The Healing Heart provides powerful examples of the use of stories and storytelling in encouraging resiliency; empathy; respect; and healing. These engaging books contain stories; and narratives about the use of the stories in activities with different populations (children; teens; those with disabilities; seniors; inmates; etc.) or which address specific social or community problems (addictions; poverty; violence; racism; environmental degra-dation; homelessness; abuse).The books are a collective effort containing the expertise of more than 60 storytellers and health professionals who illustrate the power of story in moving others to commitment and action; in building self-esteem and mutual respect.The Healing Heart ~ Families focuses on families; dealing specifically with healing through story; health promotion; disease prevention; early childhood intervention; children with medical problems; adopting families; schools; sexual identities; grief; and spiritual healing. The Healing Heart ~ Communities focuses on community-building; with sections on youth; violence prevention; poverty; domestic violence; substance abuse and addiction; racism; elders; culture; environmental protection; homelessness; and community development.Allison Cox is a therapist and Prevention Specialist; in Tacoma; Washington; with 20 years experience as a professional storyteller; and is a founder of the Healing Story Alliancemdash;part of the National Storytelling Network.David Albert is a storyteller; writer; and Senior Planner and Policy Analyst with the Washington State Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse; and a contributor to Spinning Tales; Weaving Hope (New Society; 2002).
#1709489 in eBooks 2013-01-08 2013-01-08File Name: B00ATLAZC8
Review
150 of 150 people found the following review helpful. The Best Photo Book Ive Ever ReadBy D. Hobby50 Portraits: Stories and Techniques from a Photographers Photographer is remarkably open and honest; both from emotional/personal and technical/photographic points of view. And as beautiful as the photography is; you will not find the pictures the main takeaway from the book.That last sentence feels strange and somehow sacrilegious to write; but it is absolutely true. And the title is actually a good representation of the books focus. The pleasant surprise is that he is actually a very good writer; and you can hear him sitting and talking with you as you read it.This is not a lighting book. Although; to be sure; there is a lot of lighting information in it. Perhaps more value in lighting education than any book I have ever read. What this is; is a 360-degree experience. Each of his fifty portraits gets its own little mini-chapter. The segment leads off with the photo; run full-page if vertical and double-truck if horizontal. The accompanying copy begins with the thought process leading up to the photo -- all of the thousand little things that happen before you press the shutter. You are there; with him; inside his thought process.And in so many of the portraits; I could see the multiple instances in which I would have failed to come up with the solutions to make great pictures. Its disheartening; in a sense. Like watching someone effortlessly navigate all the way through a video game that had repeatedly stopped you.Except; its not effortless. What you get from this is a true sense of the work ethic (or "thought ethic?") that being a great photographer requires. And there is so; so much pre-thinking that goes into consistently being able to make great photos. That may be the biggest takeaway from this. It has already changed the way I prepare to shoot.There is also an emotional openness that is required for intimate portrait photography. This is so alien to me; and I am slowly learning that it is something I need to nurture. On the other hand; it is gratifying to see the hard work and thought that goes into making these photos. It would totally suck if there was just a "great photographer" gene; and I didnt have it and never would.The second written portion in each segment is "Thoughts on Technique;" to which many here will be tempted to skip ahead. But dont. The first section sets it all up -- it puts you there; and gets you thinking. Only then are you ready to consider the more technical and photo-related solutions.Finally; Heisler includes what he unofficially calls the "Moron Section" in the back of the book. (As in; "For more on this photo...") There youll find camera types; lenses; film; exposure; lighting gear specifics; etc.:50 Portraits feels like Heisler is writing to his twenty-year-old self. Its the book youd write if you wanted to put all of the important stuff into one place; as opposed to jus another book on photo technique.Youre a photographer. So the first thing youll do is flip through it and look at the photos. Youll see many of his most famous images; interspersed with ones you have never seen before. Or have seen; and did no know Heisler took them.After that; the challenge is this: Do you pop a cold beer and blow through it in one long sitting? Or do you read (and re-read) it slowly; learning as much as you can from one chapter at a time.Id vote for the latter. In fact; I am going to slowly go through it at the rate of one photo a week. And just for the record; if I were teaching a photo class in college; this would be my text and I would teach it in chunks; drawn out over the semester.50 Portraits is the opportunity to rent the brain of perhaps the best living portraitist today -- and to do so to a remarkable extent. That this book costs less than $25 is almost ridiculous. Be glad it doesnt cost what it is worth.19 of 20 people found the following review helpful. A slow worthy read; page by page. Dont think twice. Get this book!By MedrockThe words are more important than the pictures. It may sound odd to say; especially about a book on Photography. But its the truth! Heislers description on his thought (process) is worth every single penny spent on this book. Building trust with the sitter (subject) is key beyond lighting; camera and everything else. The photos are very good. In fact; you may have seen many of them before -- but the knowledge imparted is exquisite. All in a quite beautiful and large-sized book.Yes; I would have liked to have seen portraits of ordinary people; not just mostly famous personalities. But maybe that will be in the next book.Dont think twice. Do get this book if you want to learn more about the artist and if you are looking to stop; pause and reflect upon yourself.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. This Is the Next-Level Teaching Ive Been CravingBy PDI saw Gregory Heisler speak at ImagingUSA 2014 here in Phoenix two weeks ago and I was blown away by the portrait work he does. I admit; I never heard of him because Im a long-time landscape photographer turning people/portrait so Im new to who the masters are. This book is an absolute MUST for your collection; because he explains the scenario with each as every shoot he did: how he set up the lighting in his studio so he could duplicate it at the scene; how he handled all of the troubles and issues with location; gear and personalities; and most of all; he shares his mistakes in things he chose and did; etc. The text feels so real like hes telling you in person. I truly feel like I can approach a shoot with a whole new set of parameters on how to light (or not light) my subject and how to portray who the person is. Gregory doesnt intimidate; he inspires; hes a master with the personality of a friend whos willing to help. I wish everyone reading this could have seen him speak; it was so encouraging; and I had no idea who he was before walking in there but the topic of the talk intrigued me (we had several classes to choose from each session). By the end I had to have this book. I would have preferred the signed copy I could have gotten at the show but the line was TOO long. However; the Kindle version is superb because the images are backlit (obviously) which makes them sing even more. Ive been shooting for almost 30 years and Im in my 50s and arent easily impressed any more. This guy is a phenomenal artist.