2016 Best Books: Eamonn Doyle

Books Eamonn Doyle: 2016 Best Books Eamonn Doyle Selects ICI Ailleurs, Astres Noirs, and At Mirrored River as the Best Books of 2016

Eamonn Doyle

Eamonn Doyle: Born in Dublin in 1969, Eamonn Doyle studied painting and photography in the late 80s. He spent much of the next twenty years producing music and working in the independent music business, founding the Dublin Electronic Arts Festival (DEAF) alongside the record labels D1 Recordings and Dead Elvis.

 He returned to photography in 2008. His debut photobook i, described by Martin Parr as 'the best street photo book in a decade' was published in March 2014. Most of his work is produced in and around the Dublin city centre location where he has lived for the past 20 years.

 Gallery representation: Michael Hoppen Gallery, London

ICI Ailleurs. By Louis Stettner. 

Editions Xavier Barral, 2016.

ICI Ailleurs
Photographs by Louis Stettner

I have to admit, I wasn’t overly familiar with the work of Louis Stettner, but Ici Ailleurs gives an incredible overview of a career that spanned eight decades. The book was published by The Centre Pompidou to accompany their retrospective of his work, following a donation by Stettner to the museum of 104 prints. The retrospective ran from June to September; Stettner passed away in October, leaving a formidable legacy behind.

As a book, this is stunning, beautifully printed and produced; as an artifact it’s exceptional — the work spans six decades, and it’s simply a must buy for any fan of photography.

Purchase Book Here

Astres Noirs. By Katrin Koenning and Sarker Protick. 
Chose Commune, 2016.

Astres Noirs
Photographs by Katrin Koenning and Sarker Protick

This is a beautiful book, in concept, content and execution. The result of a collaboration that was facilitated by the publishers, Astres Noirs — or Black Stars — is a powerfully poetic visual dialogue between Katrin Koenning and Sarker Protick; thoughtfully conceived and designed to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary, the organic into the cosmic, the everyday into the ethereal.

Printed in duotone, photographs taken on smartphones appear in silver ink on black, lending them a semi-abstract, supernatural, other-worldly quality. With striking, shimmering imagery at once grounded in elemental themes and floating in space, Astres Noirs takes the viewer on a celestial journey and is a shining example of what can be achieved when imagination equals strength of vision.

Read the review by Colin Pantall on photo-eye Blog 
Purchase Book Here

At Mirrored River. By Enda Bowe. 

Blue Swallow, 2016.

At Mirrored River
Photographs by Enda Bowe

Enda Bowe’s At Mirrored River finds beauty in the ordinary, and in this case in the averageness of an unspecified but typical Irish commuter belt town. These images were shot over a number of years, with Bowe having been inspired by the Irish word “teannalach”, which means awareness. The hyper-observational nature of the work lends a disquieting air to the landscapes and a jarringly emotive quality to the portraits, with a stillness throughout that connects the two.

Purchase Book Here

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