Inuuteq Storch – Necromancer – PhotoBook Journal

Review by Gerhard Clausing •

No one knows exactly what will happen when we all leave this earth. Many possibilities have been imagined over time; religious systems and mysterious other processes have been developed to try to give a structure to what might happen and to give people some hope for a chance at a better afterlife. Then there are those called necromancers who try to establish some kind of dialogue with those who have left us.

It is my understanding that Storch is trying to create some kind of connection between our current reality and what may come next, and to do this through mysterious photographs of our present, particularly of the landscape and people of Greenland, a vast yet sparsely populated area. Spirituality is never a bad thing, and adding knowledge through some kind of divination of what may come next may also be useful. This photographer is truly intent upon presenting “more arbitrary glimpses of emotion and atmosphere, suffused with an intimacy and melancholy that seem strongly connected to the spiritual.” It seems that, at least in part, our view is turned toward the occult, a different kind of challenge. Wouldn’t we all like to get in touch with those who are gone, especially in the years of the pandemic, where we often felt isolated?

When we first encounter this photobook, we are struck by its stark appearance. The cover is black, the pages have black edges, the end leaves are also of black paper. The pages facing the images are black as well. What are we to make of all of this?

It seems like the mood is somber, there is a certain feeling of uncertainty, and the presentation challenges us to really think deep thoughts. The black and white pictures are grainy to the point of near-unrecognizability at times. We see bits and pieces from our surroundings which make us wonder what we are all about.

This in-between state is a perfect fertile ground for investigation. Just as we discover a certain kind of magic in bits and pieces of remains of creatures in the earth from thousands or millions of years ago, a way of proceeding might be found in bits and pieces photographed from our current reality. That fellow human being in that hospital bed might for a second have a glimpse of what comes next, as his or her lifetime is flickering or comes to an end. That snowstorm might have the function of waking us up to the reality of life not being so predictable and warm as we might have once imagined; ice certainly preserves things. That tower might send signals to worlds heretofore unknown. Confusion abounds to show us that life is fleeting and less predictable than we might have imagined.

I get the sense that Storch is holding up a mirror to all of us in this project. The challenge is to look in that mirror, to come to terms with who we are and who we might be. This is a very difficult challenge indeed, and if it leaves us uncertain, perhaps that is part of the intent. I find this photobook to be one of the most provocative ones I have seen in recent times. I recommend it to you, especially if you have the fortitude to accept the challenge of examining your current life and to contemplate what may come next. Things that are tentative can have their own intriguing kind of beauty.

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Gerhard Clausing, PhotoBook Journal Editor, is an author and artist from Southern California. He occasionally hides out in the Franconian countryside.

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Inuuteq Storch – Necromancer

Photographers: Inuuteq Storch (born in Greenland; lives in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Sisimiut, Greenland)

Editors: Finn Wergel Dahlgren and Jacob Birch

Text: Georg K’upersimân

Language: English

Design: Spine Studio

Hardbound, with Bodonian binding and silk-screen printed cover and black edge color; 224 pages, unpaginated; 6.3 x 9.4 inches (16 x 24 cm); printed in Italy by Grafiche Veneziane; ISBN 978-87-973811-2-0

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Articles and photographs published in the PhotoBook Journal may not be reproduced without the permission of the PhotoBook Journal staff and the photographer(s). All images, texts, and designs are under copyright by the authors and publishers.