaning beyond the image, that it should take time with a photograh to really understand the emotional content (meditation). And there are plenty of photographs in this book to provide this introspective opportunity.

Best regards, Doug Stockdale