copyright Kendall Messick 2010 published by Princeton Architectual Press Over a period of years Kendall Messick employed a documentary style to photograph the life of a retired movie projectionist; Gordon Brinckle (1915 – 2007). This is also an investigation into personal identity, when one becomes so consumed with their profession work, that they re-create a similar workplace at home.... Continue Reading →
Andy Freeberg – Guardians
Copyright Andy Freeberg 2009 published by photolucida This is an investigation about women who are docents and guardians of artworks, whose job is to provide mute testimony as to the importance of the adjacent art works. There is universality to this project in which the actual location, even thought these art museums are located the... Continue Reading →
Nina Poppe – ama
Copyright Nina Poppe 2011 published by Kehrer Verlag Nina Poppe spent time on the coast of Japan investigating the commercial work of Japanese women who “free dive” in the pursuit of abalone, a type of sea-snail. These abalone hunters, known as “ama-san”, the majority of which are women, typify an aging Japanese profession. They dive... Continue Reading →
Lina Pallotta – Piedras Negras
Copyright Lina Pallotta 1999 self-published Piedras Negras (Black Stone) is a Mexican border town situated adjacent to Texas and Southwest of San Antonio. Similar to other border towns, Piedras Negras has an economic zone called a maquiladoras, where manufacturing operations are performed for U.S. companies. The Maquiladoras exist to take advantage of the lower wages paid to Mexican workers... Continue Reading →
Marco Delogu – I Trenta Assassini – The Thirty Assassins
Copyright Marco Delogu 2000 published by Punctum Press The subject of Marco Delogu’s photobook The Thirty Assassins are the jockeys who have participated in of the bi-annual horse race in Sienna, called the Palio. The introduction provides the back story that this horse race, ridden bare back, is a throwback contest to an earlier age... Continue Reading →
Rania Matar – A Girl in Her Room
Copyright Rania Matar 2012 published by Umbrage Editions What began as a personal investigation by Rania Matar to understand her own daughter by serendipity became a broader investigation of a young girl’s transition through adolescence to womanhood. This transitional period is marked by discovery and introspection, effort and work that her subjects undertake in an... Continue Reading →
Pierre Bessard – Behind China’s Growth
Photographs copyright Pierre Bessard 2007 published by TimeZone 8 China’s spectacular industrial growth has also created a massive need for industrial infrastructure; a key consumable commodity is their electrical power grid. Pierre Bessard was invited to photograph the industrial workers who toil away at producing some of the largest hydro-eclectic equipment in the world that... Continue Reading →
Darin Mickey – Stuff I Gotta Remember Not to Forget
Copyright Darin Mickey copyright 2007 published by J & L Books The concept behind Darin Mickey’s photobook is relatively straightforward, in 2001 he began following his father around, documenting his life at work and at home. This photobook has developed into a desire by the photographer to understand what his father did as a salesman... Continue Reading →
Andreas Oetker-Kast – manpower
Copyright Andreas Oetker-Kast 2008 self-published Andreas Oetker-Kast embarked on what I think is a difficult journey, even thought he did not have to venture too far to find his subject, to try to investigate the essence of those who work as found within the boundaries of their workplace. In doing so, he was granted access... Continue Reading →
FotoGrafia di Roma XI: Work – PhotoBook Exhibition
photographs copyright of photographers and publishers FOTOGRAFIA Festival Internazionale di Roma XI Edition: Work The theme of Work for XI FotoGrafia di Roma is complex and multi-faceted subject, which I attempted to broadly explore in my selection of contemporary PhotoBooks for this exhibition. This theme is also ambiguous and illusive, which can be as much about one does... Continue Reading →