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Amc2 Journal. Issue 6, edited by AMC.
Published by Archive of Modern Conflict, 2013.

AMC2 Issue 6 comes to us in the form of a 32-page newsprint publication with the headline Space Conquerers! A launching rocket is pictured next to a sci-fi looking photograph of two people holding what we come to understand is a dog in a flight suit. The image doesn't seem real. With strapping, tubes and helmet, it's easy to miss the dog part and see the creature as a realization of a nightmarish Moebus illustration. The opening chunk of text puts this image into context. We read about Laika, the Russian stray who became the first terrestrial creature to enter space, and also the first to die, perishing from overheating and stress. The next fuzzy cosmonauts fared better -- Belka and Strekla returned to earth to become much-loved icons of space exploration. A few of their promotional appearances are pictured on the following pages -- two dogs depicted on stamps and in cartoon form, canine heroes of the space race. The images are charming also a bit strange after reading the text on the cover about the trials the dogs were put through before their selection for space travel -- training that is at times devastating for willing humans. The image of Baker the squirrel monkey sitting between her frightening looking space-travel restraint and her certificate of merit from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals shows the American side to these animal tests. Another page and we are into human space flight and stirring and iconic images of men in globe-shaped helmets.

Amc2 Journal. Issue 6, edited by AMC. Published by Archive of Modern Conflict, 2013.

Issue 6 was assembled from the Archive's collection with the help of Cristina de Middel, whose recent book about an imagined African space program is now the stuff of photobook collector legend, and Thomas Mailaender, who has consistently proven his love and aptitude for the artistically strange. These seem like the prefect companions for such a project.

Amc2 Journal. Issue 6, edited by AMC. Published by Archive of Modern Conflict, 2013.

The images in Space Conquerers! don't go particularly deep. They are mostly promotional images, portraits, memorabilia and other material readily made for consumption -- postcards of rocket launches from every conceivable angle and instructions on how to launch a toy rocket, coloring book images about the history of space exploration, a weird series of photographs of a man and woman getting strapped into high altitude flight suits, skin-tight and a bit bondage-y covered in lacing and apparently necessitating some serious help to get in and out of. The dichotomy of the Russian and American space programs are continually at play. A mirrored image of a USA rocket launch sandwiches a center spread of astronaut and cosmonaut portraits -- Americans on one side in deeply saturated color images from the 80s or 90s, all positioned in front of the flag with a model shuttle in the foreground and slightly dopey grins. Most images are autographed, becoming like baseball cards, something to be collected. The cosmonauts are harder to place in time, but the black and white images are in striking contrast. They look stoically into the camera with very few smiles -- those seem to be exclusively on the faces of the non-Russians, their upper left arm bearing a patch of their country's flag. You won't see anything exceptionally shocking or unexpected in issue 6, but the book is cleverly designed to create a certain oddness, playing with the differences between what we know and what we see. -- Sarah Bradley

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AMC2 Journal Issue 5: Notes Home.
Archive of Modern Conflict, 2013.

AMC2 Journal Issue 5: Notes Home

Reviewed by Sarah Bradley

AMC2 Journal Issue 5: Notes Home.
Edited by AMC.
AMC Books, 2013. 60 pp., 30 color illustrations, 8¼x5¾".

Notes Home, issue 5 in the Archive of Modern Conflict’s periodical series, brings back warm memories for me. It’s a collection of postcards from the English East Coast, a place I lived with my family for a year as an adolescent; our town, Bridlington, is among the many resort cities pictured. During that time in the early 1990s Bridlington’s history as a fashionable summer resort was long past, though the sandy beaches were still full on sunny days. The beautiful Bridlington Spa that was once a venue to big name acts (I was told on a number of occasions that the Beatles had played there once) seemed mostly unused, and the beachside attractions consisted of little more than donkey rides, a dinky carnival and arcades full of penny games. It was a hard, working class town. I understand why people wanted to take vacations in more exotic and luxurious surroundings, but it was still a lovely place. And at least for a small family of Americans, we found a lot to entertain us.

Amc2 Journal. Issue 5, edited by AMC. Published by Archive of Modern Conflict, 2013.

