UTAH 24/7, created by Rick Smolan and David Elliot Cohen; Dorling Kindersley; 144 pages. $24.95.
The best thing about the "Utah 24/7" coffee-table book is the photos, and the second-best thing is the price. Twenty-five dollars (available now through discounters for even less) is a bargain for an oversized book that contains so many nice pictures.
It was published this fall along with 49 other "24/7" books — one for every state. Looking at the cover of "Utah 24/7," which is a photo of a woman climbing a red cliff, you get a little proud. You can't help but think our state probably has the best scenery and the best opportunities for recreation.
But when you open the book, you discover it's not just about scenery and recreation. There are photos of people working, getting married, playing with their kids, feeding their horses. The "24/7" book is supposed to give you a feel for what it is like to live in Utah. In this, it succeeds, for the most part. (The main thing missing is a photo from the Navajo reservation or the Ute reservation.)
David Elliot Cohen and Rick Smolan directed the photographers for this project, just as they previously directed photographers for the "Day in the Life" series and "America 24/7." (Nearly half the photos in the book were taken by Deseret Morning News photographers. Twenty are by DMN photo editor Ravell Call. Rick Egan from the Salt Lake Tribune is also well represented.)
With some exceptions, professionals were the only ones invited to participate. They were given a point-and-shoot digital camera, some software and a few hundred dollars. For this, they were to take an infinite number of photos. Obviously, they didn't do it for the money, but for the excitement of being involved in a "24/7" project.
You have to hand it to Cohen and Smolan. They got a lot of great work for relatively little money. Readers might be put off by the sponsor list and corporate logos, but they are relegated to the back and can be ignored.
As for the text, well it consists of an introduction (by Deseret Morning News columnist Lee Benson) and captions. Most of the captions are fine, but a few attempt to paint a picture that is too complicated to convey in a couple of sentences.
For example: Do 40 percent of Highland High students really speak "little or no English," as is implied in one of the captions? No. It may be true that 40 percent of the students are multi-lingual. Some of them are enrolled in English as a Second Language classes, while others speak English quite well. So don't put too much stock in the captions.
But do revel in the photos themselves. They will make you happy to live here. There are so many lovely shots: The sun on the sign of the tiny town of Virgin. The spray of water as a Carmelite nun soaks some irises. The white clean wood of a church in Pine Valley.
In Ogden, a big dog and a little dog touch noses. In Park City, children practice for a relay race. Water tumbles over rocks in Big Cottonwood Canyon. The clouds frame buttes of Capitol Reef. The sun rises over the Bonneville Salt Flats. It sets over Delicate Arch and the stars come out.
E-mail: susan@desnews.com