The Contemporary Photobook Magazine
Review by Steve Harp · Gail Rebhan’s About Time, subtitled Four Decades of Photographic Series, is a catalog of a retrospective exhibition at the American University Museum in Washington D.C., on view in early Spring, 2023. Photography is often defined (given the etymology of the word itself) as writing with light. But Rebhan’s work poses the question of whether... Continue Reading →
Review by Rudy Vega • When one begins as a prolific photographer and embarks on creating a visual memoir spanning three generations of family, the outcome could very well be Jim Goldberg's Coming and Going. Indeed, it is. The work is also a scrapbook of unvarnished life, with raw documents presented candidly. Thousands of shutter... Continue Reading →
Review by Melanie Chapman • What a piece of work is man, how ignoble in reason. Consider this quote: “Children and civilians need not die in war. And parents should not have to hold the hands of their dead children, killed by criminals.” If you have a pulse and have been near any form of... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • Sometimes it is refreshing to see a top photographer's first photographic project that has not previously been published. Recently I reviewed Roger Ballen’s reissue of his first documentary project, boyhood, and noted that it showed many instances of the promise that was later expanded and realized in many different ways.... Continue Reading →
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 →
