The Contemporary Photobook Magazine
Review by Steve Harp · In 1975 Martha Rosler exhibited a group of 24 diptychs titled “The Bowery in Two Inadequate Descriptive Systems.” The work juxtaposes banal images (think of Ed Ruscha’s gasoline stations) of rundown facades in New York’s Bowery district with text panels listing euphemisms for inebriated states (“blind drunk,” “dead drunk,” “embalmed,” “buried,” “gone”). The... Continue Reading →
Review by Hans Hickerson ∙ Sap in Their Veins offers portraits of loggers as well as their personal narratives. Photographer David Paul Bayles was able to document loggers as an insider, as he himself spent four seasons working in the woods with logging crews. Looking at and reading the book we develop a better understanding... Continue Reading →
Review by Hans Hickerson · The photographs in Dana Stirling’s Why Am I Sad were taken in ten different states across the U.S., but they are not about the places they were taken. They are about the feelings of the photographer and her reaction to what she saw and her photographs document and catalogue moments... Continue Reading →
We are very pleased that six reviews dealing with photography and resistance are featured as a part of Ann Mitchell’s Winter Showcase, THINKING ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY, just published: https://www.thinkingaboutphotography.com/photobook-resistance Mitchell writes, "the photographers in this showcase are giving voice to those who have been silenced. They celebrate lives and cultures that persist despite outside forces to... Continue Reading →
Review by Hans Hickerson · Ismail Ferdous’ Sea Beach echoes Martin Parr’s seaside photographs. Both photographers have an alert eye for human forms and foibles, zeroing in and isolating telling details, with Ferdous favoring more straight-on views and Parr wittier, busier compositions. But you will never imagine you are looking at a Martin Parr book... Continue Reading →
Review by Hans Hickerson · Looking at photobooks from well-established publishers can be disappointing. You often see safe editorial choices – large formats, cloth covers, premium printing, bankable names, portfolios laid out one picture to a spread and surrounded by expanses of white paper, and not much in the way of innovative form or content.... Continue Reading →
Review by Rudy Vega · Andrew Ward’s Sofas, Los Angeles is more than just a photobook—it’s a witty, poignant, and visually rich love letter to Los Angeles, told through the discarded sofas that populate its streets. This cloth-bound volume spans 280 pages, of which 260 are devoted to lush, color photographs, and with each plate... Continue Reading →
Review by Rudy Vega • Between June 1972 and July 1973, Japanese street photographer Daido Moriyama produced the first five issues of his own magazine Kiroku (Record). In 2008, Moriyama resumed publication of Record with issue 6, and in 2017, Japanese cultural specialist Mark Holborn edited the first thirty issues of the photographer’s personal publication... Continue Reading →
Due to the immense number of new photobook publications, we felt the need to change how we accept book submissions. We are now asking you (Artist, Author, Photographer, Publisher, Publicist) to submit your photobook submission request directly to a book reviewer who is most aligned with your publication. Please submit to only one reviewer, otherwise... Continue Reading →
Review by Hans Hickerson • Photography is a surprising medium. You think that everything has been done already, that you have seen it all, and – surprise – along comes something original. Who knew? Maybe it has been done before, but Adam Thorman’s photobook Creatures Found was a new one for me. What Thorman has... Continue Reading →
PhotoBook Journal 