The Contemporary Photobook Magazine
Review by Brian Arnold · The first photograph in Ruth Lauer Manenti’s new book, 4 Sides of the Table, shows two rulers placed side by side. Both enter the picture from the right, their full-length cut off by the edge of the frame. They look as though they’ve been around for decades and are chipped... Continue Reading →
Review by Olga Bubich · What if another highly advanced species doesn't arrive on Earth from outer space, but is already here, among us, challenging humanity’s status as the pinnacle of civilization? After years of studying, photographing, and enjoying the company of pet rats, Belarusian photographer Mariya Karneyenka has come to the conclusion that this... Continue Reading →
Review by Hans Hickerson · New photobooks of unpublished early work from well-established (read: saleable) photographers can be hit or miss, some justifying the hoopla surrounding their publication and others not. Martin Parr’s The Non-Conformists, a detailed, well-crafted exploration of an English village, is a thumbs up. Fresh out of university as a young photographer,... Continue Reading →
Review by Olga Bubich · Photobooks have long offered artists a field of expanded possibilities, allowing them to move beyond a single, linear narrative and challenge conventional expectations of what a book could look like. The history of the medium, with examples ranging from the canonical works such as Robert Frank’s The Americans (1958) and... Continue Reading →
Review by Lee Halvorsen • As I paged through this book it was as if I’d wrapped myself in a flannel blanket of memories…soft colors, warm textures, familiarity, and comfort. Well, not my memories, but the memories of Tilton whose work often takes her to Paris. Over several trips she’s captured the emotions and feel... Continue Reading →
Review by Brian Arnold · With Love, from an Invader – Rhododendrons, Empire, China and Me by Yan Wang Preston is a complex, layered book that explores the intersections of colonialism, botany, and personal identity. It is beautifully designed, a sort of guidebook structured around the seasonal changes in the hills just outside Burnley in... Continue Reading →
Review by Olga Bubich · Every artistic technique doesn’t enter the creatives’ practice by itself. Its emergence is usually determined by a few historical, social, and cultural factors, as well as by individual searches for a form capable of translating one’s inner and outer worlds. And collage is no exception. As a method, it was... Continue Reading →
Review by Douglas Stockdale • The first hint at what will be found within the covers of this delightful artist book is the delicate sewn lines around the circumference of the illustration of our planet gracing the front cover. I should also add at this point that Bassin attended my book development workshop a couple of... Continue Reading →
Review by Hans Hickerson · How do you determine what a photobook means? Do you read the publisher’s press release and then look at the book? Or do you look at the book to see what’s there and ignore the PR? That’s what I usually do. I figure the book is the final authority, that... Continue Reading →
Review by Hans Hickerson · In much the same way that the Internet has democratized speech but also cheapened it, the ability to produce photobooks easily today is a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing because photographers can package and share their work with fewer barriers. It is a curse because everyone is... Continue Reading →
PhotoBook Journal 