Presented in a familiar striped paper bag, the type you’d use to carry away your postcards, the small paperback is perfectly intimate in scale. A reproduction of the backside of each postcard rests on the left page, a sheet of vellum separating it from the image on the front. On the vellum, the text from the back of the postcard, address and all, has been carefully reproduced in type, allowing the often hard to decipher inscription to be read. Misspellings and odd punctuation are retained, and no other information is given. The vellum acts as a lovely filter between the front and back of the cards, and when flipped, the text neatly fits into the message and address spaces. During the time that these postcards were sent, these towns provided a well needed respite for the working class – if the addresses of the recipients are any indication, many hadn’t traveled very far to reach their holiday locale.

Amc2 Journal. Issue 5, edited by AMC. Published by Archive of Modern Conflict, 2013.

Postcards are an interesting mode of communication – the image on each card is selected to give a certain impression of the place to the recipient, an impression that is then modified by the personal message. There is a wonderful crypticness to the inscriptions. Though we as readers are lacking in critical information to understand the bulk of the discussion, what is missing can be as revealing about the relationship between the writer and the recipient as what is said. Some send their well wishes, others report that fun is being had, and a few announce deaths. One, without address, bears what I assume is a self-portrait, collar up and hat pulled down with a note that says “bit cold.” A few cards present an interesting interaction between the picture on the front and the handwritten message. An image of a group of spectators standing on and around a dead whale on the shore opens with the line “Hope the dog is improving.” A rather uneventful photograph of a hotel in Filey bears a worried and slightly exasperated message that starts with “I hope you are alright” and goes on to instruct the recipient on how to acquire food while the sender is gone. I get the sense that that vacation was sorely needed, though relaxation may have been difficult to attain.

Amc2 Journal. Issue 5, edited by AMC. Published by Archive of Modern Conflict, 2013.

The years of the postmarked cards span from the early 1900s to 1983, and in that 80-year gap tastes clearly change. The images on the postcards become less about the seascapes and waterfront promenades and more about resort-like features – ballrooms and hotel exteriors, indoor pools, rides and other colorful manufactured amusements. “Our true intent is all for your delight” reads the neon lights on the wall of a leisure center in Skegness, a photograph from the 1970s that shows not the sea, but wet concrete and a pool. Earlier images focus on the coast, but also the stately infrastructure from which to view it. Some are even hand colored, though carelessly. In one image a colorist has stranded a boy fishing out in the water, though mysteriously he appears to be standing on its surface.

Amc2 Journal. Issue 5, edited by AMC. Published by Archive of Modern Conflict, 2013.

I don’t know how many postcards are being sent today, but I imagine emails and text messages have largely taken their place. The rack in the Five and Dime here in Santa Fe is as extensive as ever, but I wonder how many of those brightly pictured cards end up tucked into bags and forgotten. The postcard images in Notes Home are nostalgic, but there is something to connect to even in the oldest of the images. Allie wishing for waves like the one pictured on the postcard she sent from Bridlington to A in 1904 reminded me of the massive storm that sent water crashing over the seawall, splashing into the road that followed the coast, powerful, grey and cold. The book is like a little time capsule – capturing both a history of these places, but also giving a glimpse into the lives of a few people who looked to them for rest and rejuvenation. Look at this book over and over again and little notions will emerge. I am struck by the beautiful humanness of these documents. —SARAH BRADLEY

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SARAH BRADLEY is a writer, sculptor, costumer and general maker of things currently living in Santa Fe, NM. Some of her work can be seen on her occasionally updated blog. She has been employed by photo-eye since 2008 and is Editor of photo-eye Blog and Magazine.

AMC2 Journal Issue 4: Chasing Shadows

Chasing Shadows, the fourth volume of the AMC2 periodical from the Archive of Modern Conflict, is a catalogue of the exhibition of the same name that appeared at Paris Photo in November of 2012. Widely considered a highlight of the festival, the original show featured hundreds of photographs from the archive, hung in groupings and arranged up and down deep purple walls. The photographs displayed the diversity of the archive’s collection and were assembled quickly; 500 were initially selected, themes became apparent and the images were rearranged over the course of a few days, and then again a week later. Emphasizing fast decision-making leaves little room for over thinking and, to paraphrase AMC founder Timothy Prus, avoids anguish, allowing one to reach into the subconscious. Trusting instinct has clearly been a part of all of AMC’s publications, but has it has never been as apparent as in Chasing Shadows.

