The Contemporary Photobook Magazine
Review by Hans Hickerson · A zine before there were zines, Lewis Baltz’ Nevada is also a print portfolio of the book’s 15 photographs. It was published in 1978 by Baltz’ gallery, Castelli Graphics, and was presumably intended as a marketing tool for the 600 8” X 10” prints that Baltz produced for the project... Continue Reading →
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 Hans Hickerson ∙ No, A Visit With Magritte has not been re-released. It was last published in 2010 by Steidl and my copy is the Matrix edition from 1981. I wanted to review it because I wondered if other photobook fans are aware of it and because it was such a revelation to... Continue Reading →
Review by Hans Hickerson ∙ Sap in Their Veins offers portraits of loggers as well as their personal narratives. Photographer David Paul Bayles was able to document loggers as an insider, as he himself spent four seasons working in the woods with logging crews. Looking at and reading the book we develop a better understanding... 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 · Ismail Ferdous’ Sea Beach echoes Martin Parr’s seaside photographs. Both photographers have an alert eye for human forms and foibles, zeroing in and isolating telling details, with Ferdous favoring more straight-on views and Parr wittier, busier compositions. But you will never imagine you are looking at a Martin Parr book... Continue Reading →
Review by Hans Hickerson · Looking at photobooks from well-established publishers can be disappointing. You often see safe editorial choices – large formats, cloth covers, premium printing, bankable names, portfolios laid out one picture to a spread and surrounded by expanses of white paper, and not much in the way of innovative form or content.... 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 Steve Harp · Frank Rodick’s monograph, The Moons of Saturn, has been sitting before me on my desk for quite some time (I will not embarrass myself by revealing just how long) – a testament to its unsettling yet spellbinding mystery. In looking through it, I am reminded of W.G. Sebald’s novel, The Emigrants, the sense of disintegration in these images... Continue Reading →
PhotoBook Journal 