Book Review Bury Me in the Back Forty Photographs by Kyler Zeleny Reviewed by Blake Andrews “When we last checked in on Kyler Zeleny, in November 2020, he had just published Crown Ditch and the Prairie Castle. The product of 10,000 miles and 4 years of road tripping, this sharply observed monograph revealed the rural Canadian heartland through a colorful blend of portraits, social landscapes, and prairie vistas..." Bury Me in the Back Forty By Kyler Zeleny. Bury Me in the Back Forty Photographs by Kyler Zeleny The Velvet Cell, Berlin, Germany, 2024. 168 pp. When we last checked ..read more

Book Review Sex. Death. Transcendence. Photographs by Linda Troeller Reviewed by Juliette Melia "You can’t have missed it. Edgy and eye-catching, Linda Troeller’s frontispiece shows her on all fours, bottom bared, ready to accept a lover doggy-style. Her vulva is facing away from us, and indeed, better leave it to our imagination in our pornified society. Vertical, almond- shaped, glistening in its jungle of dark eyelashes, suggestively resting on the floral bedspread (flowers are the sex organs of plants, Robert Mapplethorpe once famously said), the artist’s eye replaces it, a female gaze in ..read more

Book Review Medicine Tree Photographs by Lucas Olivet Reviewed by Brian Arnold "The collisions between Western Civilizations with Indigenous communities have never been pretty. Too often, colonialism resulted in outside powers exploiting distant lands for the commodities needed back home – sugar, oil, rubber, coffee, and timber..." Medicine Tree. By Lucas Olivet. Medicine Tree Photographs by Lucas Olivet Skinnerboox, Jesi, Italy, 2024. 112 pp., 9¾x11½". The collisions between Western Civilizations with Indigenous communities have never been pretty. Too often, colonialism resulte ..read more

Book Review Look at the U.S.A. Photographs by Peter van Agtmael Reviewed by Blake Andrews “Over a two-decade career, Peter van Agtmael has earned a reputation as one of America’s best war photographers. He has covered active conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, and Kuwait, among other distant locales..." Look at the U.S.A. By Peter van Agtmael. Look at the U.S.A. Photographs by Peter van Agtmael Thames & Hudson, London, UK, 2024. 352 pp., 7½x9½x1¼". Over a two-decade career, Peter van Agtmael has earned a reputation as one of America’s best war photographers. He has covere ..read more

Book Review Anonymous Objects Photographs by Kim Beil Reviewed by Brian Arnold "Photography is an extremely deceptive medium, but given its ubiquity, I think we are blind to most of what it offers. I am not sure how to calculate the number of photographs I see every day, but I reckon it’s in the thousands. For most people, I am afraid, the constant barrage of pictures we all experience allows us to think we understand what we see in photographs..." Anonymous Objects. By Kim Beil. Anonymous Objects Inscrutable Photographs and the Unknown By Kim Beil SPBH Editions, 2023. 175 pp., 4 ..read more

Book Review Haiti Photographs by Bruce Gilden Reviewed by Blake Andrews “At first blush, Bruce Gilden photographing Haiti does not seem like a fair fight. With a confrontational style honed on the gritty sidewalks of New York City, Gilden has a reputation as an aggressive and in-your-face street shooter..." Haiti. By Bruce Gilden. Haiti Photographs by Bruce Gilden Atelier EXB, 2023. 144 pp., 75 illustrations, 8½x11½". At first blush, Bruce Gilden photographing Haiti does not seem like a fair fight. With a confrontational style honed on the gritty sidewalks of New York City, Gild ..read more

Book Review Cross Road Blues Photographs by Oli Kellett Reviewed by Arturo Soto "Oli Kellett’s Cross Road Blues is a meticulously crafted series of photographs shot over four years in major American cities (Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta, etc.) with a few additions from around the world thrown in the mix (Mexico City, Madrid, London, and Rio de Janeiro)..." Cross Road Blues by Oli Kellett. Cross Road Blues Oli Kellett Nazraeli Press, 2024. 68 pp., 28 four-color plates, 14x11½". Oli Kellett’s Cross Road Blues is a meticulously crafted series of photographs shot over four y ..read more

Book Review My Mother, My Son Photographs by Mary Frey Reviewed by Brian Arnold "I want to start by saying that I’ve been unable to learn much about artist Selina Kudo, short of an installation she composed for the Tanks Art Centre in Australia in 2022 (a conceptual piece about backyard trampolines)..." My Mother, My Son. By Mary Frey. My Mother, My Son Photographs by Mary Frey TBW Books, Oakland, CA 2024. 72 pp., 12 color / 21 duotone plates, 12x10". "I was becoming alive to certain essential qualities in family photographs. Above all I admired what the camera made. The whole p ..read more

Book Review Journey to the Center of the Earth Photographs by Tiane Doan na Champassak Reviewed by Britland Tracy “What was your favorite book growing up? This was a question posed over dinner by a multi-hyphenate novelist at an artist residency I recently attended, comprising mostly Young Adult writers who ponder the adolescent reading experience in ways that I, a child-free visual artist, do not..." Journey to the Center of the Earth  by Tiane Doan na Champassak.  Journey to the Center of the Earth Photographs by Tiane Doan na Champassak the (M) éditions, Paris, Franc ..read more

Book Review You Don’t Look Native to Me Photographs by Maria Sturm Reviewed by George Slade "Start at the very beginning. The titular “You” addresses an individual, a group, and in an oblique fashion the reader. The cover repeats the title twice — You Don’t Look Native to Me — and includes matching silhouette busts of someone who might have braided hair, who might be looking away from us, and who is definitely obscuring the word “don’t” in the second iteration of the title..." You Don’t Look Native to Me. By Maria Sturm. You Don’t Look Native to Me Photographs by Maria Sturm Void ..read more