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Rating: 
Summary: Run to the sun
Review: Dear Sirs,
I am a veteran press photographer with over 30 years experience. I have also been to Pamplona and ran with the bulls.
I am a good photographer , Hollander is not. Jim Hollander is a great photographer.
This is the best book I have ever seen on the Festival and all it's glories.
Rating:
Summary: Brings the Running of the Bulls to life
Review: I have been going to Pamplona's Running of the Bulls for more than a quarter century. This compilation of dramatic photos is worth its weight in gold. It captures the spirit of the fiesta and will bring back fond memories of the wild days and nights in Pamplona during the fiesta for anyone who has had the good fortune of being there.
There is far more to the Fiesta of San Fermin than simply the Running of the Bulls, though the run gets all the publicity. Jim Hollander's book lets readers savor the insider nuances of this fiesta as well as sense the adrenaline-charged excitement of the bulls thundering across the cobblestone streets.
If you have been to Pamplona for the fiesta, this book is the next best thing to having the opportunity to take a trip back.
Viva San Fermin! Gora San Fermin!
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous Fiesta
Review: Jim Hollander's magnificent collection of photographs from Pamplona's Fiesta de los Toros (or San Fermin) gives readers an otherwise unattainable look at the joy and madness that is fiesta. I was fortunate enough to attend my first fiesta in 2002 and though I tried to keep my eyes and ears open, the simple fact is that Hollander has an aficionado's insight into Spain, Pamplona, and the rituals of San Fermin well beyond the powers of observation of a rookie, and a first-timer at that. Superficial as my understanding of fiesta is, it is infinitely deeper for having had Hollander's book at hand. Life and death coexist in a kind of suspended animation during the fiesta; fiesta is a celebration of both. The morning's encierro and the afternoon's killing alternate with day- and night-long singing, dancing, laughing -- and (I'm told) consumption of the odd libation or two. Hollander's book captures both the death-drama of the bulls and the life-joy of the celebrants. The photography is simply superb. Beside the composition and often unique camera angles of the photos reproduced here, Hollander has both an uncanny ability to be at the center of action -- whether it is the morning encierro (or "running" of the bulls), the mid-day parades, or the afternoon's corrida (bullfight) -- and to find poignant vignettes of human spirit amidst the madness. Indeed, the book's only shortcoming is that the quality of photographs is so high, one would like to read Hollander's own comments about them, perhaps with some technical details thrown in. (Readers should be warned, however, that some photographs -- those taken at the bullfights and after -- can be particularly gruesome.) With photographs taken over two decades and incisive commentary by other aficionados -- including the incomparable Joe Distler (whom I, like so many others, can but admire from afar), as well as Francisco Rivera Ordonez, scion of the Ordonez family of matadors -- "Run to the Sun" should be made mandatory for all who have ever shaken out the cobwebs at Bar Txoko and listened to war stories from the morning's run. Beyond Pamplonicos, though, anyone interested in action photography, in Spain, Spanish culture, or La Fiesta Brava would do himself or herself a great service by investing in this excellent book.
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous Fiesta
Review: Jim Hollander's magnificent collection of photographs from Pamplona's Fiesta de los Toros (or San Fermin) gives readers an otherwise unattainable look at the joy and madness that is fiesta. I was fortunate enough to attend my first fiesta in 2002 and though I tried to keep my eyes and ears open, the simple fact is that Hollander has an aficionado's insight into Spain, Pamplona, and the rituals of San Fermin well beyond the powers of observation of a rookie, and a first-timer at that. Superficial as my understanding of fiesta is, it is infinitely deeper for having had Hollander's book at hand. Life and death coexist in a kind of suspended animation during the fiesta; fiesta is a celebration of both. The morning's encierro and the afternoon's killing alternate with day- and night-long singing, dancing, laughing -- and (I'm told) consumption of the odd libation or two. Hollander's book captures both the death-drama of the bulls and the life-joy of the celebrants. The photography is simply superb. Beside the composition and often unique camera angles of the photos reproduced here, Hollander has both an uncanny ability to be at the center of action -- whether it is the morning encierro (or "running" of the bulls), the mid-day parades, or the afternoon's corrida (bullfight) -- and to find poignant vignettes of human spirit amidst the madness. Indeed, the book's only shortcoming is that the quality of photographs is so high, one would like to read Hollander's own comments about them, perhaps with some technical details thrown in. (Readers should be warned, however, that some photographs -- those taken at the bullfights and after -- can be particularly gruesome.) With photographs taken over two decades and incisive commentary by other aficionados -- including the incomparable Joe Distler (whom I, like so many others, can but admire from afar), as well as Francisco Rivera Ordonez, scion of the Ordonez family of matadors -- "Run to the Sun" should be made mandatory for all who have ever shaken out the cobwebs at Bar Txoko and listened to war stories from the morning's run. Beyond Pamplonicos, though, anyone interested in action photography, in Spain, Spanish culture, or La Fiesta Brava would do himself or herself a great service by investing in this excellent book.
