The Contemporary Photobook Magazine
Review by Rudy Vega • Satoshi Hirano’s Reconstruction documents the large-scale redevelopment of Tokyo’s Shibuya station. Reconstruction is the culmination of a photography project Hirano pursued from 2014 to 2018. Portraying a nocturnal view, Hirano provides an insider’s look to the ongoing expansion of the station, offering the viewer access that would otherwise be difficult if not impossible... Continue Reading →
Review by Melanie Chapman • During these past few months of the pandemic, haven’t we each found ourselves staring out windows, looking for signs of life, and longing to travel near and far once again? Dotan Saguy’s newest work Nowhere to Go but Everywhere arrives at a perfect time. Even if the book’s title, taken from... Continue Reading →
Review by Wayne Swanson • This photobook is complete garbage. Garbage containers, garbage pickers, garbage. Even the front and back covers are garbage — recycled cardboard. Why garbage? Garbage is much more than just what we throw away. It’s a web of social, cultural, political, and economic considerations. The main interest of Henrik Malmström, a Finnish photographer... Continue Reading →
Review by Douglas Stockdale • A dream in which a deceased father speaks words of inspiration to his daughter, who, now inspired visits a snowy village in which her father was born and lived long ago in the north of Japan. Upon her arrival she is confronted by an ancient performance of Zaido, said to be... Continue Reading →
Review by Douglas Stockdale • On the eastern side of England was a vast marshland, a region known as the Fens, which was eventually conquered by a combination of technology and determined English will. Once properly drained, it became an abundantly fertile farmland - England’s extensive vegetable garden. This flat lowland does not easily endear... Continue Reading →
Review by Melanie Chapman • Let’s be honest, many of us are tired of the changes brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic. We want to travel again, to socialize with friends and move freely through crowded spaces. We want to feel less scared about the future, to care for our sick, and be able to... Continue Reading →
Review by Steve Harp • I have long found the images of Vera Lutter among the most challenging and thought-provoking in contemporary photography. Lutter’s work is that rare combination of visually beautiful (sublime would be a better word), conceptually challenging (“good to think with,” to use Claude Levi-Strauss’ phrase) and continually surprising (perhaps odd, given the... Continue Reading →
Review by Wayne Swanson • Planning a photobook and assembling all the images needed to tell your story is a process that can take years. Unless you’re Lukas Birk, who did it all in one day. Birk is an Austrian photographer, archivist, and publisher. He has travelled the world producing complex books and curatorial projects in... Continue Reading →
Review by Douglas Stockdale • What might imminent danger look like? Will something look so out of place or potentially evil that this might provide the necessary visual clues to warn us to become diligent, alert and stay cautious? Would there be something such as a dark stain on the land with something suspicious emanating... Continue Reading →
Review by Wayne Swanson • Ah, summer at the sea shore. Endless beaches and bronzing bodies in the sand. Resort hotels and cocktails with little umbrellas in them. Tourists everywhere, reveling in their escape from the day-to-day. Now consider off-season. Beaches and resort hotels empty, streets deserted, tourists banished to their day-to-day. Photographer Fabien Fourcaud explores... Continue Reading →
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