Lens Culture 2020 Favorite Books, Lisa Hostetler, Curator, George Eastman Museum
Thirty Times a Minute by Colleen Plumb. Published by Radius Books.

”This publication of Colleen Plumb’s profoundly moving artistic investigation of elephants in captivity is both gorgeous and heartbreaking. Plumb has been making videos of caged elephants rhythmically swaying, roughly in time with their heart rate, which gives the book its title. The creatures are exhibiting what is called ‘stereotypical behavior’—a consequence of being forced to suppress their natural instinct to roam over fifty miles a day. To raise awareness of the elephants’ plight, Plumb travels the country projecting her videos on urban streetscapes. She doesn’t announce the time or location of the screenings but readily engages any interested passersby in conversation about the elephants. The outsized scale of her projections belies the modesty of her approach but is matched elegantly in the publication. The thick volume includes transparent overlays, a folded insert, sumptuous reproductions, and a wide range of essays that consider her work from a wide range of scientific and cultural perspectives. It’s a monumental achievement to which I find myself returning often during my pandemic-induced confinement.”
—Lisa Hostetler, PhD, Curator in Charge, Dept. of Photography, George Eastman Museum