Unlike the exhibition, which was purposely designed to subvert a linear, filmic viewing pattern, the book has a distinct cinematic quality. The modestly sized perfect-bound paperback features a selection of about 200 images. Each page is folded at the edge, giving the sense that the whole interior could pull out like an accordion fold, creating a continuous strip of images. The pages are, in fact, tightly contained, but just the suggestion – and the few images that actually wrap around the edge onto the following page – is enough to give the book a particular sense of continuity. The sequences seem to stretch on in dialogue with each other, and despite the occasional disparate nature of the images, none feel isolated.

from AMC2 Journal Issue 4: Chasing Shadows

The images in the book span nearly the entire history of photography, but the bulk seem to be from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The warm tones of these early photographs are striking, as is the sharp contrast of sepia and cyan. A portrait of a West African king shares a spread with a delicate floral cyanotype and a dreamy and colorless aurora borealis. The sequence is then repeated several times, transitioning between monarchs, plants and the pale northern lights, the first of a number of general themes that quietly creep in. Those themes rest gently in the background – it's easy not to notice the transitions. We see a variety of ethnographic portraits, street front panoramas, desertscapes, early scientific documentations, a 1962 shot from Robert Frank, a portrait of Freud and two chows, Blinky Palermo in Munich, a mushroom cloud in Tahiti, and a pile of lentils. The variety is great, but through subtle themes and thoughtful sequencing, a fragmented narrative seems to surface. Of what? Well, I’m not sure that I could ever say, but somehow things feel connected, and I want to look again.

from AMC2 Journal Issue 4: Chasing Shadows

All images are given dates, photographer (when known), title and type of print in the index that concludes the book, which, given the volume of imagery, is a little bewildering to navigate, but effective in keeping the focus on the photographs rather than their origin. The concise attributions leave you wanting more information in some cases, but this book feels like it isn’t so much about the individual image as it is their power in conversation. Still, I’m sure a good deal could be said about a few of these photographs, and we’re given just enough information to do some research on our own.

from AMC2 Journal Issue 4: Chasing Shadows

When I think of this book, cyan floods my memory before any images are recalled. I’ll take a cue from the title and step back from trying to explain what goes on between the pages. Suffice it to say that it is both mysterious and powerful, and perhaps a bit of an optical illusion – it functions better in the periphery than with direct focus. This is a book to be looked at over and over again, flipped through silently, watching. And even after looking at every picture deeply, you’ll open it at random and see something new. --Sarah Bradley

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AMC2 Journal Issue 3: Preserves from the AMC Garden

The third issue of AMC2 Journal from the Archive of Modern Conflict is titled Preserves from the AMC Garden, the cover featuring the five colored Olympic rings scattered in an illustration of a woman canning jam. The forty-page pamphlet is reportedly a guide for London visitors during the 2012 Olympics and greets the reader with a helpful introduction after some advertisements for canning equipment and a disconcertingly unremarked-upon photograph of a nude woman on top of a reclining cow. The introduction frames present day London in the context of the 2011 riots and unstable economic conditions, but assures the reader that it will guide visitors to an 'enjoyable and rewarding' stay in London. Breakfast and frying instructions follow, as do recipes for dishes involving sheep hearts, brains and heads. Things get more confusing from there on.

from AMC2 Journal Issue 3: Preserves from the AMC Garden

We are soon offered helpful facts and tips like: "Winston Churchill was born in a cloakroom during a dance. He also did a very good impression of a gorilla," "London is France's sixth biggest city," and "It is legal for a male to urinate in public, as long it is on the rear while of his motor vehicle and his right hand is on the vehicle." While these tidbits seem nonsensical, I discovered after some Googling that they are also, more or less, true. Photographs of Churchill and a chimpanzee in overalls and a straw-hat share a page spread, and a man in the approved posture relieving himself and a young Serge Gainsbourg make their way in the sequence before a collection of antique-looking letterpress posters with odd slogans like "Please No Sex Tourism" and "Live Olympic Bullfighting." A section on the history of the Olympic games (opening with a strange but true description of the Wenlock Olympic Games, the predecessor of the modern Olympics) is notable for two full-page early 20th century images of blindfolded men participating in incomprehensible competitions, a crowd of on-lookers standing around them. Photographic documents of those early Wenlock games? More tips inform us our estimated constant proximity from rats while in London and that "When addressing a policeman wearing the traditional helmet don't say 'Do you have a pointy head?' This will not make him laugh." Good advice. The book finishes with a section on drinking with consumption facts that seem comically excessive, but then again, perhaps not.

