Review by Gerhard Clausing • Ah, the vagaries of time ... and yet, in all of that there is something of enduring value – friendship, the comfort of having kindred spirits. Rick Schatzberg and all the participants have created a unique photobook that has time and bonding as its central themes and that succeeds in... Continue Reading →
Zhou HanShun – Frenetic City
Review by Douglas Stockdale • Living in a large urban city can be an intense experience. The constant crush of humanity at times a little bit overwhelming, while trying to find some personal space may be slightly vexing. Perhaps this is more of the view point of someone who finds themselves immersed in this sea... Continue Reading →
Patrick O’Hare – Evanescent Cities
Review by Paul Anderson • In a very curious way, photographs can be magical. Photographs, as is well known, capture three-dimensional scenes as frozen moments in time. This action instantly transforms a scene into a new context. Sometimes, that transformation provides a contemplative experience. A skilled photographer can transform an everyday scene that, say, a New... Continue Reading →
Nobuyoshi Araki and Juergen Teller – Leben und Tod (Life and Death)
Review by Gerhard Clausing • Mutual admiration between two photographers can be extraordinary, especially when it stimulates new work and when it happens across cultures. Even more important, this universal theme of life and death leaves no one untouched. Nobuyoshi Araki had seen Juergen Teller’s project Leben und Tod including pictures of his grieving mother... Continue Reading →
Michael Behlen – Searching for Stillness Vol II
Review by Steve Harp • Searching for Stillness Vol II is Michael Behlen’s 2019 follow-up to his 2013 Searching for Stillness Vol I. Volume II is a delightful object which challenges the notion of what might be meant by photobook. In fact, it might be better described as a photobox. The book itself is a slim, perfect bound... Continue Reading →
Debi Cornwall – Necessary Fictions
Review by Wayne Swanson • From the first images, it’s obvious that this is a book of photographs from the war-torn Middle East. Iraq perhaps, or maybe Afghanistan. It’s hard to tell. But the desert settings, harsh desert light, and stark desert compounds make the location clear. Except that it’s not. The setting is actually... Continue Reading →
Agnieszka Sejud – Hoax
Review by Gerhard Clausing • When reality is presented as a hoax and made-up stories are flooding social media to substitute for reality, what do we have left to treasure as our actuality? When writers who question the government are attacked as enemies of the people, does the definition of ‘friends’ get altered to include... Continue Reading →
PhotoBook Journal – Issue 19
Welcome to our 19th Issue •We have a another broad selection of photobook reviews this past month for your continuing consideration; social commentaries, urban landscape studies, environmental call to action and narratives about life, while we also found ourselves going to the dogs this month.Meanwhile, the Covid-19 pandemic is getting worse and we hope for a new American... Continue Reading →
Lukasz Rusznica – Subterranean River
Review by Douglas Stockdale • What might occur when one decides to investigate something very foreign that is additionally complicated by the fact it is also an unseen entity? The Polish photographer Lukasz Rusznica took on this slightly impossible task when he ventured to Japan with the hope of revealing the spirit of kami, the Japanese... Continue Reading →
Karola Jansen – Un Natural Species
Review by Douglas Stockdale • Ubiquitous. The use of plastic is everywhere and has become a classic double-edged sword. Its properties enable food and beverages to last longer, while its inherent chemical structure allow it to last almost forever. While many plastics can be recycled, getting the used plastic containers to the proper destinations for... Continue Reading →