Swedish exposure

This Swedish photo book takes a different approach to the usual photobook format. Here the first 170 pages are Q&A's with thirteen people who are very broadly connected with such books followed by 138 pages of covers and inside pages from a selection of photobooks. Rather than present the titles historically they are shown in three ways: 'Ego' devoted to books revealing aspects of a photographer; 'Image' considers a photobook's formal aesthetic qualities; 'Society' (with the largest number of titles) as this title implies covers Swedish photographers work capturing their country and the world at large.

Niclas Ostlind in the introduction says that it wasn't until 1978 that a dedicated photo gallery and bookshop opened in Stockholm and it provided the stimulus for photographers to create books and many titles shown in the illustrated section are of limited print runs. I thought the Q&A was a clever editorial idea to reveal the thoughts of the contributors and as a publication designer I enjoyed reading art director Greger Nilson's and graphic designer Matilda Plojel's ideas on photo book design and their collaboration with photographers. The other contributors include a booksellers, photographers, book collector, translator, publishers and the librarian of the Hasselblad Foundation.

Swedish photobooks probably aren't too different from those of Denmark and Norway, the Scandinavian countries have a strong tradition of artistic creativity and this is the first book reveal the strength of their photobooks. It's a well designed title and my only criticism is that it's smaller than similar books on the subject so that the covers and spread illustrations are smaller than I would have preferred. 

Art that's commercial

An excellent book that covers seven decades of creativity from Robert McGinnis. Look through the book and you'll soon be aware that he's an incredibly versatile artist which is probably why he's been in demand for years, he always delivers what the client wants. His paperback covers from the sixties are collected because they feature hard edge dames known as 'McGinnis women' and he painted hundreds. Plenty are shown in these pages fortunately without the bland title and sub-deck typography, the actual covers are shown much smaller. 

I thought the 'McGinnis women', either nude or clothed very stylised, they all look the same except for the faces and hair styles. His movie posters and consumer magazine illustrations reveal much about his compositions and painting technique. For example, on page ninety-seven there is a superb picture of Walter Matthau (for the movie: 'The odd couple') sitting in chair reading a paper with his legs laid out on a casual table, the chair, Matthau's clothing, a bowl of fruit and some other food on the table are rendered in what looks like a very casual brush-stroke style but is in fact very precise and deliberate, making the painting totally convincing and eye-catching.  A 1968 painting from 'Good Housekeeping' has a bird's eye-view of a white house framed by a lawn and trees, a beautiful composition with added detail of an old fashioned water pump, an electricity box on a wall and rather small, a young girl sitting near a doorway. Away from the girlie art there are plenty of examples of McGinnis creativity throughout the book. 

The back pages have some wonderful examples of his non-commercial work including twenty showing cowboys in the old West. I thought the book was an worthwhile overview of a very versatile artist though in common with other books about well known illustrators there is no mention about how McGinnis works. Nothing about his working environment, types of pencils, brushes, paints etc. Including this would really have made the book complete.

A fresh look at famous photos / book one

Book one (of two, they are sold separately) looks at Lange's FSA photos as they were originally intended: to reveal, primarily through print media, the depth of the American Depression. The two books are different from the photographer's other photobooks because the author has researched the background to her photos, found the locations and what they reveal about thirties poverty.

This book has Lange's work in the agricultural areas of California, Oregon and Washington.  As well as dozens of photos with extended captions there are mini essays explaining geographic and economic aspects of each location which had a bearing on the living conditions of the local population. There is also a chapter on the most famous FSA photo: Migrant mother. Here are the seven photos Lange took  of the destitute mother and children in California during 1936.

These two books are part of a series that take fresh approach to the work of well known FSA photographers. The pictures  (and words) create a fascinating visual history of the Depression years.

A fresh look at famous photos / book two

Book two (of two, they are sold separately) looks at Lange's FSA photos as they were originally intended: to reveal, primarily through print media, the depth of the American Depression. The two books are different from the photographer's other photobooks because the author has researched the background to her photos, found the locations and what they reveal about thirties poverty. 

This book has Lange's work in the agricultural areas of the Mountans West, Southern Plains, Mississippi Delta, the Deep South and eight photos of New York city in June 1936. As well as dozens of photos with extended captions there are mini essays explaining geographic and economic aspects of each location which had a bearing on the living conditions of the local population

These two books are part of a series that take fresh approach to the work of well known FSA photographers. The pictures  (and words) create a fascinating visual history of the Depression.