from AMC2 Journal Issue 3: Preserves from the AMC Garden

Walking a line between earnest observation, satire and silliness ('preserves' is an apt -- it's slightly pickled), the booklet juxtaposes a modern understanding of London with stereotypes of the past. The booklet itself is a call back to visitorguides created for the 1948 London Olympics, and the imagery contained within is almost entirely alienated from present day. The result is something familiarly ineffable. This is the strangest, funniest and smallest (and least expensive) in the AMC2 collection, yet it is densely packed like issues 1 and 2. -- Sarah Bradley

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Read the review of AMC2 Journal Issue 1
Read the review of AMC2 Journal Issue 2

Amc2 Journal Issue 2. Edited by Archive of Modern Conflict.
Published by Archive of Modern Conflict, 2012.

Amc2 Journal. Issue 2.

Reviewed by Sarah Bradley

Amc2 Journal. Issue 2.
Edited by Archive of Modern Conflict
Archive of Modern Conflict, 2012. Softcover. 128 pp., illustrated throughout, 8x11".

I suppose it's possible to approach something without expectations yet still be surprised by it, as I was with Issue 2 of Amc2 Journal from Archive of Modern Conflict. A small amount of investigation reveals that this issue is (nearly) an entirely different animal from the first, not simply in form, but also in tone and content. The fantastic design by Melanie Mues jumps out immediately. Unlike the perfect bound Issue 1, Issue 2 has two stitches down the spine with untrimmed pages extending in a significant creep. The layered page edges echo the cover illustration abstracted from one of Martin Parr's beloved postcards of concrete hotels that are shared with us inside. Illustrations grace glossy paper while smaller pages of text are nestled within; matt paper booklets stitched into each section contain an essay or text accompanying the images, each with its own cover design. About half way through, the pages change color -- the white-bordered glossy pages become brown, black and orange, giving the last three image collections their own color schemes.

Amc2 Journal. Issue 2, by ARCHIVE OF MODERN CONFLICT. Published by Archive of Modern Conflict, 2012.

Where the last issue was exuberant in its show-and-tell of strange and wonderful things, Issue 2 is markedly somber. We begin with elevators and end underground. A booklet from the Marryat & Scott Lifts company informs us of leveling problems, floor plans for architects and their lovely selection of elevator interiors, followed by strange and beautiful images from the 1950s of the pale pristine and unpopulated floors of the KaDeWe department store in Berlin. These photographs are accompanied by the first of several substantial and well-researched essays that provide a wealth of information while rarely analyzing the images, giving context without removing the material from the exploratory nature established here. They give the issue a decidedly journal-like feel. Photographs of sculptures from the collection of the British Museum made by Stephen Thompson, a nearly forgotten photographer working in the late 19th century, are beautifully shot with natural light and joined by the story of Thompson's difficult career and his son's madness. Next comes the delicious collection of postcards from Parr, concrete modernist hotels from the Spanish coast and shockingly blue skies, pools and oceans. With a brief statement Parr, the booklet contains translations of the text on the back of the postcards, predictably general and convivial, yet consistently endearing, as is the 'x' used to mark the precise room of one traveler.

Amc2 Journal. Issue 2, by ARCHIVE OF MODERN CONFLICT. Published by Archive of Modern Conflict, 2012.

The survey of work by Mark Neville with essay by Liz Adams is an example of the immediate cultural relevance of this journal. With an inclination towards the archival, this isn't a venue in which one would expect to encounter contemporary work, yet its inclusion doesn't feel out of place. In addition to filling in a gap in my photographic education, Neville's photographs and unusual practice are fascinating and so outside the norm as to be illuminating commentary on the current system. The juxtaposition of this contemporary practitioner works well within context, particularly when followed by the poetic portraits of artist Henri Gaudier-Brzeska and the mournful tale of his premature death and wife's resulting decent into madness, a story tipped from romanticism by reproductions of Sophie Brzeska's automatic writing and unsettling pen and ink drawings created while hospitalized. The funeral practices of the Fali, a small Central African tribe with the unusual tradition of binding the deceased in a seated position, arms and legs out stretched, burying them upright, are illustrated with remarkable images taken in the late 1930s, while Jonathan Fogel's accompanying text is educational and notably friendly. Nine days of AMC sponsored archeological excavating concludes the book. Digging small trenches and listing what was found, it is a graphic display of the history packed in every square inch of earth in London. Traces of the past and lives lived over centuries emerge from the mud, extracted by self-professed mudlark Mark Chesterman and photographed by longtime AMC collaborator Stephen Gill.

