Photobook Roundup

The blog has been a little slow. Not that there's nothing going on - I've been scanning holiday negs like hell - but I just didn't seem to be able to settle down to write something. I notice my friend Marko has given a roundup on his blog of his newly acquired photobooks. Good idea. Let's do that too. 

I haven't been buying a lot of photobooks this year but over the summer things have gotten more interesting. I am trying to focus on small books, as this is what I like best. So here is a list of the really interesting stuff:

• Stephan Vanfleteren/"Flandrien": a small volume, measuring 14x14 cm. Vanfleteren published this in 2005, well before his impressive "Belgicum", and the book is now in its third printing. Despite its modest size, this study of Belgian cycling culture does not fail to impress. There's the typical Vanfleterian mix of tough, darkly etched, heroic portraits of cycling icons and poignant images of the popular culture surrounding this sportfest. The book has been designed by Studio Luc Derycke and, compared to "Belgicum", they did a better job here in mixing different formats into a coherent whole. (Despite my misgivings, "Belgicum" was awarded the Plantin-Moretus price this year for "best designed book"). 

• Photo Poche "Michel Vanden Eeckhoudt": a volume from the well-known series published by Actes Sud and curated by Robert Delpire. I am ashamed to admit that I didn't know Vanden Eeckhoudt, a Belgian photographer who lives in Paris. Another master of the decisive moment. His focus is on the surreal, comic but also poignant situations that emerge when the animal and the human worlds collide. There is some astonishing work in this book.

• André Kertesz/"The Early Years": marvelous little volume (13x13), published in 2005, that shows the early Hungarian prints of Kertesz. The pictures are beautifully rendered, very small, as contact prints, which just increases their fascination. Another proof that small can be very beautiful indeed. Almost the perfect photobook. One doesn't have to ask for more.

• André Kertesz/"The Polaroids": this slightly larger volume (16x18) surveys Kertesz' largely unpublished work on Polaroid from the last years of his life. All pictures were taken in his New York apartment, mostly carefully arranged still lifes with glass objects and a few portraits. Stupendous work, that shows that at 85 his creative vision was as fresh as ever. The book contains a good introduction, surveying the key stages in his life and  his approach to Polaroid. 

• Arno Fischer/"Der Garten": another Polaroid body of work from an ageing master. Arno Fischer was born in 1927 and spent the last 30 years of his work shooting in the garden of his farmhouse with an SX 70. The result is a lavishly produced book published by Hatje Cantz. However, I miss the intimacy of the Kertesz book. Fischer's work is laid out as a series of tryptichs, creating an aura of monumentality which does not square with the deliberately modest nature of his photographic approach. That being said, it is always a pleasure to surrender once more to the magic of Polaroid.

• Patti Smith/"Land 250": it is slightly ironic that we have a flurry of beautiful Polaroid books now that the medium is fading into oblivion. Patti Smith, the well-known rock icon, has been building a collection of black and white Pola pictures over the years. Her vision harks back to the pictorialist tradition, with soft, sumptuous, low contrast images of interiors, gravestones, parks and gardens. Each image is accompanied by a caption in Smith's own neat but rather baroque handwriting, reinforcing the book's spirit of quiet nostalgia. Perhaps not greatest work but the book is really beautifully produced by the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain.

• Vittoria Sella/"Dal Caucasio al Himalaya 1889-1909": I am keeping an eye on interesting bits of alpine photography. This volume I found on an antique market in Italy whilst on holiday. It's a sizeable volume, published by the Touring Club Italiano, accompanied by a separate folder with five huge foldout panoramas. Definitely a must-have for Sella afficionados. The book itself surveys well-known terrain but I discovered some new images and there's a very interesting epilogue with pictures of his studio, archives etc. Very instructive. 

• Raymond Meeks/"A Clearing": another collector's item published by Nazraeli Press. A first edition of just 500 copies. Each copy is numbered and comes with an original print tucked in the back. The book has obviously been produced to the highest standards (printed in China, though). In an age of an ever widening flood of publications I think this is the future of photobook publishing: small editions showing superb craftsmanship in photography, book design and printing. Meek's work is definitely interesting and in a way similar to Smith conjures up the spirit of the early days of photography. This book is a very large volume (42 x 29, roughly) and the layout echoes Masao Yamamoto's "é" (also with Nazraeli). It's extreme in its use of white space around the pictures. I am not sure I like it. This is a book that needs some time to sink in.

• Robert Frank/"The Americans": Frank published the original version of his seminal book just 50 years ago and Steidl published a commemorative version. It's a must have in every photobook library. I am not sure it is the best introduction to Frank's work, though. Personally I think it is a bit uneven. Some of the pictures have lost a little of their freshness, I find. But Steidl did a great job in reprinting this work in a very handsome and handy volume (just 21 cm wide).

• Joakim Eskildsen/"The Roma Journeys": an impressive piece of work (over 400 pages!) of a still young Finnish photographer, student of Pentti Sammalaahti. Eskildsen has travelled around Europe, Russia and India to retrace the Roma people's whereabouts. It's a mix of largely colour and some panoramic black-and-white. For once the colours put the B&W in the shadow. They glow with such earthy force and celestial delicacy that it makes one want to go on looking for ever (all taken on film! Pentax 6x7). Maybe it's too beautiful. Just as one can indulge in just the rich sound of a symphony orchestra without really listening to a piece of music, the surface opulence detracts from the deeper substance of the images. Or maybe not. It's definitely a feast to the eyes. Eskildsen's website is recommended as it allows to retrace this photographer's development from its earliest beginnings. Very good and very honest. I look forward to spending more time with this book.

• Marc Wendelski/"Nage Libre": another book from a young, Belgian photographer. This is a very fine book that would warrant a more extensive discussion. It's a varied collection of pictures - portraits, a mix of urban landscapes -  taken at different locales. The approach straddles new topography, Düsseldorf school and the surrealists. The simplicity comes from the uniformity in format (all square), a very clever use of colour palette (a clinical whitish-greyish dominates throughout the book) and very often very simple, precise compositions.