Todd Purifoy,
Texas Red Dirt Photos: Collection One



Publisher: Mavrik Creative Group
Released: 2005

(3½ out of 5)

Over the past two years, Todd Purifoy's photography has helped fans on community sites like Galleywinter deepen their connection to such Texas/Red Dirt artists as Cross Canadian Ragweed, Randy Rogers Band, Wade Bowen, and Stoney LaRue. A selection of the Dallas-area photographer's work is now available in a coffee-table anthology, Texas Red Dirt Photos: Collection One.

Purifoy's candids capture artists in nakedly expressive onstage form. In all, more than 180 photos are spread over 120 pages. Most are reproduced as 2- to 3-inch high insets on monochromatic background images of their respective musicians. These artist pages are broken up by occasional full-page still life photos of guitars and stage gear. Such larger-scale reproductions showcase Purifoy's keen eye better than the insets, which are too small to show much detail and can seemingly be swallowed up by the dark monochrome backgrounds.

Think of Texas Red Dirt Photos as a yearbook of sorts. Photos capture musicians at a particular point in time, captioned by name and band affiliation. And artist pages leave ample room to collect autographs and inscriptions.

Purifoy continues to document the burgeoning Texas/Red Dirt scene, with his growing collection available for viewing on TexasRedDirtPhotos.com - and hopefully in a forthcoming Collection Two.

(Note: You may purchase Texas Red Dirt Photos: Collection One directly from Todd Purifoy for $29.95 plus shipping.)

January 14, 2006