The Contemporary Photobook Magazine
Review by Melanie Chapman · In this social media saturated era we live in, it seems impossible to escape the vertical visual plague that is filter-enhanced influencers posing and pouting for selfies. Thus, it is a genuinely wonder-filled experience to be in the presence of another fine publication of Belgian photographer Harry Gruyaert’s sublime images.... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • The work of Anastasia Samoylova, as shown in this first photobook retrospective and also in an exhibition at the NYC Metropolitan Museum of Art (through May 11, 2025) was a delightful discovery for me. Not only does she create landscapes and other scapes that have meaning and a certain timelessness,... Continue Reading →
Review by Hans Hickerson · The photographs in Dana Stirling’s Why Am I Sad were taken in ten different states across the U.S., but they are not about the places they were taken. They are about the feelings of the photographer and her reaction to what she saw and her photographs document and catalogue moments... Continue Reading →
We are very pleased that six reviews dealing with photography and resistance are featured as a part of Ann Mitchell’s Winter Showcase, THINKING ABOUT PHOTOGRAPHY, just published: https://www.thinkingaboutphotography.com/photobook-resistance Mitchell writes, "the photographers in this showcase are giving voice to those who have been silenced. They celebrate lives and cultures that persist despite outside forces to... Continue Reading →
Review by Hans Hickerson • Photography is a surprising medium. You think that everything has been done already, that you have seen it all, and – surprise – along comes something original. Who knew? Maybe it has been done before, but Adam Thorman’s photobook Creatures Found was a new one for me. What Thorman has... Continue Reading →
Review by Hans Hickerson • Some photobooks document social, political, and cultural projects photographers undertake in their desire to do something beneficial and worthwhile, and the process and structure involved in such projects can in turn organize and shape the work of the photographer. French photographer Céline Levain was involved with female prisoners in two... Continue Reading →
Review by Hans Hickerson • Part of the fun of reviewing photobooks is getting under the hood and taking a book apart to see what makes it work. Sergey Bykov’s photobook After Us is a good candidate for a closer look, as it resists easy analysis. Or rather there is an obvious reading but then... Continue Reading →
By Hans Hickerson • [Editor’s Note: These interviews are an interesting look at the history and wherewithal of this event, and accompany the report and visual essay we published a few days ago.] Paris, November 10, 2024 Sebastian Hau Hans Hickerson: So, can you tell a little bit about the history of Polycopies and how... Continue Reading →
Report and Visual Essay by Hans Hickerson • Polycopies started as a small popup photobook sales event with a few vendors in 2014. It has grown and today includes prizes, speakers, workshops, and focused programs. It was on a refreshingly more human scale than Paris Photo, but at peak hours it too could become a mosh... Continue Reading →
Review by Gerhard Clausing • All you have to do is watch “Gorilla Videos” on Facebook to recognize that some animals are very similar to us. And that is not really a case of anthropomorphism, which can be defined as attributing human characteristics to other creatures. But assigning animals to a lower class and denying... Continue Reading →
PhotoBook Journal 