Picture this1996

Tipper Gore has been a passionate photographer for many years, but when her husband was elected Vice President of the United States, she began taking more pictures than ever before. Now, in this beautiful and very personal book, Mrs. Gore uses both words and photographs to give us an intimate view of her new life at home, her work as a member of the current administration, and her travels around the world. In a lively introductory chapter, Mrs. Gore offers a wonderfully candid self-portrait. She tells the story of how she became a photographer - receiving her first camera as a gift from her husband, Al, working as a photojournalist for The Tennessean, and gradually discovering that she expresses herself best through the images she captures on film. She writes about the causes that she has cared about most, especially those involving the mentally ill and the homeless. And, with surprising frankness, she describes how being part of a presidential administration has affected her children, her marriage, and her daily life. The centerpiece of Picture This is an inspired collection of more than 120 of her recent photographs, both color and black and white. Mrs. Gore has an unusual gift for catching people at their most natural - witness her photographs of the President and Vice President at work, of men and women from a rich diversity of cultures, and of her husband and children during private moments. She has a keen eye for pictures that tell dramatic stories, as illustrated by her eloquent photographs of starving children in Rwanda and homeless people in America.