Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah: Andy Sweet's Summer Camp 1977

Age-wise, this is like a complete 180 from Andy Sweet's earlier photos collected in "Shtetl in the Sun" but, like that book, this one is suffused with the sun, the colors and the people of it's time and place. And what a perfect time for this one to come along! Stuck inside this summer, I cannot think of a better book to help remember what summer is all about when you're young: the friends, the bad food, jumping into whatever body of water is nearest and obsessing over the opposite (or the same) sex! I read in the intro that these were for Sweet's MFA and one can really tell as the compositions are a cut above the usual kodachrome snapshots squirreled away in a long-forgotten box or photo album somewhere. Sweet captures the clothes, the haircuts (on a continuum from Donny Osmond to Lou Reed), and the scene, seeming to be acutely aware of how fleeting it all is. Buy it and throw on some Rod Stewart or ABBA and enjoy!

I was a camper at CML for 9 years & met Andy during my first year there when I was very young (not the summer pictured in the book). These pictures take me right back to the sounds, smells, and the people from the best summers of my life. I know several people in the photos, which makes it more special, but my love for this book is purely sentimental. Thanks to Andy's family for releasing it.

What a great book. The photography was outstanding and it brought back so many memories of a wonderful time in my camp life. The images were powerful and joyful. Wonderful

Andy's skill and his unique position enabled him to capture really honest images of this summer camp experience. You'll feel like you one of the campers and, if you're like me, wish you could travel back in time with your footlocker and join in all the communal and personal experiences you see reflected in these images. It's as much about 1970's America as it is summer camp, and it's sort of a gloriously wild mess. Recognizing campers from one photo to the background of another invites you a little closer. How lucky for the real-life campers depicted to have such an awesome book. Thanks to Andy and those that worked so hard to bring these images and book to light for the rest of us. Recent press highlights many of these fantastic photos, but there's so much more here. Don't hesitate.