The Contemporary Photobook Magazine
Review by Douglas Stockdale • The book cover for Christian Kasners recently released photographic book, Woodward, has an interesting graphic design, printed full bleed. The repetitive pattern stirs the memory until it is apparent that this is a tire tread pattern, a subtext for the location of Kasners photo-documentary of Woodward Avenue, one of the main urban... Continue Reading →
Review by Matt Schneider · The Grift begins with a short piece of reflective commentary by photographer Andrew Kochanowski. Here, he playfully describes something of a circus meets pyramid scheme. Crowds chanting now familiar phrases like, “Lock her up!” and “Build the wall!” Recurring bits about “Hoaxes, taxes, a grievance extravaganza.” Celebrity appearances from American politicians, the... Continue Reading →
Review by Douglas Stockdale • While preparing this book review of Regina Anzenberger’s family album titled Under the Apple Tree, I was reminded of the stilted circumstance of taking family pictures while photographing my own family after an Easter Egg hunt. Capturing a family event for ‘posterity’ when attempting to photography ‘candid’ moments of individuals who are... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • To cover more than 70 years of history and the accompanying photographic styles and to make an interesting photobook out of it requires quite a bit of talent. Gerry Badger, with all his editorial and curatorial background, is the one that can accomplish such a gargantuan task; he presents all... Continue Reading →
Review by Brian F. O’Neill • Bron is the first monograph by photographer Zindzi Zwietering (Netherlands), released in 2022 by Dutch publisher The Eriskay Connection, who have been releasing wonderfully designed and thought-provoking books across the course of their catalogue. This publisher has been a model of using the book form to open new possibilities between... Continue Reading →
Review by Melanie Chapman · Camera, Color, Cacophony, Collage: the Magic of Discovery through Harry Gruyaert’s eyes. Between Worlds, the newest (and one of the best) Thames and Hudson publication(s) of Harry Gruyaert’s photography, is an impressive showcase for his well-earned reputation as a master colorist and confirms Gruyaert’s gift for creating beautiful visual puzzles. Throughout... Continue Reading →
Review by Wayne Swanson • In 1955, a 14-year-old Black youth from Chicago, visiting relatives in the South, walked into Bryant’s Grocery Store in rural Money, Mississippi. Emmett Till wasn’t inside long, but he is said to have whistled at a white woman behind the counter. A few days later his body — beaten, shot, and... Continue Reading →
Review by Brian F. O’Neill · A Certain Logic of Expectations, published in 2021 with The Eriskay Connection is the second major book work from photographer Arturo Soto. The book is the result of a five-year odyssey in the city of Oxford, England. It contains 160 pages of 73 color images. The object itself is sized comfortably... Continue Reading →
Review by Wayne Swanson • Ben Brody understands the chaos, absurdity, and surrealism of war. He was a combat photographer covering the United States’ involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, which resulted in his acclaimed photobook Attention Servicemember (reviewed here). His new book is an epilogue to that one, and a fitting way to sum up United States’ ill begotten... Continue Reading →
Review by Douglas Stockdale · Just like with marriage, our kids do not arrive with user’s manual. It also seems, from my own experience, that the older our children become, the more out of (our) control that they seem to evolve. Which in turn, can be crazy making for both the parents as well as the... Continue Reading →
PhotoBook Journal 