Review by Lee Halvorsen • I was gifted this book by the author and PBJ editor, Hans Hickerson who expressly did NOT want a review, only for me to enjoy his journey down this tortured and touching trip down memory lane. The vibrant colors of the small book’s cover capturing a computer screen were familiar and... Continue Reading →
Lorenzo DeStefano — The Magic Hour…La Hora Mágica, A Photographer’s Journeys Through Cuba
Review by Lee Halvorsen • A gripping tale of friendship and a hidden land is preserved in this story with stunning images from Cuba some thirty years ago. DeStefano traveled to Cuba in 1993, 1996 and again in 1998, during Cuba’s “Special Period” where everything for Cuba’s common person was hard to get…food, gasoline, currency,... Continue Reading →
Marens van Leunen — Responds Quickly. Friendly
Review by Lee Halvorsen • This book is a collection of magical, imaginative moments in what must have been a difficult, almost grieving time for the artist and her father. Her father, mostly “invisible” in the book, was leaving his Amsterdam apartment of thirty years because the building had been sold. He was downsizing and... Continue Reading →
Andrew Baer and Megan Moynihan — JOHN BAER The Extraordinary Ordinary: A Memoir in Photographs, 1945-1954
Review by Lee Halvorsen • Imagine sitting in an overstuffed chair, in a hushed, book-lined sanctuary, completely spellbound by a virtuoso storyteller spinning tales of love, war, resilience, post-war recovery in Europe and the canvas of artistic mid-century New York City. This wonderful collection of firsthand images of post-war transitions in Europe and Manhattan was... Continue Reading →
Rodrigo Gaya Villar — Vochos Unidos
Review by Lee Halvorsen • This delightful photographic journey through parts of Mexico is a fun, heartfelt connection to the culture and the car that brings them together. That car, an icon of their national identity, imagination, and energy, is the Volkswagen Bug, The Beetle, and, in Mexico Los Vochos! Villar moved to Mexico in 2016 with... Continue Reading →
Alejandro Morales – El Retrato De Tu Ausencia (Portrait of Your Absence)
Review by Hans Hickerson · I recently read someone’s comment that there are two kinds of photobooks, art books and story books. A possible third category could be concept books. El Retrato De Tu Ausencia is definitely based on a concept, an approach, an original idea. The author, Alejandro “Luperca” Morales, rephotographed Ciudad Jaurez newspaper... Continue Reading →
Amanda Sauer – Giant Willow Oak
Review by Brian F. O’Neill · The range of the willow oak tree species includes New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the Washington, DC area of the United States. It also extends to Florida and Texas. The species (Quercus phello) is most often found in environments where there is some year-round moisture. As it is a deciduous tree,... Continue Reading →
Nathaniel Tetsuro Paolinelli — Seventh and Central, New Mexico Lowriders
Review by Lee Halvorsen • Paolinelli’s powerful images immerse us in the artistry, mechanics, family, faith and community of Albuquerque’s Lowriders. The images are intense, a brilliant mixture of color and black and white bringing each page alive while blending perfectly into a single, heartfelt story. Many of the images are captioned with names and places... Continue Reading →
Marcy Tilton — Bonjour Paris
Review by Lee Halvorsen • As I paged through this book it was as if I’d wrapped myself in a flannel blanket of memories…soft colors, warm textures, familiarity, and comfort. Well, not my memories, but the memories of Tilton whose work often takes her to Paris. Over several trips she’s captured the emotions and feel... Continue Reading →
Shahria Sharmin — Call me Heena
Review by Lee Halvorsen • The images, the book as an object, the story, the people, and the artist weave, then blend together to create the soul of this incredible work of art. Shahria Sharmin spent a dozen years listening to and coming to know people in Bangladesh’s Hijra community. In the Afterword, Sharmin walks... Continue Reading →