Although we are already half-way through this Holiday, it is still not too late to be wishing you all the very best and Season's Greetings from our book-reviewing family to yours! Cheers & Enjoy good tidings! Paul, Alaina, Debe, Melanie, Gerry, Deborah, Kristin, Madhu, Steve, Rudy, Jonas, Wayne and Doug
Sage Sohier – Peaceable Kingdom
Review by Gerhard Clausing • There can be no doubt that our relationship with other creatures, the “animals,” is in need of improvement, and when optimal, gives great joy and a calm feeling to all participants. Even though many have seen such creature parallels before, such as Winogrand in The Animals, similarities and shared emotions... Continue Reading →
Florian Bachmeier – In Limbo
Review by Gerhard Clausing • Uncertainty and anxiety mark the life of the people of Ukraine, especially these days. Getting international attention, it is a crucial moment in the progress of a country that has been through so much already. The suspense is evident and well caught in the images in this project by Florian... Continue Reading →
SameSource – Underside
Review by Gerhard Clausing • The swimming pool of a Mid-Century Modern Southern California home in Palm Springs, designed by a renowned architect, seems like the perfect spot and a fitting context for continuing one’s artistic studies of the human figure. The surroundings lend themselves to imagining a more carefree leisure time. Thus the artist... Continue Reading →
Tim Walker – Story Teller
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 →
Roger Bruhn – Pictures of No Consequence
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 →
Karen Marshall – Between Girls
Review by Gerhard Clausing • Lucky are those who have a group of friends from their childhood that they can still count on way into their later years as adults. And they are even more fortunate if they have a talented photographer whose astute observations keep track of things over all that time. Naturally, such... Continue Reading →
FOTODOK – Pass It On, Private Stories, Public Histories
Review by Douglas Stockdale • This photobook is an interesting unbound catalog as a follow-up of the exhibition of the same name that occurred at FOTODOK, Utrecht, Netherlands, from November 2020 through February 2021. An exhibition that became more complicated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This publication also calls into question as to what is an... Continue Reading →
Roger Bruhn – Nothing To See Here
Review by Gerhard Clausing • Photography is at its best when it arouses the viewer’s imagination. What, when, where, why – are the questions that can be of foremost concern when we, the viewers, are rattled into participatory looking and are projecting ourselves into images that are presented to us by someone else. Particularly during... Continue Reading →
Rich-Joseph Facun – Black Diamonds
Review by Gerhard Clausing • I once wrote an essay comparing learning a new language being similar to moving to a new town, a journey to get to know some new paths to achieving reasonable goals. As an outsider coming to a new place, there is always much to learn and take in, and to... Continue Reading →