The Contemporary Photobook Magazine
Review by Brian O’Neill · The concept of labor is typically understood in terms of something that is connected to the results of a creative process. Human beings brings things, often conceived as “products,” into existence as a result of active thought, intention, the use of resources, and other factors. In so doing, they actively... Continue Reading →
Review by Hans Hickerson · Move over, Alec Soth. The iconic photo of Airplane Man that helped make your reputation has been updated and is now set in Russia, on the Kola Peninsula. Instead of a man, he is a young boy wearing only a colorful swimming suit and flip flops. He is standing in... Continue Reading →
Review by Brian O’Neill · In his 2024 book, A Race to the Bottom of Crazy,[1] journalist Richard Grant chronicles beginning a new journey in life with his family after moving to Arizona, the 48th state in the U.S., from Mississippi. As he begins the narrative, he attempts to describe the unease that seems to... Continue Reading →
Review by Hans Hickerson · Michael E. Northrup’s photobook Over the Electric Grapevine lives up to the Pynchonesque promise of its title: weird, wild, and wonderful. The book is an album of photographs made from 1972 to 2004. Northrup employed an evolving repertoire of techniques – too many to list, but including straight photography –... Continue Reading →
Review by Hans Hickerson · Alex Llovet’s photobook Summer’s Almost Gone is a family album of sorts. The monochrome photos were taken on family vacations from 2016 to 2021. We see the natural world and children in nature, as well as a few photos of adults, presumably Llovet and his wife. I say “of sorts”... Continue Reading →
Review by Hans Hickerson · Letters to Azan is about photographer Lali Khalid’s relationship with her son. Khalid is from Pakistan. She grew up and studied there before moving to the US to study photography. Her son Azan was born in the U.S. in 2012. We do not hear anything about Azan’s father, but we... Continue Reading →
Review by Max Cavitch · American photographer John Gossage’s new book, An Abridged Dictionary of Sculpture, is dedicated “to the memory of my friend Anne Truitt, who taught me to love sculpture.” In her Daybook, Truitt describes a day in January 1980 when Gossage came to her studio to photograph the “forest” of sculptures she’d... Continue Reading →
Photo essay by Hans Hickerson · The second edition of the San Francisco Photobook Fair was held this past weekend on October 17 and 18 at the Harvey Milk Photo Center. Forty publishers, artists, and independent presses offered their books to an enthusiastic public. A list of the exhibitors is available here. Articles and photographs... Continue Reading →
Review by Melanie Chapman · Never before has a book caused this reviewer such a strong case of writer’s block. Near paralysis might be an even better description. Not because it failed to deliver at the level of excellence that one has reasonably come to expect from the collaborative efforts of publisher Thames and Hudson... Continue Reading →
Interview by Hans Hickerson · HH: When did you start Kult and why? JR: It was 2016. I was finishing my master’s. I had moved from Finland to Sweden to do my master of art in photojournalism. At the time, when starting the master’s, I was really passionate about daily photojournalism and the daily press,... Continue Reading →
