The Contemporary Photobook Magazine
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 • …pictures have an uncanny ability of suggesting that there is another world…They represent a sense of otherness. The figures in photographs have been muted, and they stare out at you as if they are asking for a chance to say something. - W.G. Sebald The concept of the “uncanny,” which Sigmund Freud... Continue Reading →
Review by Douglas Stockdale • Katherine Longly and Cécile Hupin have created a conceptual photojournalistic project; a series of interviews, quotes, screen grabs and reuse of photographs, repurposed to create a narrative that asks the question: If money cannot buy happiness, what drives people to participate in a lottery? The book is design and sequenced in... Continue Reading →
Review by Douglas Stockdale • Whose land is it? This is probably the underlying question for Lana Z Caplan’s photodocumentary project of an expansive region of coastal California, which also represents a broader question for all of North America and the world beyond. Her specific subject is an area generally identified as Oceano, located on the... Continue Reading →
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 →
Yet another year has gone by, and while the world peace we were hoping for is still further away than it was a year ago, it is nevertheless time for us to present you with our new list of interesting photobooks for the past year. Our selections feature intriguing photographic content, brilliant project concepts, and... Continue Reading →
PhotoBook Journal 