The Contemporary Photobook Magazine
Review by Gerhard Clausing • Studying cultures is like conducting philological detective work with a palimpsest manuscript from the Middle Ages. New phenomena arise and mostly wipe out evidence from the past. So it is with the American cultural studies in this project by Rich-Joseph Facun. The original indigenous cultures of Ohio seem to have... Continue Reading →
Review by Steve Harp · Lynchian: noted for juxtaposing surreal or sinister elements with mundane, everyday environments, and for using compelling visual images to emphasize a dreamlike quality of mystery or menace. - Oxford English Dictionary Lynchian is a description that immediately came to mind on my first viewing of Jon Horvath’s 2022 monograph, This is Bliss. It may be because... Continue Reading →
Review by Wayne Swanson • Think back to your childhood, and there likely is a special place in your memory. A place of play, of adventure, of wonder, of self-discovery, and perhaps even of danger. For photographic artist C Fodoreanu, Lake Sacalaia was such a place. The deepest fresh-water lake in Transylvania, Lake Sacalaia is steeped in... Continue Reading →
Another year has gone by, so it’s time for us to present you with our new list of interesting photobooks. Our selections feature intriguing photographic content, brilliant project concepts, and excellent book designs that support the artist/photographer’s intent in conjunction with spot-on production qualities; the books that are the most interesting have a delightful combination... Continue Reading →
Review by Brian F. O’Neill · A Certain Logic of Expectations, published in 2021 with The Eriskay Connection is the second major book work from photographer Arturo Soto. The book is the result of a five-year odyssey in the city of Oxford, England. It contains 160 pages of 73 color images. The object itself is sized comfortably... Continue Reading →
Review by Melanie Chapman · A working class hero is something to be... They hurt you at home and they hit you at schoolThey hate you if you're clever, and they despise a foolTill you're so f**king crazy, you can't follow their rules… (*lyrics and music by John Lennon) If ever there were a soundtrack to accompany... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • This photobook presents the coming-of-age process of two people, a young woman and a young man, each in a different world. The former is presented as a series of photographs, while the latter is a short story in French, bound into the middle of the book. The photographer Antoine Seiter... Continue Reading →
Review by Melanie Chapman · Ain’t I a Photographer? Let Us Now Praise Not-So-Famous Women. If you are interested in expanding your knowledge of photographic his/herstory, if terminology such as “oppositional gaze” “self-commodification” and “inclusivity” gets your attention, if you celebrate any gift giving rituals around this time of year, or if you just love spending... Continue Reading →
Review by Wayne Swanson • Ben Brody understands the chaos, absurdity, and surrealism of war. He was a combat photographer covering the United States’ involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, which resulted in his acclaimed photobook Attention Servicemember (reviewed here). His new book is an epilogue to that one, and a fitting way to sum up United States’ ill begotten... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • When we are trying to visualize ancient times or the future, we do not have access to pictures taken with cameras. At best, we have a few sculptures, drawings, and paintings dealing with the past, and nothing at all when it comes to showing us what we imagine might come... Continue Reading →
PhotoBook Journal 