Amc2 Journal. Issue 2, by ARCHIVE OF MODERN CONFLICT. Published by Archive of Modern Conflict, 2012.

I've spent several weeks with this collection and I'm not done digesting it. This issue has the distinct feeling of being about something bigger than its parts; leitmotifs of buildings and earth, burial and discovery, madness and loss appear nestled in these articles and images in various combinations, but connections feel intuitive. Are there conclusions to be made? I couldn't say, but my mind is still working over the material (I still haven't puzzled out the Four Stories subtitle), and I expect it will be for sometime. The Amc2 Journals reward curiosity, and from what I've seen of the first three issues, they are nimble enough to continue to do so in interesting ways. Remaining reliable in the right places -- attention to detail and quality of content from selections to essays to concept -- AMC is clearly giving itself enough freedom to avoid becoming predictable or boring. For some, there is strength in inconsistency.—SARAH BRADLEY

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Amc2 Journal Issue 1 is available here. Read Sarah Bradley's review here.

SARAH BRADLEY is a writer, sculptor, costumer and general maker of things currently living in Santa Fe, NM. Some of her work can be seen on her occasionally updated blog. She has been employed by photo-eye since 2008.

Amc2 Journal. Edited by Archive of Modern Conflict.
Published by Archive of Modern Conflict, 2012.

Amc2 Journal

Reviewed by Sarah Bradley

Amc2 Journal Edited by Archive of Modern Conflict

Archive of Modern Conflict, 2012. Softcover. 152 pp., black & white and color illustrations throughout, 8-1/4x11-1/2".

I've been a bit enamored with the publications of the Archive of Modern Conflict since Nein, Onkle first appeared on my desk for cataloguing several years ago. The mystery of the organization and the assuredly vast richness of their collection are intriguing. Initiated as an archive of vernacular photographs made during wartime to exposes realities beyond the front lines, AMC was soon confronted with irresistible potential acquisitions that fell outside their purview. So the collection expanded. AMC is now home to an ever-growing assortment of rare photographic documents and ephemera, selections from which occasionally become books. With the publication of their new Amc2 Journal, the true diversity of the archive is coming to light.

Collecting materials ranging from Rock Hudson paper dolls to hand-tinted WWI-era photographs of gruesome head wounds, cigarette cards, photographic documents of a man who was born a woman, images of famed luchador El Santo, 2011 street photography, 19th century French pornography and diagrams and photographs of a forgotten man's time machine, the contents defy any likening classification beyond their status as fascinating objects. Some, like the beguiling assortment of early 20th century over-painted photographs from India, are accompanied by an essay, but most are only given explanation though captions. Others, like the strange and increasingly kinky 1960s images from the Royal Horse Artillery, beg more than their scant description. The essays are informative and thoughtful without liberating the materials of their intrigue, and like all of AMC's publications, the design and printing are fantastic. Though self-categorized as a journal, it feels more like an anthology than a magazine. It isn't a timely publication, which keeps it from becoming the very thing it catalogues. Perhaps the title is most applicable to it being serial in nature; new issues are promised on an "occasional basis."

Amc2 Journal, by Archive of Modern Conflict. Published by Archive of Modern Conflict, 2012.

The prevalence of vernacular and ephemeral material in contemporary art could make Amc2 Journal appear unremarkable, yet it stands out. Amc2 Journal should not be confused with an art project; the archive's endeavors are more aptly described as an exercise in curation. Preserving materials with the ambition of "reveal[ing] unexpected stories about the nature of our world" and "illuminat[ing] lost corners of our cultural life," an archive, AMC, is just the organization to be bringing us these documents. While their offerings are consistently objects of beauty appealing to an artistic audience, the books are presented outside of the shadow of artist's intention with a tone that is neither pretentious nor precious.

Amc2 Journal, by Archive of Modern Conflict. Published by Archive of Modern Conflict, 2012.

