The Contemporary Photobook Magazine
Review by Gerhard Clausing • New Bern, North Carolina, is certainly an interesting town of some 30,000 people. Named after Bern, Switzerland, it was founded in 1710 by an ancestor of the photographer. Both cities share the same bear figure as a coat of arms, with the American version lacking one anatomical detail. The internet... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • In these pandemic times, when some consider cruises and cruise ships risky leisure activities because of the sequestered environment participants are subject to (which, by the way, can also be an asset if viruses are absent because nothing new is introduced during the trip), it is heartening to see a... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • An actor who challenges various norms in his performances can be expected to do the same when using photography as another outlet for his creative abundance. That’s a perfect description of Lars Eidinger – he is not afraid to devote his skills to creating characters who show us the darker... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • In these pandemic times we are certainly being reminded that things we cannot see, such as viruses, can hurt us badly, and that our human tendency to ignore dangers we cannot visually ascertain can lead us astray. So it is with atomic energy and its flip-side, nuclear waste, some of... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • No doubt street photography can benefit from some creative new approaches. Gone are the days of garnering attention by showing the ubiquitous downtrodden and certain other predictable scenarios that we have seen many times before. Vasco Trancoso, a retired physician, whose career involved keeping things going in his patients’ bodies,... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • Abstract art can certainly fuel one’s imagination. When the main attention of a photograph is more diffuse, that is, not so concrete, we can let our thoughts wander, and we can project our own experiences, wishes, and hopes into what is shown or not shown. When individuals and places are... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • Many of us have several ethnic groups in our heritage, and we all certainly have lots of ancestors, but not all of us are able to trace our background details more than a couple of generations. And when we look in the mirror, do we recognize parts of those who... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • It is possible to develop many misconceptions about people and countries that we don’t know much about. Some of those views may be based on one-sided reports and specifically slanted selections of what is shown and described to us. It is equally common for journalists and photojournalists to concentrate on... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • Very seldom do we encounter photobooks that not only are a total surprise but can serve to entertain us too. This is one such exceptional example. During the height of the pandemic, Kessels and Sauvin exchanged visuals from their extensive collection of anonymous ‘vernacular’ photographs with each other, and now... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • Communicating with one’s parents can be quite a chore, no matter at what age we find ourselves. And for a girl growing up, her dad is that special guy who usually serves as the first example and model of what men might be like later on in her life. This... Continue Reading →
PhotoBook Journal 