The Contemporary Photobook Magazine
Review by Wayne Swanson • In 1955, a 14-year-old Black youth from Chicago, visiting relatives in the South, walked into Bryant’s Grocery Store in rural Money, Mississippi. Emmett Till wasn’t inside long, but he is said to have whistled at a white woman behind the counter. A few days later his body — beaten, shot, and... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • All of us who have roots or interests in more than one culture (maybe that’s even most of us) can benefit greatly from the many insights Rohina Hoffman has incorporated in this new photobook. As a member of US society with roots in India, as one who has advanced to... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • Collecting can easily be very intense, perhaps more so than other pursuits. But then other kinds of activities including photography have been known to become highly ritualized as well. Need I remind you of the meticulous pursuits of water towers in order to present them in tomes of typologies, or... Continue Reading →
Review by Paul Anderson • With more than a small amount of photographic magic, Liam Wong’s photographs in his new book After Dark achieve a remarkable sense of solitude. These are nocturnal photographs taken in the urban cores of major metropolitan areas, well after most inhabitants have retired for the night. Similar to the hiker who seeks... Continue Reading →
Review by Steve Harp · Lynchian: noted for juxtaposing surreal or sinister elements with mundane, everyday environments, and for using compelling visual images to emphasize a dreamlike quality of mystery or menace. - Oxford English Dictionary Lynchian is a description that immediately came to mind on my first viewing of Jon Horvath’s 2022 monograph, This is Bliss. It may be because... Continue Reading →
Review by Wayne Swanson • Think back to your childhood, and there likely is a special place in your memory. A place of play, of adventure, of wonder, of self-discovery, and perhaps even of danger. For photographic artist C Fodoreanu, Lake Sacalaia was such a place. The deepest fresh-water lake in Transylvania, Lake Sacalaia is steeped in... Continue Reading →
Another year has gone by, so it’s time for us to present you with our new list of interesting photobooks. Our selections feature intriguing photographic content, brilliant project concepts, and excellent book designs that support the artist/photographer’s intent in conjunction with spot-on production qualities; the books that are the most interesting have a delightful combination... Continue Reading →
Review by Brian F. O’Neill · A Certain Logic of Expectations, published in 2021 with The Eriskay Connection is the second major book work from photographer Arturo Soto. The book is the result of a five-year odyssey in the city of Oxford, England. It contains 160 pages of 73 color images. The object itself is sized comfortably... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • This photobook presents the coming-of-age process of two people, a young woman and a young man, each in a different world. The former is presented as a series of photographs, while the latter is a short story in French, bound into the middle of the book. The photographer Antoine Seiter... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • When we are trying to visualize ancient times or the future, we do not have access to pictures taken with cameras. At best, we have a few sculptures, drawings, and paintings dealing with the past, and nothing at all when it comes to showing us what we imagine might come... Continue Reading →
PhotoBook Journal 