Having looked through the images collected in Amc2 Journal several times, I took it to the bar to read the text. It caught a lot of eyes. The resurgence of this type of material in contemporary life does not seem accidental. We live in a world that moves fast and leaves few tactile artifacts. In his 2010 essay for issue #26 of GUP Magazine, vernacular photography collector and publisher Erik Kessels theorized that the perfection of the digital age, one in which any image can be rendered 'perfect' with the use of Photoshop, has awoken a desire for authenticity, the imperfections of the light leak, the tell-tale graininess of film. The popularity of Instagram which transforms the look of digital photographs into something straight out of a 1970s photo album lends weight to this idea, but I believe our sudden fondness for these materials goes beyond that. With the democratization of media has come a multitude of platforms to publicly tell one's personal story, shaping us into a culture that is used to snooping, used to knowing everyone's business. Photographs that were once occupants of private albums are accessible to the world, and the cliché of being victim to a friend's agonizing vacation slideshow has been completely turned on its head -- we now seek these images out. We seek out these older documents, too, our interest in the lives of our contemporaries has extended to the lives of those who came before us. The internet has made us consumers of personal and cultural histories, perhaps bringing about a subconscious cultural awareness of the social history lost with these vanishing tangible documents that help contextualize daily life of the past. Vernacular photography and ephemera are incidental history lessons; they pique curiosity and inspire a nuanced understanding of our world. AMC is doing important work.—SARAH BRADLEY

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SARAH BRADLEY is a writer, sculptor, costumer and general maker of things currently living in Santa Fe, NM. Some of her work can be seen on her occasionally updated blog. She has been employed by photo-eye since 2008.

More Cooning with Cooners, Edited by Kalev Erickson.
Published by Archive of Modern Conflict, 2011.

More Cooning With Cooners

Reviewed by Faye Robson _________________________________

Kalev Erickson More Cooning With Cooners
Edited by Kalev Erickson
Archive of Modern Conflict, 2011. Hardbound. 60 pp., 39 color illustrations, 8-1/4x8-1/4".

As a British citizen, I have to confess I didn't know much about 'coon hunting before I opened this book. Now having closed it, I'm not sure how much better informed I am. This is simultaneously the most confusing and the most beguiling thing about this book. It is not an obscure, difficult or even unfocussed publication – More Cooning With Cooners is as much about raccoons, and the hunting thereof, as a sixty-page photobook can be. Even the cover is designed to resemble a raccoon pelt, with the bloody red endpapers inside evoking the inevitable conclusion of the chase. It's just that, alongside this thematic coherence, this blatancy about its theme, there is an ambiguity about the photographs within, and the book project itself, that far exceeds one's initial expectations.

So, what are you looking at? A short note at the beginning of More Cooning explains that the images within have been edited from 'a family collection of Kodachromes taken during the 1960s in Ohio.' We never find out who this family are, how editor Kalev Erickson encountered their photographs or, indeed, how he knows for sure that they are 'the work of a single, but unknown, photographer with a clear enthusiasm for the hunt' (all of the photographs are presented without captions). Other minor mysteries pervade the book: where one would normally expect to find a contextualising, critical 'essay' on the body of work presented, there is a short, straight-faced prose piece on 'The Art and Craft of Cooning,' describing the sport’s history and traditions. Similarly, the 1924 vernacular poem 'Dat Scanlus Coonhunt Itch' is dropped into the book without introduction – yet another element in a patchwork of references that circle the 'coonhunt' at the centre of this book, but never quite state their relationship to it.

More Cooning With Cooners, by Kalev Erickson. Published by Archive of Modern Conflict, 2011.

Perhaps what I'm trying to get at is the problem of attitude posed by this book – what and who it is for. It is not simply the document of an enthusiast, though it makes reference to the eponymous 1924 'Cooning' manual whose cover illustration is reproduced on the title page. Nor, quite obviously, is it a sentimental campaign against blood sports, though the violence of the kill is emphasised in a number of individual photographs in the book and echoed in the raccoon skull line-drawing featured towards its end. It is conspicuously an 'art' book, an edition of 500, but without the patronising discussion of 'vernacular' photography and its charms that can appear in such collections.

More Cooning With Cooners, by Kalev Erickson. Published by Archive of Modern Conflict, 2011.

