The Contemporary Photobook Magazine
Review by Wayne Swanson • Densely packed multi-story apartment buildings are a fact of life in today’s crowded cities. Brazilian photographer Letícia Lampert cleverly explores the paradoxes of vertical living by taking a horizontal view in Conhecidos de Vista (Known by Sight). Lampert adopted the leporello (accordion-fold) book design to construct her own urban neighborhood from... Continue Reading →
Review by Wayne Swanson • Every city has one — that neighborhood “everybody” knows to stay away from. It’s too rough, or too hostile, or too unsafe, or just too different in some way or another. For Arnhem, a medium-sized Dutch city near the eastern border with Germany, that neighborhood is Rijnwijk. This insular 100-year-old... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • The occupation of land by a hostile foreign power is a phenomenon that seems to repeat itself, over and over, and thus it is an ever-present danger. In our time, the 20th century was not the end of such outrageous acts, as the occupation of the Crimean Peninsula, part of... Continue Reading →
Review by Wayne Swanson • Let us now praise Maria Thereza Alves. Over the past four decades, this Brazilian-born artist, social activist, and documentarian has established an international reputation as a champion for social justice. In 1983, however, she was just a 21-year-old junior studying photography at Cooper Union in New York City who decided... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • Abendlied (Evening Song) is a project that is very personal, yet has universal meaning. The concept seems simple: as we gradually take leave of our parents we have memories of events and feelings from long ago; things come back to remind us of what we experienced with them in the... Continue Reading →
Review by Melanie Chapman • “A magnum opus project spanning 14 years, UPSTATE GIRLS documents’ the troubles and triumphs of a group of friends and their extended families in upstate New York.” For many years now, I have indulged in two great passions. One is photography, the other is what I jokingly refer to as... Continue Reading →
Review by Wayne Swanson • It’s not easy to find Doug’s cabin. Or Doug himself, for that matter. Doug lives deep in the rainforest at the remote northwestern tip of Vancouver Island. He’s the proprietor of the San Josef Heritage Park and Campground, a grand name for a struggling collection of primitive campsites. He’s a... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • When you first look at the cover of this photobook, a number of unusual features immediately become apparent: The cloth binding is a glorious purple, the color of royal and religious accoutrements. The edges of the pages are graced with glorious gold-leaf, historically the mark of a very important book.... Continue Reading →
Review by Douglas Stockdale • Melissa Lazuka’s second self-published artist book Fly Away continues her narrative on the transient nature of her children’s life and her self-awareness that they are very quickly growing up, perhaps way too fast. It is a sequel to her brilliantly conceived artist book Song of the Cicadas that I reviewed... Continue Reading →
