The Contemporary Photobook Magazine
Copyright James Clancy 2011 Kehrer Verlag Heidelberg Berlin My first impression is that Clancy’s narrative is a darker version of John Gossage’s early photobook The Pond. Similar to Gossage, Clancy is taking us on an imaginary journey, although somewhat grounded in the (non) reality of the photographs, using found landscapes rendered in black and white... Continue Reading →
Copyright Mauro Fiorese & Keith Carter 2008 Edizioni Siz Collaborations are interesting situations that can be a bit unpredictable as to the results, but in this case for this commission by the Palace of Monaco, both Carter and Fiorese were previous collaborators in 2001 for their photobook Two Spirits. With these two creative spirits working... Continue Reading →
Copyright Hiroshi Watanabe 2008 published by Mado-sha Co. Ltd With the recent the passing of Kim Jong II and the changes to the family leadership in North Korea I am motivated by an opportunity to review an earlier photobook by Hiroshi Watanabe who was allowed “access” to travel and photograph within North Korea in 2007. Hiroshi states,... Continue Reading →
Mitch Epstein 2009 copyright courtesy Steidl I think one of the better photographed and designed photobooks to shed light on the complexities and the enormity of the environmental, economic, political and social issues of the production and consumption of energy is Mitch Epstein’s American Power, published in 2009 by Steidl. In reading Edward Burtynsky’s Oil,... Continue Reading →
Review by Douglas Stockdale • My first impression of Harvey Benge’s photobook All of the Places I’ve ever Known was that this book is meant to be autobiographical. It is also a statement of the obvious: that you cannot take a photograph of a place unless you have been to that place. Cheeky. Benge has self-published numerous photobooks and in... Continue Reading →
Copyright Eva Koleva Timothy 2010 courtesy of the photographer What I often find when a book combines a large amount of text in conjunction with photographs, it seems that either the text or the photographs seems to dominate. In some cases there is delicate balance between the two, which I now have come to understand... Continue Reading →
Copyright Bertil Nilsson 2011 published by Canalside Books When I attend a circus performance with my family, I find that I rapidly become very overwhelmed by the brilliant and dazzling colors of the performers clothes, sets and background, the high energy of the performances and the very intense lighting that commands my attention. The performances... Continue Reading →
Libros de Fotografia - photobook commentary copyright Tomás de Teresa I recent added Tomás de Teresa's photobook commentary blog to my sidebar for future reference. This is the first photobook commentary blog that I have become aware of that the text is in Spanish. Tomás de Teresa resides in Spain and is one of those hardworking guys... Continue Reading →
Copyright Sophie Calle 2010 courtesy of Steidl and Hasselblad Awards 2010 Sophie Calle is an interesting and unusual photojournalist. In many situations she does not operate a camera to capture her photographic images and may not be the actual writer of the associated text. Yet Calle was awarded the Hasselblad Award in 2010 for just... Continue Reading →
Copyright Louie Palu 2007 published by Photolucida At the conclusion of the Photolucida's Critical Mass event in 2006, three photographers were awarded monographs, Hiroshi Watanabe, Sage Sohier and Louie Palu, for his photo-project Gage Call: Life and Death in the Hard Rock Mining Belt. For Palu, along with Charlie Angus who conducted the interviews, their project... Continue Reading →
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