The Contemporary Photobook Magazine
Review by Paul Anderson • In 1971, singer-songwriter Steve Goodman penned the song “City of New Orleans,” which poetically captures a ride on the Illinois Central Railroad southbound out of Chicago. Wrapped up in the lyrics are images of Americana and the local landscape as the train “Rolls along past houses, farms and fields.” Much... Continue Reading →
Review by Paul Anderson • In 1971, singer-songwriter Steve Goodman penned the song “City of New Orleans,” which poetically captures a ride on the Illinois Central Railroad southbound out of Chicago. Wrapped up in the lyrics are images of Americana and the local landscape as the train “Rolls along past houses, farms and fields.” Much... Continue Reading →
Review by Hans Hickerson · As a rule of thumb, photobooks are interesting in inverse proportion to the amount of white space surrounding the photographs. The more white space – the more the photos adhere to a fine print aesthetic – the more the book typically functions as a themed album and the less it... Continue Reading →
Review by Hans Hickerson · In Passenger photographer Rian Dundon offers a master class in high-impact mayhem as he assembles an edgy, take-no-prisoners, in-your-face collection of visual facts that riffs on people, places, forms, and feelings, including a generous serving of spleen. Dundon is a passenger both literally and figuratively. He takes us with him... Continue Reading →
Review by Rudy Vega · Puking Rainbows, Past and Future is a captivating collaborative project by Sean Lotman and his son Tennbo, blending the boundaries between photobook and artist book. Encased in a cardboard slipcover adorned with Sharpie doodles and Instax prints—featuring individual portraits of the duo on the front and back—each copy is a... Continue Reading →
Review by Hans Hickerson · If you have never been to a portfolio review and are curious, Both Sides of the Table: Photography Portfolio Do's and Don'ts will be your go-to resource for perspectives and information. It is chock full of useful ideas and advice. The book is organized into three main parts. Reviewees are... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • This artistic photobook gives you the impression of looking through a universal family album that encompasses more than your immediate surroundings. It gives you a look into the past that seems like an ambiguous societal cross section, a composite view with many personal nuances. Not only that, but photographs printed... Continue Reading →
Review by Lee Halvorsen · This photo book is delightful and fun…a trip back in time at the author’s side where we meet the author’s father, his mother and look through the eyes of a 22-year-old artist at the world around him. Hickerson brings to life 105 black & white images from 1978-1979…a significant time... Continue Reading →
Review by Hans Hickerson · Good things come in small packages. Grenades come in small packages too, and you can compare Richard Zybert’s 1981 photobook Notebook on Time to a small explosive charge. Notebook on Time is the story of Zybert coming to terms with his dysfunctional family and in particular with the legacy of... Continue Reading →
Review by Lee Halvorsen · The Black Box book is multimedia art…the book itself, the images, and the text. In the Afterword, Joanna Howard writes, “Black Box marries personal memoir with artistic retrospective of such a rich career.” The style of the book, the intimacy of the images, and the reality of the storyteller’s words... Continue Reading →
PhotoBook Journal 