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December 2, 2008 |
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Created and Maintained by: The Photoimaging Information Council |
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Reviewed by Erik Orellana |
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The Secret Life of Cows is Glen Wexler's latest book and is a prime example of what amazing things can be accomplished when camera and computer meet. The book is Wexler's surreal take on what cows' lives are all about. The book has a foreword by Eric Idle of "Monty Python" and “Spamalot” fame who helps set the tone for the book, "if you don't find these pictures funny on first sight no amount of forewords will persuade you otherwise. So, frankly, enjoy."  cover, The Secret Life of Cows © 2007 Glen Wexler
The majority of the photographs used in this book are from promotional calendars Wexler did with The Richards Group in 2004 and 2005 for the Chick-fil-A,fast food chain which specializes in chicken sandwiches in the South and Southeast. To say Wexler is imaginative is to understate things. In an interview Wexler stated that he considers this book his "director's cut" of the work he did on the campaign.  © 2007 Glen Wexler
Looking at these photographs one is struck with a variety of thoughts; "How'd he do that?"; "How cool is this!" and of course, "WOW!" Wexler writes in the book that what he does is, "create photo-illustrations of manufactured or altered realities" and one rarely comes across so astute a definition. The book has over one million dollars in production value and it shows.  © 2007 Glen Wexler
There is a vibrant double spread where we see an elderly farmer couple looking at cows as they disembark a flying saucer right in the middle of a corn field. The details in the image are what add credibility to the believability of fantastical being shown. Looking closely you notice that the underside of the saucer reflects the image and light of the cows walking down the plank. The camcorder the farmer has in his hands has an image of the flying saucer in the view screen. Little details like this go a long way towards making the fantastic relatable.  © 2007 Glen Wexler
The photographs in the book are representations of fantasies. What Wexler accomplishes with these cows is that he takes an image from his mind no matter how otherworldly or counterintuitive and makes it real; be it a cow scuba diving or parachuting. The only limit is creativity and Wexler's creativity has no limit. The book is split into two main chapters, one, dealing with "Superhero Cows," and the other with "Secret Agent Cows". Many people the world over have fantasized about being endowed with super powers or being secret agents for some clandestine government agency and who is to say these fantasies are for humans only?  © 2007 Glen Wexler
In the photograph, "Kowraté", Wexler captures one of the super cows training. The cow has been caught mid air kicking . There is also this great photograph, "Decibell", where another super cow is using its sonic power and three windows in the background have been caught just after they've shattered along with shingles flying apart. There is also an oil barrel tilted from the vibrations. Wexler captures a super powered cow that isn't real; this is no small feat. In commenting about this image Wexler said, "The glass is real. Individual pieces were photographed and added to the composite. Tilting the oil drum is just one of many of the nuances that I will add to an image to help express the idea; the final impact is always about the accumulation of the subtleties."  © 2007 Glen Wexler
One of the best Secret Agent Cows photographs is, "Mr. T-Bone" where we see a four cow SWAT team braking into a Circus Burger facility, Circus Burger of course being the dastardly organization the cows must battle to ensure the safety of cows everywhere. In the photograph we see a laser beam heating up beef patties and a cow trying to knock it out of commission while the other cows battle factory workers. In, "Sir Loin", we see the completion of another successful mission with the remnants of BBQ grills being hurled through the air and into the ocean by means of a massive explosion. And of course Sir Loin himself is flying away by way of a jetpack. The sets in each image were created by Emmy Award-winning Production Designer Anthony Tremblay while the impressive explosion was done by Joe Viskocil, who blew up the Death Star in "Star Wars" and the White House in "Independence Day".  © 2007 Glen Wexler
Before photographing the live cows Wexler enlisted the services of Charles Rivera to sculpt one-third miniatures of the cows to be used. The Super Cow costumes were fabricated by Gayle Davis. "We next had a mould made from our sculpted cow for the purpose of creating several foam castings that could be cut and individually reassembled in the pose desired for each cow character. The cow forms were then appropriately dressed," said Wexler by way of interview. Lori "Tin" Wornom styled the Secret Agents and James Hayes, who created wardrobe for the Muppets did the costumes. Wexler brought all these talented people together and others in to make some unquestionably fun and interesting images.  © 2007 Glen Wexler
Wexler's work is impressive for both its subtlety and it imaginative scope. Go pick up The Secret Life of Cows and enjoy the fantasy.
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