Rating:
Summary: A Magical Memoir Of A True Artist
Review: Pamplona has many extraordiany photographers who have documented Fiesta de San Fermin from the first days of photography, and a number of gifted foreigners, most notably Igne Morath, a founder of the famed Magnum Agency in Paris, have done excellent photographic essays of Sanfermines. That Igne Morath praised this book is all anyone need know to judge its artistic value. No photographer in the history of fiesta has worked longer, harder and brought more talent to bear on capturing the essence of the celebration. By the time Jim Hollander begin to photograph fiesta, he was already a veteran of many years. His knowledge, deep understanding, and love of all aspects of the fiesta, together with his tireless dedication and devotion, make this volume more the memoir of an artist than just a beautiful photographic essay. In that sense, this is a historic work. One will not find as extensive a collection of fiesta photographs anywhere, nor will one find a more artistic array of Pamplona images anywhere. This book is sui generis, one of a kind, and well worth its cost, for one needs to view this not as the purchase of a book, but rather as the acquisition of a fabulous art collection. The essay of Matador Franciso Rivera Ordonez is a very rare thing for any reader to encounter (Matadors rarely write this way about themselves and their work) and Ordonez's writing is as articulate and illuminating as is the prose of veteran American runner Joe Distler and Candadian David Pierce, a colorful character who is presented in both his prose and Hollander's photographs. There will not be another book like this one because there will never be another photographer who will devote so much of his professional life and talent to documenting Fiesta de San Fermin.
Rating:
Summary: Captures The Magic
Review: The Fiesta of San Fermin is flat out the greatest festival in the world. It has excitement, joy, and fellowship. Many arrange their lives around their return. Fiesta has more aspects and flavors than can be savored in one year. Each return brings more enrichment, depth, and opportunity. I speak from personal experience. I have not missed a day for over 25 years. Although slower, I still run with the bulls at every opportunity. Jim Hollander is a world-class photographer who has drunk deep. He has known Fiesta for many years. In this book, he captures reflections of the magic that is Fiesta. His images capture excitement, joy, diversity, emotion, and the people. This book is the best possible introduction to Fiesta. It is also the best way to remember for those who have been there.
Rating:
Summary: CAPTURING THE MYTH, MERRIMENT AND MADNESS
Review: The finest collection of photographs ever put together around the Pamplona Fiesta. My first was in 1959 when I accidentally met Ernest Hemingway. I had just backpacked through Tunisia to find a German mountain fortress that had stopped the Allies during WW2. Hemingway knew about it and invited me to join his group. Many years after his death I wrote of that period and all that followed in "Hemingway's Paris and Pamplona, Then and Now."
No other photobook has so dramatically pictured all of the drama that brought Hemingway back to Pamplona time and again to the very end. The essence of why it did is captured in the fine photographs on these pages.
Seeing this collection for himself, Hem would have shouted OLÉ!
Rating:
Summary: A True Dedication to the Festival of San Fermin
Review: The photographs of Jim Hollander are truly timeless. Jim has put together a collection of photos that truly tell the whole story. It is a wonderful book that anyone who has ever experienced fiesta should have. Jim's love of fiesta is evident from the start. He also manages to get into the heads of several fiesta veterans who share their experiences. The book is just as impressive in appearance as it is in substance.
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