German native and Hackney inhabitant, Freya Najade has spent the last eight years exploring the landscape of East London’s canals. These manmade waterways have seen the city endure, change and shift over the centuries, but all the while they have remained a …
How many times have you shouted at a politician on the television? How many times have you heard them repeat the same inane, lamentable sound-bite contrary to the argument at hand? The politician is a creature apart: they claim altruistic …
The work of German photographer Alexander Binder has been getting better in recent years. It has steadily moved forward from the graphic works that were more suited to obscure heavy metal album artwork, and have evolved into something that now …
Those of us who have lost a loved one, or have found ourselves estranged from a family member such as a parent will find the subject of Mariela Sancari‘s latest photobook Moisés (published by La Fabrica) familiar and sympathetic. Having lost …
As an adolescent boy, enraptured by hormonal romanticism and never-ending erections brought on at the slightest suggestion, the fantasy world of sexual maturity seemed like an impossibility. Adolescent boys struggle with an aggressively visceral reaction to the visual world; they …
They say one should write about what one knows, has experienced in real life; and so it is with Coco Young, a former fashion model and artist’s muse who has swapped the catwalk for Art History and launched her career …
When my girlfriend first showed me pictures from Jenny Lewis’ One Day Young project my initial reaction was one of rejection. In a split second I rejected the portraits of mothers holding their newborn infants, within twenty-four hours after giving …
It would be wrong to say that 2041, published by Here Press and Lewis Chaplin (formerly of Fourteen-Nineteen, now of Loose Joints) is odd. In fact the book is quite sensible, sedate even. With the exceptions of some occasional fold …
It seems appropriate that German photographer Diane Vincent has produced a book such as Oben. Growing up in East Germany, and first attending a school specializing in music, the monochromatic images that form the series both reflect the greyness of …
American photographer John Gossage is usually someone whose name appears, or is quoted, in the history of photobooks for good reason. Long before the photobook became photography’s equivalent to the hipster’s beard, he had produced publications credited by many as …
‘I’m nowhere else Than here Where the grass pulls away In between the trees Through the woods, This narrow path, Hardly more than animal tracks, Hardly more than a slight change of colour, A lighter shade of pale’ The title …
The Hello Kitty character isn’t a cat. It’s an apple pie loving British third-grade school girl called Kitty White, her parents are George and Mary White, and she lives just outside London. Did you know that? She does in fact …
Most photographers and just about anyone who makes photobooks today will at some point reference Ed Ruscha’s 1963 book production Twentysix Gasoline Stations. The majority will have never held a copy in their hand or have even seen it in reality. …
The global political system that prevails today is as self-interested as it was during the Cold War, which is why Russia for example behaves today as it did back in the 1960’s when it was under Soviet rule. Though the …
5 Favourites from Dummy Award 2014 The 48 entries that make up this year’s International Photobook Dummy Award from Fotobook Festival Kassel are as varied in size and subject as ever. It’s a great resource for those interested in photobooks …
Standing in Dublin’s renowned queer bar, The George, on Pride weekend, watching a drag show competition with beer in hand, the girl I was dating asked me “Do you feel uncomfortable here?” I took a drink, looked her in the …
When the April blue sky turned grey and rain began to fall in Manchester it didn’t really matter anymore, we were off to the opening party for Seba Kurtis and his latest body of work Kif exhibiting at Manchester Photographic. …
Olmo Gonzalez Moriana: The Shockwaves of Love A supernova, like many phenomena in physics, is cyclical. The larger the star, the faster it consumes its energy and so the shorter its lifespan. The biggest and brightest stars will live fast …
Maciej Pestka: Chasing The Gangnam Ghost On first encountering The Life of Psy by Maciej Pestka, there were some reservations about its ability to move beyond a standard editorial photo story about an unofficial look-a-like of South Korean pop star …
Sometimes when a curator brings a group of artists together for a themed show the theme itself can be so specific there is a danger of losing connection with the viewing public. This is most common when a show is …
Maurice van Es: A Successful Portfolio Review Following our recent media partnership with the Portfolio Review 2014 (Düsseldorf Photo Weekend), our attention was drawn to the work of Maurice van Es, a Dutch photographer and recent graduate of the Royal …
Alberto Feijoo: Mosh Pit Memories and Teenage Kicks Alberto Feijóo’s book project Something We Used To Know is the last in our unintended series of Spanish Photographers Who Impressed at the PhotoIreland 2013 Portfolio Reviews in Dublin. The photobook Feijóo …
Jason Lazarus: Contemplating Nirvana and Other Stories “You dickhead…hahahaha!” That is what I actually said – aloud – while reading Nirvana by American artist Jason Lazarus, and published by London-based Here Press. It was in response to a ridiculous love-lorn story …
Having first encountered Gustavo Alemán’s project (No) Soy De Aquí, or, I Am (Not) From Here in English, during the portfolio reviews at PhotoIreland Festival 2013, it was clear this work possessed a number of recognisable characteristics of modern Spanish …
Aglu Books: Pocket Sized Inspiration When we talk about photobooks these days we generally talk about two main strands – the self-published book and the small independent publisher. Both of these strands are now incredibly popular and stand up quite …
Dan Holdsworth: The View From On High Dan Holdsworth’s book Blackout, much like the work itself, is a deceptive thing. The more you look at it, the more you know visually, yet doubt all the same. You doubt your eyes, the …
Paolo Woods: In A State Of Their Own Since 2010, Paolo Woods has worked on his long-term project STATE, set in Haiti where he resides. Living and working in this dilapidated country has given Woods not only a sense of the culture …
Variety Of Reason: Dummy Award 2013 It’s a difficult task to try and summarise the 55 shortlisted books for the 6th International Fotobook Festival’s Dummy Award. The collection of photobooks was recently displayed at PhotoIreland Festival, in Dublin city, the …
With respect to Cristina De Middel, there will be no mention of the ‘A’ word in this review of her latest book, published by Self Publish Be Happy as part of their ongoing Book Club series (the previous installments were …
Filipe Casaca: China, In Blue Filipe Casaca’s photobook Blue Mud Swamp opens with a line from the Book of Revelation: ‘Come and see.’ And I looked, and behold the pale horse, and he that sat on him was dead. The …
Welmer Keesmaat: The Classical Modern He Who Wants Fire Must Be Able To Bear Smoke by Dutch photographer and graphic designer Welmer Keesmaat (who is also the founding editor of Yvi art magazine) represents his knowledge of where contemporary photography is …
The series In Search of the Crying Lady from IPG Project (Yoshi and Tamara Kametani) does something different to other photography projects which set out to document or uncover the lives of the “professional mourner” which were, or indeed still are common to communities …
Leonie Hampton: Where The Heart Is Sometimes the world must turn upside down A mother becomes a daughter becomes a mother Léonie Hampton‘s sensitive and openly honest project In The Shadow of Things explores her family’s acceptance of her mother’s …
Yaniv Waissa: On History’s Dusty Wings SMBHmag contributor/exhibitor Yaniv Waissa has recently self-published a book titled Butterflies I Haven’t Seen There. A long time in the making, it is a personal (his)story that combines the very precise nature of his …
Scot Sothern: Lowlife Comes To London Scot Sothern is an American photographer who made portraits of drug-addled prostitutes throughout California during the 1980’s and 90’s. The resulting body of work, LOWLIFE, was picked up and exhibited by drkrm Gallery (Los …