The Contemporary Photobook Magazine
Review by Wayne Swanson • Let us now praise Maria Thereza Alves. Over the past four decades, this Brazilian-born artist, social activist, and documentarian has established an international reputation as a champion for social justice. In 1983, however, she was just a 21-year-old junior studying photography at Cooper Union in New York City who decided... Continue Reading →
Guest review by Madhu John • In essence, this book is an autobiography of an artist, a dedicated teacher and a studiously creative photographer tracing a rich eventful journey through a wide variety of striking images and illuminating prose. In this age of the ubiquitous camera wielded by every mother, son and daughter, why, you... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • Abendlied (Evening Song) is a project that is very personal, yet has universal meaning. The concept seems simple: as we gradually take leave of our parents we have memories of events and feelings from long ago; things come back to remind us of what we experienced with them in the... Continue Reading →
Review by Wayne Swanson • Big Sur is one of the iconic places of the California Dream. This rugged stretch of coastline between Carmel and San Simeon along equally iconic Highway 1 is known for many things. It’s an idyllic showcase of natural beauty . . . Muse to the likes of Henry Miller and... Continue Reading →
Guest review by Dia Yunzhi Wang • As a female photographer, I would always have the desire to document the moments that I let ‘myself’ out. I’d be hopping up and down on empty streets with arms waving high, shaking my body like a disco-maniac when the playlist shuffles to a love dance song and... Continue Reading →
Welcome to our Fourth Issue • Ah, the summer months are really here and time for holidays and vacations. The temperature has finally become a little hotter here in Southern California, getting past our May-Gray and June-Gloom, the endless days of overcast grayness with the accompanying cooler temperatures, and this year even some rain showers... Continue Reading →
Review by Melanie Chapman • “A magnum opus project spanning 14 years, UPSTATE GIRLS documents’ the troubles and triumphs of a group of friends and their extended families in upstate New York.” For many years now, I have indulged in two great passions. One is photography, the other is what I jokingly refer to as... Continue Reading →
Elizabeth Avedon, a conversation with Douglas Stockdale • Elizabeth Avedon, independent curator / photo book and exhibition designer, including the retrospective exhibition and books: “Avedon: 1949–1979” for the Metropolitan Museum of Art; “Avedon: In the American West” for the Amon Carter Museum, the Corcoran Gallery, and the Art Institute of Chicago, among others. ___________________________ I... Continue Reading →
Review by Wayne Swanson • Are you fluent in photography? Not f-stops and apertures. Not representational or abstract, fine art or documentary. Not Ansel or Robert Adams. Rather, do you understand the visual language of photography? For the late Nathan Lyons (1930 – 2016), the world was “a vast repertoire of signs that await being... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • This photobook by Cristiano Volk is all about the mysterious and historic Venice, Italy. It is a novel view of a place that has been incessantly photographed, resulting in zillions of predictable tourist snapshots that imitate tourism brochures. The city is built on islands, always poised to battle the surrounding... Continue Reading →
PhotoBook Journal 