Book of the Week: A Pick by KayLynn Deveney

Book of the Week Book of the Week: A Pick by KayLynn Deveney KayLynn Deveney selects For Birds' Sake by Cemre Yesil and Maria Sturm as Book of the Week.

For Birds' Sake. By Cemre Yesil and Maria Sturm.
 La Fábrica, 2015.

This week's Book of the Week pick comes from KayLynn Deveney who has selected For Birds' Sake by Cemre Yesil and Maria Sturm from La Fábrica.

"Last year at Paris Photo, Turkish artist Cemre Yesil and Romanian artist Maria Sturm signed copies of their new book For Birds’ Sake, published by La Fabrica. Adorned in pastel-colored, zippered fabric sleeves, copies of their book about the birdmen of Istanbul sat waiting to be signed, shrouded in darkness just like the cages of the songbirds raised by the fraternity of Turkish men. With tender portraits, pictures of events, beautiful photographs of the covered cages and lush landscapes, the women photographers depict the dedication and care involved in this tradition, now beginning to disappear. While we sense birds throughout the work, in fabric patterns, drawings, and tattoos, the artists opt not to include photographs of actual birds. Instead, they photograph around the birds in order to comment on their essence rather than their actuality. With purposeful design, the book’s cover references the containers the birds are carried in and the distinctive pattern of holes cut to allow the air in. The book’s design also allows us to occasionally glimpse a flicker of another image as a sliver of it becomes visible behind a page intentionally trimmed to three-fourths the size of the other spreads. For Birds’ Sake is a thoughtful, elegant appreciation of the dedication of these men — both to birds and to one another — that allows us to retain our wonder at the mystery of birdsong."—KayLynn Deveney

Purchase Book

For Birds' Sake. By Cemre Yesil and Maria Sturm. La Fábrica, 2015.

For Birds' Sake. By Cemre Yesil and Maria Sturm. La Fábrica, 2015.

KayLynn Deveney is a photographer and a full-time lecturer at the Belfast School of Art at Ulster University in Belfast, Northern Ireland. KayLynn is the author of The Day-to-Day Life of Albert Hastings (Princeton Architectural Press, 2007) and All You Can Lose Is Your Heart, a book about storybook ranch homes in the American West, published by Kehrer Verlag in December 2015.






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