| Title | All My Love, Mike |
| Artist / Creator | John Retallack |
| Place of Publication | Rochester, New York |
| Publication Date | 2014 |
| Process / Technique | Digital printing |
| Structure / Binding | A collection of images and text on loose pages housed in a hand made clamshell box |
| Medium / Materials | Exerpts from letters my father wrote to my mother from the Pacific during WWII and pictures she sent to him. The box was created with Canapetta Bookcloth and Flanders British Tan bonded leather |
| Paper Stock | MOAB Entrada paper |
| Number of Pages | 27 pages |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | 9.5 x 1 x 4.75 inches closed |
| Edition Size | Edition of 7 |
| Signed & Numbered | Signed and numbered edition |
Dad was drafted in 1942. He was a surgeon and served in Army Field Hospitals in the South Pacific. Every day, as much as possible, they exchanged letters. Mom would enclose pictures, mostly of their new son, me, which he was eager to see. After their deaths I found Dad's letters and Mom's pictures in separate places. I held the letters for years before I was able to read them. The text is excerpted from the letters and the pictures were scanned from the pictures found in an album where Dad had kept them. The backgrounds used in some of the pages were created in studio. Text, pictures and backgrounds were assembled and printed digitally to archival standards. This book is a tribute to the love, respect and longing I witnessed in the letters.
Artist Bio
John Retallack is a fine art photographer working Rochester, NY. He has an extensive career in the photographic arts. He has taught at The School of Visual Arts NYC and Rochester Institute of Technology. John now devotes his time to fine art photography and book arts. All My Love, Mike has been shown at the Abecederian Gallery, Denver, CO and in the Redlands Museum Personal Histories book exhibit, Queensland AU. Also in the Rochester NY Public Library's Art of the Book Show where it received an Honorable Mention. It is in the collection of the University of Denver Library, the University of Colorado Library, the Iron County Museum, Gastra, MI and in a private collection. His current Artist's books are: AlMutanabbi Starts Here, Whispers, All My Love, Mike, Upside Down, Flowers for Kristine and Tools. His photographs have been exhibited nationally and locally.