Jamel Shabazz belongs to that category of photographers who are observers and participants of the culture they document. His books represent a kind of visual diary, except that, unlike most diaries, they have become public history. Shabazz’s methodology can be described as one of accumulation, often over decades, resulting in image archives that construct a […]
Over the years, I have frequently heard the opinion that Mark Cohen’s work is for the initiated, his unconventional framing being an acquired taste more likely agreeable to those familiar with the history and conventions of street photography. While prior knowledge of any subject certainly deepens one’s appreciation, it can also lead to a perfectionist […]
While using public transportation is very different depending on where you are in the world, it tends to be a banal experience that we often literally sleep through – if it’s safe enough to do so – or one we want to put behind us as soon as we arrive at our destination when the service is […]
It’s not often necessary to begin a review describing the book’s design, but in the case of Bharat Sikka’s AND THEN, knowing that every spread has a generous red margin becomes critical, as this influences our perception of the pictures. I believe it’s impossible, in other words, to remain unaffected by this redness, a high-stakes […]
Adam Thorman’s new photobook Creatures Found is a playful inquiry into the concept of pareidolia, the common perceptual phenomenon that triggers the identification of faces on inanimate objects and surfaces. In this interview with Arturo Soto, Thorman discusses his creative process, detailing how the work developed over several years and reflecting on the challenges of […]
Charlie Simokaitis’ The Crisis Tapes opens with an image of a teenage girl. Her glasses have slid down her nose enough for the rim to align with her shut eyelids. Something is unsettling about her pose, as if the fact that our eyes don’t meet hers was somehow associated with her capacity to see. The […]
The life of the German critic and philosopher Walter Benjamin has one of those tragic endings that lingers on the mind, with his last days, in particular, still the subject of debate. However, Benjamin’s relevance in contemporary culture transcends his complicated biography, resting firmly on the quality of a corpus of writing that includes influential […]
There is a moment in Jonathan Franzen’s novel Crossroads (2021) where a middle-aged woman who was hospitalized in her youth after a psychotic episode suspects that her teenage son might suffer the same fate. In a poignant scene, she struggles to talk to him about her past and how anxious she feels about the possibility […]
How much should a photographer’s style define the documentation of their subjects? Inspired by religious painting, theater, and film, Lúa Ribeira’s first photobook depicts people in the margins, a fuzzy category that, in this case, includes economic migrants, religious communities, residents of special needs institutions, and those living and working on the streets. Subida al […]
I’m often put off by the cliquey culture around Japanese photobooks, but there was something hypnotizing about the cover picture in Toshio Shibata’s Day for Night of hundreds of stacked Pepsi Cola crates illuminated by the fervent light of dusk. Simply put, it made me want to see more, which is as good a job as a […]