What this book captures is the strangeness of going through someone else's photo archive – their memories and their passions caught on film – and the inevitable editorial distance that is created when one tries to order or 'archive' this work in any way. It is impossible to know the names, lives and motivations of the men captured in these photographs, and so they are reduced to a series of gestures and poses – presenting their dogs, sweeping their flashlights, posing with their kill – which we read from a distance. As a work of art in its own right, the book belongs to a tradition mined by photographers such as Zoe Crosher, working with 'found' material, who are interested in what is gained and lost when we 'read' a foreign group of photographs. The publishers of More Cooning, the resolutely mysterious Archive of Modern Conflict, have won international awards and garnered themselves a cult following by releasing a number of beautifully-produced titles in this vein, in which often historically fraught collections of photography (see Nein Onkel – a collection of playful domestic photos taken by Nazi soldiers) are mined for their significance and their conflicting effects.

More Cooning With Cooners, by Kalev Erickson. Published by Archive of Modern Conflict, 2011.

So much for the conceptual ambitions of the publisher, what about the images themselves? Cropped with rounded corners, to emphasis their antique origins, and with errors of exposure and colour intact, these are enthusiastic, playful photographs edited with an eye to their humour and energy. While there is an element of threat about the images which juxtapose hounds with young children (and this is a recurring theme in the edit), emphasizing the contrast of vulnerability with strength, domesticity with animal instinct, there are equally images included that are about tenderness (a young man holds a hound puppy) and also, simply, routine (identically dressed men sit, blankfaced, outside a hunting lodge at night). Erickson also gives free rein to the excitement of the chase, as captured in a number of blurred, close-up shots showing hounds as they pursue their victims to the treetops. The images themselves are taken with an eye to composition and colour, while the editing – which focusses emphatically on the volume of kill towards its end, with repeated photographs of 'trophy' walls of raccoon tails – usually allows the emotional and formal range of the images its full play.

You may feel like you've been on a hunt after finishing this book, but whether for raccoon or a couple of cold, hard facts, it's hard to say. How much you enjoy it will depend on how informative, how eloquent, you like your photobooks to be. I, for one, only wished there was more of the book to hunt through.—FAYE ROBSON

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FAYE ROBSON is an editor of illustrated books, currently based in London, UK. She has worked on photobooks for publishers including Aperture Foundation, New York and Phaidon Press, London, and writes a photo-blog called PLATE.

Happy Tonite, The Corinthians, Nein, Onkel, Coming Up For Air, Archaeology in Reverse,
and Hackeny Flowers, published and co-published by Archive of Modern Conflict.

When Googling the Archive of Modern Conflict, you will find precious little information aside from the AMC website displaying their fabulous publications. In the other tidbits found on the web the praise for AMC is high, as is the astonishment at the vast and varied archive housed in Kensington, London, but solid pieces of information are few. Each report comments on the mysterious nature of AMC, which we weren't sure how to interpret until we started our interview process. While it's still unclear if this air of mystery is cultivated or simply comes from a true disinterest in explaining oneself, I am beginning to believe the latter. Or maybe not. Well, maybe both, but with a healthy dose of evasive humor. What is clear is that their collection is significant and they are focused on producing amazing books, like the recently published Happy Tonite and a plethora of Stephen Gill titles co-published with Gill himself.

From what we have gathered, the Archive of Modern Conflict began as just that - a collection of images depicting unique aspects of war. Scrapbook (co-published by Steidl) depicts a series of found images -- newspaper clippings, drawings and other memorabilia -- that give a non-sectarian account of Northern Ireland's turmoil from the late 1960s to the early 1990s. Another early and highly acclaimed publication, Nein, Onkel, offers a personal glimpse inside the lives of Nazi Third Reich members. But the range of fascinating materials that AMC came across expanded, and so did the archive. Funding sources are vague, but the acquisition of items seems to take various forms, including photo swap events, where editor Timothy Prus puts up his photographs to be traded for by photos brought by visitors, and individuals (once, apparently, former Polish spies) approach the archive to sell items. As for AMC's purpose or long term plans, that remains to be seen.

