Review by Gerhard Clausing • When you first look at the cover of this photobook, a number of unusual features immediately become apparent: The cloth binding is a glorious purple, the color of royal and religious accoutrements. The edges of the pages are graced with glorious gold-leaf, historically the mark of a very important book.... Continue Reading →
Dia Yunzhi Wang – I Was There in Your Shattered and Rosy Dreams
Review by Gerhard Clausing • I had the good fortune to discover Dia Yunzhi Wang at the Photo LA Show in February 2019, at the SoPhoto Gallery (Beijing), managed and curated by Hongjie Ma, eminent photographer and Chinese National Geographic editor. Her work impressed me immediately – she effectively handles the range from contemporary cultural... Continue Reading →
LA Art Book Fair 2019 – About the Show
LA Art Book Fair at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA (California) ____________ by Gerhard Clausing After an absence in 2018, Printed Matter’s LA Art Book Fair was back, and even stronger than before. This time the majority of the PhotoBook Journal team was able to meet together since launching the new magazine. Below you can see a... Continue Reading →
Isaac Diggs – Middle Distance or The Anxiety of Influence
Review by Gerhard Clausing • It takes an outsider to get to the heart of things. A photographer from the Eastern United States, Isaac Diggs takes a refreshing look at a street photography subject often marked by clichés: Los Angeles. In fact, this photobook has the subtitle, Photographs from Los Angeles. Diggs, who has created... Continue Reading →
3rd annual Lucie Photo Book Prize – early bird discount available now
News - public service announcement ---------- 3rd annual Lucie Photo Book Prize Early Bird Discount; 10% off your submission before April 30th, 2019. The Lucie Foundation is proud to offer two cash prizes to the top two finalists for their outstanding work – one Traditional $3,000 cash prize and one Independent $2,000 cash prize. The... Continue Reading →
Martin Barnes – Cameraless Photography
Guest review by Paul Anderson • Cameraless Photography by Martin Barnes is an historical survey of cameraless photography, and the written introduction provides an excellent overview of this genre. The subsequent 141 illustrations of cameraless photography are drawn from the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. The book concludes with a four-page glossary... Continue Reading →
Melissa Lazuka – Fly Away
Review by Douglas Stockdale • Melissa Lazuka’s second self-published artist book Fly Away continues her narrative on the transient nature of her children’s life and her self-awareness that they are very quickly growing up, perhaps way too fast. It is a sequel to her brilliantly conceived artist book Song of the Cicadas that I reviewed... Continue Reading →
Photobook Roundtable at Focus/PhotoLA, February 3, 2019
The Panel: Khodr Cherri, Aline Smithson, Douglas Stockdale, Dotan Saguy, and Richard S. Chow - Photo © Gerhard Clausing In spite of inclement weather (Southern California is experiencing an above-average wet winter), there was a full house at this very useful photobook panel discussion moderated by Richard S. Chow during the Focus programming this... Continue Reading →
Dotan Saguy – VENICE BEACH
Review by Melanie Chapman • For anyone who has ever visited Venice Beach in Southern California, comparisons to New York City’s Coney Island might not seem much of a conceptual stretch. Both are famous urban beachscapes that have been luring tourists from around the world for decades, both are celebrated more for the colorful locals... Continue Reading →
Ikuru Kuwajima – Tundra Kids
Review by Gerhard Clausing • Every once in a while we see a photobook that hits all the right spots. In Tundra Kids, Ikuru Kuwajima, a multicultural photographer – born in Japan, studied in the United States, and now lives in Russia – has successfully created a book that shows us a minority at the... Continue Reading →