The Contemporary Photobook Magazine
Reviewed by Steve Harp • North Korea, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) seems in many ways as distant and inaccessible – to Americans, at least – as the moon. And like the moon, I have long had a kind of ambivalent desire to experience it first-hand. A desire, that is, as long as it is unlikely. Should... Continue Reading →
Review by Wayne Swanson • Colorado may be known as a land of snow-capped peaks, ski slopes, and the mystique of a certain bland beer brewed with pure Rocky Mountain spring water. But that’s just the half of it. Head east from Denver, and you enter another world. A flat, semi-arid world. A world of dust. ... Continue Reading →
Welcome to our 32nd Issue • As the month of November draws to a close, we begin our holiday season with the start of Hanukkah and our staff picks for our list of "Interesting Artist and PhotoBooks for 2021." I think that this list is diverse as ever and it is not meant to be the "Best" photobooks for the year (although many... Continue Reading →
How quickly this past year went by! And here we are, presenting you with our list of interesting books for 2021. 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... Continue Reading →
Review by Douglas Stockdale • During a pandemic, during the worst of the chaos and angst, many of us must have found themselves reflecting on the past framed by the current moment. Sal Taylor Kydd in her latest poetic narrative, Yesterday, appears to pose an intriguing question, when might today start to resemble yesterday? This body of... Continue Reading →
Review by Steve Harp • When I was younger and traveled more frequently, some of my favorite places to photograph in foreign countries were grocery stores. The items on the shelves - daily staples of life - were recognizable but different: packaging, the numbering units for pricing and size, the product names. They were uncanny in the sense... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • This large and colorful collection of images represents a fruitful intersection of fashion photography and fine art. Tim Walker is a joyful interpreter of contemporary culture; he intensifies interpretations of reality with surrealistic elements inspired by folklore and a creative and vivid imagination, resulting in a collection of scenes that... Continue Reading →
Review by Douglas Stockdale • Stacy Mehrfar’s dark book, The Moon Belongs to Everyone, recently published by GOST Books is unsettlingly, and I believe deservedly so. Even the book’s title is a bit vexing, a generalization for all mankind but hints at moonlight and things that might go bump in the night. That night with its limited visibility... Continue Reading →
Review by Wayne Swanson • We all know Cuba as that land of classic but disintegrating American cars, Fidel Castro, cigar-making and smoking, the evils of communism, classic but crumbling architecture, and béisbol. Yet all of these stereotypes are centered on the nation’s few urban centers. In reality, 85% of Cuba is rural. “Cuba was from its dawn... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • Spending time with this photobook has some consequences, in spite of the title, which is probably somewhat facetious. What is street photography? What are the implications of observing a photographer’s street observations? And perhaps even more important, what is the photographer’s intent, and what is the viewer’s response to all... Continue Reading →
PhotoBook Journal 