The Contemporary Photobook Magazine
Review by Gerhard Clausing • When you first look at the cover of this photobook, a number of unusual features immediately become apparent: The cloth binding is a glorious purple, the color of royal and religious accoutrements. The edges of the pages are graced with glorious gold-leaf, historically the mark of a very important book.... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • I had the good fortune to discover Dia Yunzhi Wang at the Photo LA Show in February 2019, at the SoPhoto Gallery (Beijing), managed and curated by Hongjie Ma, eminent photographer and Chinese National Geographic editor. Her work impressed me immediately – she effectively handles the range from contemporary cultural... Continue Reading →
LA Art Book Fair at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA (California) ____________ by Gerhard Clausing After an absence in 2018, Printed Matter’s LA Art Book Fair was back, and even stronger than before. This time the majority of the PhotoBook Journal team was able to meet together since launching the new magazine. Below you can see a... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • It takes an outsider to get to the heart of things. A photographer from the Eastern United States, Isaac Diggs takes a refreshing look at a street photography subject often marked by clichés: Los Angeles. In fact, this photobook has the subtitle, Photographs from Los Angeles. Diggs, who has created... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • Callous attitudes toward our natural environment and a non-scientific ignorance regarding current and impending climate calamities are prevalent these days. Economic and population pressures and interests in short-term economic gain also abound. These are recognized as contributing to the demise of humans and other creatures. Encroachment on habitats, competition for... Continue Reading →
Guest review by Paul Anderson • Cameraless Photography by Martin Barnes is an historical survey of cameraless photography, and the written introduction provides an excellent overview of this genre. The subsequent 141 illustrations of cameraless photography are drawn from the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The book concludes with a four-page glossary... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • This photobook is based on a retrospective exhibition previously shown at the National Gallery of Art, the Peabody Essex Museum, and the Getty Museum, currently showing at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, and soon to be at the Jeu de Paume, Paris (June 17 to Sept. 22, 2019)... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • Scot Sothern has an extensive record photographing and publishing provocative portraits and scenes. In an interview published in Vice (UK) in 2012, he stated in connection with his book featuring prostitutes, “I hope the book makes the viewer pause and think about the implications of the work; the fucked-up-ness people... Continue Reading →
The Panel: Khodr Cherri, Aline Smithson, Douglas Stockdale, Dotan Saguy, and Richard S. Chow - Photo © Gerhard Clausing In spite of inclement weather (Southern California is experiencing an above-average wet winter), there was a full house at this very useful photobook panel discussion moderated by Richard S. Chow during the Focus programming this... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • This photobook is a 40-year retrospective of the work of the distinguished photographer Dawoud Bey, who is also a well-received Professor of Art at Columbia College in Chicago. Others before him have contributed perspectives on some of the same US communities, especially James Van Der Zee, Walker Evans, Gordon Parks,... Continue Reading →
