Instant Connections, by writer, photography collector and former Panopticon Gallery owner Jason Landry, intertwines essays, interviews, quotes and autobiographical stories around the central theme of photography. Secondary themes in the book have to do with the idea of making connections, having mentors and building your personal network. It features interviews with such artist as Vik Muniz, Leonard Nimoy, Williams Wegman and Harold Feinstein, and quotes from such artists and collectors as Chuck Close and W.M. Hunt. The essays are meant to inspire, motivate and educate--some are informative and critical, while others contain humorous and quirky anecdotes. This is not a critical theory primer in the likes of Roland Barthes and Susan Sontag, rather the author has injected his own contemporary twist to everything.