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"At the age of 64, Leif Sandberg learned that he might have pancreatic cancer. Ending, Sandberg’s first monograph, is a poetic exploration of the thoughts and emotions that followed shortly after this news. Aside from a brief introductory statement and a 12-part poem by Bob Hansson in the back of the publication, the book is devoid of text, allowing the viewer to interpret the images in their own fashion and apply them to their own unique life experiences. Ultimately, Ending is a book that confronts the ideas of mortality, life, and those we choose to spend our time with.
The images in Ending are dark and full of emotion. Rather than create a journalistic document of his treatment process, Sandberg uses experimentation and manipulation to explore the emotions that arose in his mind. After a series of anxiety attacks, Sandberg used photography not only as a means of expression but also as a form of therapy and the result is incredibly powerful. Self-portraits with blurred faces and multiple exposures fall alongside stark photographs of reptile corpses. Throughout the book, flashes of color break the pattern in a book that is overwhelmingly black-and-white. It seems that whether Sandberg is in front or behind the lens, the entire body of work is heavy with performance, anxiety, fear, and intimacy.
Ending was recently chosen for the 2017 Kassel Photobook Award – The Expert’s Selection, and for good reason. This book is incredibly well designed. It has a pace and flow that is both intriguing and riveting. The sequencing is impeccable and there never seems to be a dull moment throughout the book. Most importantly the images don’t pretend to have any direct answers to the reader. In fact, after reading the book one may find that they have more questions than when they began the book. Ending is scheduled to have a following publication, Beyond the Mirror, and I cannot wait to see how Sandberg’s work progresses and evolves." — Forrest Soper
Purchase Book
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| Ending. By Leif Sandberg. Boecker Books, 2017. |
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| Ending. By Leif Sandberg. Boecker Books, 2017. |
Forrest Soper is a photographer and artist based out of Santa Fe, New Mexico. A graduate of the Santa Fe University of Art and Design, he also has previously worked at Bostick & Sullivan. Forrest is the Editor of photo-eye Blog.
http://forrestsoper.com/