The Contemporary Photobook Magazine
Review by Brian F. O’Neill · Simultaneously with the expansion of the universe of image-text photobooks, so too have we seen a rise in research-oriented photographic projects in which the photograph is not left to stand on merits apparently internal to it. In this second modality, the photographs and the larger sequence within which the... Continue Reading →
Review by Hans Hickerson · An unflinching, comprehensive exploration of the current situation of women in Afghanistan, No Woman’s Land is an important book. It reminds us that while we take our personal possibilities for granted, women and girls in Afghanistan are treated barely better than slaves. Along with mutually reinforcing images and texts, the... Continue Reading →
Review by Olga Bubich · Domestic violence, emotional neglect, parental mental illnesses and substance abuse are family conditions that might lead to childhood trauma, which, if left unprocessed, risks having a profound and lasting impact on a person’s emotional well-being and self-perception in adulthood. One of the ways of addressing trauma, whether it is of... Continue Reading →
Review by Hans Hickerson · To write or not to write, that is the question photographers ask when assembling their projects into books. What do you say to accompany your photographs? What needs to be said that the photographs do not already say? Will the viewer understand what you are doing if you do not... Continue Reading →
Review by Paul Anderson • In the nineteenth century "sentimental flower books" were popular among Victorian-era women. Besides being entertaining, these books served to advance their education and standing in society. These books included information on types of flowers, their romantic meanings, associated them with poetry, and provided stylized illustrations. Using these books as inspiration,... Continue Reading →
Review by Matt Schneider · “Although we can refer to much of my work as memory-inspired, I like to think of it as documentary in nature. It serves as a historical record of urban changes, which for the most part appear invisible.” – Waisman, p. 1. Sunset Colonies: A Visual Elegy to South Florida’s Mobile... Continue Reading →
Review by Hans Hickerson · Dropping jaws do not make noise, and neither do smiles. If they did, you would be able to hear people looking at Xenia Nikolskaya’s Plastic Jesus. Nikolskaya’s book is a collection of photos of religiously-themed merchandise interspersed with interior views of Egyptian Coptic Christian monasteries. In her photographs the objects... Continue Reading →
Review by Hans Hickerson · A heartfelt plea, a cri de coeur documenting the ravages of poverty in the United States, Matt Black’s American Artifacts reads like a contemporary complement to Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. Unlike the single location of the Evans / Agee book, Black traveled over 100,000 miles around the US... Continue Reading →
Review by Hans Hickerson · Sometimes it takes time to figure out a photobook. Robert Adams’ 1985 Summer Nights is one of my all-time favorite books, and a year ago I was eager to see what he had done with his 2023 version, Summer Nights, Walking. But I was so disappointed that I almost couldn’t... Continue Reading →
Review by Brian Arnold · “Her art was mischievously unruly and luxuriously disruptive; she was interested in confronting the idea of ‘experience’ to directly address issues around feminism, sexuality, classicism and austerity, death, disease, and beauty.” Laura Smith The first work I experienced by Helen Chadwick was The Oval Court, and I only saw... Continue Reading →
PhotoBook Journal 