The following are unsolicted comments about John Sexton’s book Recollections: Three Decades of Photographs received from people that have purchased the book. All comments are used with the permission of the respective authors.

Yesterday we received your book Recollections. What a glorious collection of images to enhance the world of fine art photography! One page is more spectacular than the other. In these days when traditional photography seems to be headed towards the sunset, your artistry promises a new sunrise.

— Gordon & Marilyn, Idaho

I received your book Recollections recently. While I have all your books, this is the finest of all. The quality of printing, lithography, and binding is spectacular. I treasure your books as much as the books I have of Ansel Adams and Edward Weston. Your art has inspired me to work more diligently in my own photography. Thank you for making your photography available to all photographers and collectors.

— Paul, Indiana

The on-line Oxford Dictionary defines the word magnificent simply as "impressively beautiful"; where beauty is said to be "a combination of qualities that delights the aesthetic senses." While both words come to mind in describing John Sexton's new book, Recollections: Three Decades of Photographs, if we are to go by Oxford's rather banal definitions, neither word even comes close to conveying the depths of visual and spiritual pleasures that await anyone who focuses their eye on the masterful B&W images assembled here.

Though I own hundreds of photography books, and regularly peruse most of them for years, I have had a relatively few "Wow!" reactions over the years - indeed, the last such experiences are at least two decades old (!): to Bruce Barnbaum's late 1970s' Visual Symphony and, in the middle 1980s, to Fay Godwin's Land - but Sexton's new Opus not only evoked an immediate heartfelt "Wow!" from me, it also raises the bar on what will trigger a similar exclamation from me in the future. I sat transfixed for hours after receiving it in the mail yesterday, and already consider it a sacrosanct member of the deepest core of my photography library. It is truly an extraordinary work of art; one that I will be savoring - and learning from - for years to come.

It is also clearly the work of a master photographer and printer, at the height of his creative powers; and a "master" not just of the "moment" compared to his living peers, but a "master" as judged in the context of the history of the medium.

Of course, it is impossible to describe the "contents" of this book, except to say that it contains 52 plates (and a few short essays) of such things as rocks, trees, and water. But, as with all great photographic art, by the time you get to even the second image, such conventional, blandly and trivially representational categories are understood as absurd and meaningless. The best of Sexton's images - and there are none in this book that are not! - capture spirit itself.

In short, a masterpiece!

— Andrew Ilachinski, www.tao-of-digital-photography.com

http://tao-of-digital-photography.blogspot.com/2006/11/john-sextons-magnificent-new-book.html

I just received my autographed copy of your new book, Recollections, a superb collection of your three decades of your magnificent artistic photographs –MAGNIFICENT.

I have always enjoyed your photographs. You have given me, both technical and artistic knowledge. Your contribution to world of photographic art has inspired me to continue to further develop [no pun intended] my own artistic creativity and technical skills.

Again, thank you for your art and for your inspiration.

— Bernie, Massachusetts

Dear Mr. Sexton,

I have today received a copy of Recollections. I wanted to send a brief email by way of congratulations for a wonderful achievement.

Your heart, your vision, your craft are truly extraordinary.

Thank you so much for sharing your art.

— Timothy Soar, Photographer – England