The Contemporary Photobook Magazine
Review by Lee Halvorsen · The Black Box book is multimedia art…the book itself, the images, and the text. In the Afterword, Joanna Howard writes, “Black Box marries personal memoir with artistic retrospective of such a rich career.” The style of the book, the intimacy of the images, and the reality of the storyteller’s words... Continue Reading →
Review by Rudy Vega · Ulf Lundin’s Pictures of a Family first premiered as an exhibition in 1997. Fast forward to 2024, and Pictures of a Family is realized as a photo book. Consisting of 124 pages, of which 66 are photographs (64 color and 2 black and white), it’s an interesting look at photography... Continue Reading →
Review by Hans Hickerson · A zine before there were zines, Lewis Baltz’ Nevada is also a print portfolio of the book’s 15 photographs. It was published in 1978 by Baltz’ gallery, Castelli Graphics, and was presumably intended as a marketing tool for the 600 8” X 10” prints that Baltz produced for the project... Continue Reading →
Review by Hans Hickerson ∙ No, A Visit With Magritte has not been re-released. It was last published in 2010 by Steidl and my copy is the Matrix edition from 1981. I wanted to review it because I wondered if other photobook fans are aware of it and because it was such a revelation to... Continue Reading →
Review by Hans Hickerson · Ismail Ferdous’ Sea Beach echoes Martin Parr’s seaside photographs. Both photographers have an alert eye for human forms and foibles, zeroing in and isolating telling details, with Ferdous favoring more straight-on views and Parr wittier, busier compositions. But you will never imagine you are looking at a Martin Parr book... Continue Reading →
Review by Hans Hickerson · Looking at photobooks from well-established publishers can be disappointing. You often see safe editorial choices – large formats, cloth covers, premium printing, bankable names, portfolios laid out one picture to a spread and surrounded by expanses of white paper, and not much in the way of innovative form or content.... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • This small artist book presents a large challenge. Swedish photographer Helga Härenstam has created a hand-assembled photobook of 34 images just about 4 1/2 inches square in overall size; there is no text inside, so you are dependent on your reactions to the images and on your intuitions. The title... Continue Reading →
Yet another year has gone by, and while the world peace we were hoping for is still further away than it was a year ago, it is nevertheless time for us to present you with our new list of interesting photobooks for the past year. Our selections feature intriguing photographic content, brilliant project concepts, and... Continue Reading →
Review by Douglas Stockdale • The book cover for Christian Kasners recently released photographic book, Woodward, has an interesting graphic design, printed full bleed. The repetitive pattern stirs the memory until it is apparent that this is a tire tread pattern, a subtext for the location of Kasners photo-documentary of Woodward Avenue, one of the main urban... Continue Reading →
Review by Matt Schneider · The Grift begins with a short piece of reflective commentary by photographer Andrew Kochanowski. Here, he playfully describes something of a circus meets pyramid scheme. Crowds chanting now familiar phrases like, “Lock her up!” and “Build the wall!” Recurring bits about “Hoaxes, taxes, a grievance extravaganza.” Celebrity appearances from American politicians, the... Continue Reading →