When considering our questions for the Archive's editors, Timothy Prus and Ed Jones, we knew that there was a distinct possibility that we might receive elusive answers. Our interactions with them for the Best Books feature proved them to be happy to contribute, but spare with their words. We had hoped to get more out of them with this interview, but to our laughter, they have remained evasive to the end. We submit to you here, our own little contribution to the scant information on this organization. The words themselves are few, but quite telling. Perhaps we were overzealous in our questioning - but who can blame us. When they produce such amazing books and provide a uniquely interesting resource, who wouldn't want to get a peak inside?

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photo-eye:   As the name indicates, the Archive of Modern Conflict's collection was focused on war. When AMC was founded, how was it initially conceived?

Archive of Modern Conflict:   As a tool for finding out what's going on in the world.

PE:   I've read that the archive is not merely regulated to photographs, but contains a wealth of esoteric material - we've seen mention of 18th C. cookbooks and a strange fishmonger's hat. When did the scope of the collection start to change and how did this happen? Has it altered the original purpose of the archive?

AMC:   The fishmonger's hat you mention could be found on the head of a Billingsgate porter in the well known Bill Brandt image. Objects have always been an integral part of the Archive and quite often have no purpose whatsoever.

Ed Jones

PE:   Does AMC have a mission statement? If so, what is it?

AMC:   At one time we collected mission statements, but as they're so common we've rather let this line peter out.

PE:   Considering the change in focus of what is acquired, what guidelines are used for selecting items to add to the archive? Can you give us an idea of how it is curated?

AMC:   The collection is curated by a flow of thought from participants.

PE:   Where do the items come from? Do you ever seek out a specific type of material or items on a specific topic?

AMC:   Yes we seek out specific things. It is strange that when we pray for something to arrive it nearly always does but often not in the imagined form.

Timothy Prus

PE:   I'm sure that you see a lot of really interesting artifacts, but I'd also imagine that with such a project you could get inundated with material. What's the most interesting acquisition to come into the archive in recent memory? How do you decide what makes the cut and can you tell us about something that didn't?

AMC:   Normally the most interesting thing is the last person who walked through the door although this isn't always the case.

PE:   I've heard that you have a Beijing branch - has this changed the kind of material that the archive is collecting? Are there plans to start AMC branches in other parts of the world?

AMC:   We have some other branches and it's possible in the future we may have more although it could be that we have less, or stay the same.

PE:   How does AMC control the release of the material in the archive? Is AMC's publishing house devoted exclusively to archive material? Was publishing part of the original conception of the archive?

AMC:   There wasn't really an original conception. Nothing is set in stone, jelly perhaps.

From The Corinthians

PE:   Here at photo-eye, The Corinthians is collectively one of our favorite photography books to be recently published. What are the origins of these images? Did they come as a complete collection or were they assembled from a variety of sources? Could you talk a bit about the concept and editing process for this book?

AMC:   The Corinthians was assembled from a variety of sources. We looked at about 50,000 kodachrome slides and then created the underlying narratives alongside and after the editing of images.

PE:   The recent book Happy Tonite is a really fantastic collection of contemporary Chinese photography. How did this book come about? Were the images originally in the archive or was the book created as an addition to the archive?

AMC:   We are really looking forward to the Sinofication of the Occident. Happy Tonite is a step on that road.

PE:    AMC has also worked closely with Stephen Gill in publishing a few of his books, recently Coming Up for Air and Outside In. What is AMC's relationship with Gill and how did this partnership come about? How did AMC and Gill work together on these projects?

AMC:   Some of Stephen's approaches to photography and aesthetics fit with the Archive in a very natural way. We work together with precious little torture or aggression. We both have a curious civic pride.

From Nein, Onkel

PE:   AMC has allowed exhibitions of images from the archive curated by notable photographers and historians. How have those collaborations come about? Does the AMC promote an active exhibition schedule or do these shows come about through outside request?

AMC:   Collaborations generally come through social interaction. The feeling around any project is as important as the articulation of content.

PE:   The archive isn't open to the public, but individuals may request access. How does that process work? Do people have to propose a project or can someone say, just come in to browse?

AMC:   We would love to have more interesting visitors but as we are a very small team it can be impractical. It's always wonderful to meet new people who can add coherent background information to the images. Access is an issue that we have to deal with on a day to day basis.

PE:   Are there plans for putting the archive material online? Or perhaps a list of the archive's contents? At the moment, is there any way for an outside individual to know what the archive contains?

AMC:   It depends, half and half.

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See books by the Archive of Modern Conflict here.

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