The Contemporary Photobook Magazine
Review by Wayne Swanson • “Were it not for.” What a perfect phrase for our Trumpian times. With these four words you can claim responsibility and assess blame. Deflect accountability, cast aspersions, or simply cover your ass. To “control the narrative” is the goal. In Michael Ashkin’s hands, the four words turn deadpan images into ominous... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • How do you effectively illustrate the follies of WAR? No matter how many times some of us advocate brain over brawn, war seems to be an ever-present specter, and this past week was certainly a glaring example. Perhaps such aggressive behavior is a remnant of the ancient male warrior who... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • When I look at this photobook, the old Phil Ochs song as rendered by Joan Baez goes through my head: “There but for fortune go you or I …” (check it out on YouTube). At the end of another fairly difficult year, looking at one’s reflection, at what might have... Continue Reading →
Review by Melanie Chapman • “Say It Loud, I’m Bronx, I’m Proud!” Recently, I was in touch with a college friend who grew up in the Bronx in the 1970s and asked him for five words to describe the place. He chose “Dark, rotten, cheated, drugged out, death.” This is not, however, the Bronx that... Continue Reading →
It’s time to look back at 2019, a very productive year for photobook publishing and for the PhotoBook Journal as well. By the end of the year, having enhanced our format to a full-scale magazine, we will have published some eighty photobook reviews, along with numerous articles, interviews, show reports, and announcements. As is our... Continue Reading →
Welcome to our Eighth Issue! • Here in the States we just celebrated our Thanksgiving Holiday this last weekend, which in addition to the annual tradition of eating too much (or is that my tradition?), it’s a time to give Thanks. Thus a very BIG Thank You for your support for this new magazine endeavor and your... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • Our current time is marked by an increasing blurring between reality and fantasy, and also by a greater prevalence of verbal, physical, and sexual violence, and so this photobook is right on target. Sohrab Hura helps us explore the questions so central to what is happening now: What is fake... Continue Reading →
Review by Melanie Chapman • When Never Again Repeats Itself: If ever there was a singular book that exemplifies the meaning of “Photo Evidence” (FotoEvidence), this essential publication documenting the tragic plight of Myanmar’s Rohingya refugees certainly must be that book. So beautiful are the images and so heavy is the topic; this new collection of... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • As we all know, communicating with one’s parents can be a challenge, not only in our early years, but later on as well. Often the verbal exchanges are limited to mostly necessary everyday topics and take the form of very limited small talk, and other kinds of interaction can also... Continue Reading →
