Photobook Reviews, Episode 8 – by Kate Schultze
In the zine article we published a few months ago, we spoke about getting into photo books even though, for the most part, it is an expensive hobby. So I’ve attempted to compile a list of photobooks I picked up this year I wouldn’t wanna miss on my bookshelf. Some of them for under 20€, but definitely all of them under 40€. And I’ve even included some photo theory and also something in between that might save some peoples Christmas.
Until Death Do Us Part – Thomas Sauvin

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28 €
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Toilets a Go Go! – Hidefumi Nakamura

To Photograph Is To Learn How To Die – Tim Carpenter

This book was impossible to get hold of when it first came out two years ago. Luckily now it’s been reprinted and everyone can get a chance to read Tim Carpenters thoughts on the “essential usefulness of the practice of making photographs”. This is the first piece of photo theory I am recommending. In his book long essay he argues “photography is unique among the arts in its capacity for easing the fundamental ache of our mortality; for managing the breach that separates the self from all that is not the self; for enriching one’s sense of freedom and personhood; and for cultivating meaning in an otherwise meaningless reality”. This book was… I’m gonna use the word enlightening. So if you are stuck in a bit of a creative rut, or know someone who is, give this a read!
Hello Chaos, a Love Story – Charlie Engman

The second essay I am recommending is probably a little easier accessible. Neither just photo theory, nor a photo book, but something in between by one of my favourite photographic artists at the moment, Charlie Engman.
In Hello Chaos, a Love Story, Charlie Engman explores the contradictions of contemporary visual culture through a playful, genre-bending narrative. At its core is Kitty, a mute cartoon character on a doomed quest for the attention of her estranged counterpart, Mickey. Amid the chaos of imagery, technology, and mass production, Engman examines the raw vulnerability of seeing and being seen. Illustrated with original and found images, the book offers a striking commentary on the complexities of perception in the modern world.
Still Life of Teenagers – Barbara Marstrand

Near 2.143 McDonald’s via Google Street View Looking Elsewhere – Yasmin Masri

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30€
Looking At My Brother – Julian Slagman
