The Contemporary Photobook Magazine
Review by Wayne Swanson • There’s a classic Irish short story in which a child in a village asks an Irish Traveller girl “Do you never tire of the road?” The girl’s quick response is “Do you never tire of being fettered?” That pretty much sums up the world views that divide mainstream society from the... Continue Reading →
Review by Douglas Stockdale • Matt Shallenberger’s photobook The Leaping Place is a mashup of family history, overlaid with a visual investigation of Hawaiian mythology. He utilizes the Hawaiian mythology of Kumulipo, a long chant of creation, as the foundation for his own creation quest, using translations of this long chant to help guide him in... Continue Reading →
Review by Paul Anderson • Dark, decadent, distinctive, eccentric, extraordinary, fantastical, imaginative, magical, mischievous, opulent, playful, weird, wild: these adjectives have all been used by others to describe the photographic work of Tim Walker. And, quite happily, all of these apply to the work shown in his latest book, Shoot for the Moon. Walker, who... Continue Reading →
Review by Melanie Chapman • Escape is on the minds of many people these days, now that we are in various stages of “Stay at Home” efforts to reduce the spread of a global pandemic. As warmer weather approaches, fantasies of trips to the beach have been curtailed by a reality that few could have... Continue Reading →
Review by Steve Harp • It’s more than a little unsettling to characterize a book which can be described - in the words of its creator - as a “succession of dark days” as lovely. But that’s the first word that comes to mind in looking through Fabio Ponzio’s East of Nowhere. There is a... Continue Reading →
Review by Wayne Swanson • Bodie, that 19th-century gold rush ghost town in the California hills east of the Sierra Nevada mountain range, has been a theme park for photographers for years. Everyone from Ansel Adams down to Mom, Dad, and the kids with their point-and-shoots has captured the picturesque “arrested decay” of what is now... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • Once in a while one makes a truly surprising discovery: the work of Marcel Sternberger certainly fits that category. Iconic portraits of 20th century luminaries, depictions that were relatively unknown for many decades, have now been unearthed from his archive, thanks to the work of Jacob and Stephan Loewentheil of... Continue Reading →
Review by Douglas Stockdale • The late Ralph Eugene (Gene) Meatyard, 1925 – 1972, was an optician whose personal artistic quest has had an extended impact on contemporary photography. In 1972, at the time of Meatyard’s passing, my personal interest in the creative aspects of photography were just beginning to take shape. At that time,... Continue Reading →
Welcome to our 13th Issue; We continue our quarantine mode during the days of COVID-19. This month we have another diverse selection of photobooks, ranging from Australia conceptual landscapes, the genre of the nude, one painted and the other investigating athleticism, as well as two narratives on the concept of dust, WWII reimagined, and a conceptual contemplation... Continue Reading →
