Moises Saman
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ZZYZX. By Gregory Halpern. Mack, 2016. |
ZZYZX
Photographs by Gregory Halpern
Photographs by Gregory Halpern
In 1992 I was 18-years-old when I left my home in Spain to live with an aunt in a suburb of Los Angeles. Fresh off the boat, I instantly surrendered to the grandiose beauty that lay on the surface, affirming every one of my naive preconceptions about Southern California. The wide and unending freeways, the beautiful people, Venice Beach, Hollywood, and the infinite palm trees perfectly placed along the magic boulevards that I recognized from the movies, with their long and thin trunks reaching up to the endless summer sky.
Inevitably, I was soon confronted with a more nuanced reality, one that exposed the fragility inherent in the characters and places that lay beneath the surface. What particularly draws me to Gregory Halpern’s photographs in ZZYZX are the traces of this grandiose beauty, represented in the resilient poses of his downtrodden characters, and the glimmer of the golden California light that appears in some of his ambiguous landscapes.
Read the review by Adam Bell on photo-eye Blog
Purchase Book Here
Inevitably, I was soon confronted with a more nuanced reality, one that exposed the fragility inherent in the characters and places that lay beneath the surface. What particularly draws me to Gregory Halpern’s photographs in ZZYZX are the traces of this grandiose beauty, represented in the resilient poses of his downtrodden characters, and the glimmer of the golden California light that appears in some of his ambiguous landscapes.
Read the review by Adam Bell on photo-eye Blog
Purchase Book Here
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| Provoke: Between Protest and Performance.. Edited by Diane Dufour and Matthew S. Witkovsky.. Steidl, 2016. |
Edited by Diane Dufour and Matthew S. Witkovsky.
This book opened my eyes to a period in Japanese photography that I knew nothing about. The photographic rebellion evident in the dynamism and experimentation of the Provoke collective offers an interesting contrast to the orderly stereotypes that has come to define post-war Japanese society. As a member of a photographic collective, I found this book particularly inspiring because it reminded me of the relevance and power of the group, rather than the individual photographer, when documenting and engaging with a particularly turbulent period of history.
Read the review by Adam Bell on photo-eye Blog
Purchase Book Here
Read the review by Adam Bell on photo-eye Blog
Purchase Book Here
I have to admit that I was not familiar with the original book that was published in 1988. This book is a masterpiece. I was immediately drawn to the simplicity and honesty of Chris Killip’s approach, which I see as a breath of fresh air that transcends style, genre, and time. In this second edition, I found that the unassuming design allows for a greater engagement with the photographs, and even elevates them to a viewing experience beyond the photo book.
Read the review by Colin Pantall on photo-eye Blog
Purchase Book Here
Read the review by Colin Pantall on photo-eye Blog
Purchase Book Here
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