The Contemporary Photobook Magazine
Review by Rudy Vega • The first photograph in Nicholas Pollack's book, Meadow, is captioned “Empty lot, Kearny, New Jersey, 2017.” Although it displays an ostensibly vacant lot devoid of people or cars, it brims with subtle content. This photograph serves as a fitting prelude to Pollack’s overarching theme: there’s always more than meets the... Continue Reading →
Review by Douglas Stockdale · During the initial days of the COVID-19 pandemic with the immediate requirement to shelter in place many of us were probably wondering what we were to do, when is this going to end, how am I going to be impacted this, on and on and on. Many, like Amy Elkins, were... Continue Reading →
Review by Melanie Chapman • Thoroughly Modern Miller: The Photographs of a Master Who Refused to Remain a-Muse-ing Nearly one quarter of the way through the twenty-first century, and approximately one hundred years after the birth of Surrealism, the “female gaze” is finally gaining recognition as a credible artistic point of view. Thus, Lee Miller... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • Nature demands our attention as well as our contemplation. Even more important, it requires us to be ever mindful as custodians of what has been around for millions of years. As Lynne Buchanan states in her afterword in this book, nature can help us deal with “the darkness of the... Continue Reading →
Review by Melanie Chapman • “Never did bother Nobody”: The grounded and authentic culture of rural Kentucky as seen by a native son, From the Heads of the Hollers is a gorgeous new GOST publication of portraits by Kentucky native Shelby Lee Adams. Representing previously unpublished work made over 36 years, Adams’ environmental portraits... Continue Reading →
Review by Douglas Stockdale • This retrospective publication of Paul Caponigro is not meant to be in anyway inclusive of Caponigro’s entire body of work to date. This beautiful book encompasses some of his most wonderful, if not iconic, visual poems. Many of these same Caponigro’s photographs are what initially enticed me to consider the potential... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • In his very perceptive essay for this photobook, Harry Gallon provides a very important insight: “Place exists as the altar of our everyday existence.” He goes on to discuss the multiple layers of history that weigh heavily on all the locations that were photographed by Ian Howorth for this astonishing... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • To interpret the trivialities of everyday life is not an easy task, but it is an interesting challenge. In contemplating such subjects, personal recollections that are stored in each person’s memory will be applied to what is seen, and some cultural understanding may also come in handy. Thus the work... Continue Reading →
Review by Rudy Vega · The cover of Ewan Telford's The Ecology of Dreams is solid dark blue with gold text. The text displays in dictionary fashion a brief overview of Los Angeles and then followed by the definition of dreams. An image of a skull with sickle and scythe positioned right above a thumbs down illustration completes the... 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 →
PhotoBook Journal 