Gallery Visit: 'E Book Show' - John Hansard Central Gallery: Part 2
POSTED ON Tuesday, 5 February 2013 AT 09:24 \\
This post will give a brief overview of some of my favourite works from the photobook show. Overall I was very impressed with the variety of work displayed and the imagination behind it. The quality of some of the books was so outstanding that I was really surprised to learn that most of them were in fact hand made. Here are some of my favourite books from the show.
favourite books
Este Seu Olhar - Maíra Soares
This little book was the first I looked at in the show and remains to be one of my favourites. The use of soft pastel blue as a cover and a baby pink suede tie, along with the delicate pink page dividers between each image complimented the personal feel of the subject matter: photographs of her mother, taken by Soares' father during their honeymoon.
The Voyage - Peter Bennett
At first glance there are similarities between Soares photobook and this one as it also has a pastel blue cover. However the content is very different but equally well suited to the design. The book opens out into a consatina format, creating a new dimension to the other photobooks in the exhibition and presents the deconstruction of the pages in an old ship's log. The thing that drew me to this book was the use of soft colours and the square format of the book.
Salaryman Project - Bruno Quinquet
Because of my interest in Japanese and Korean culture, the content of this book by Bruno Quinquet appealed to me the most of all the photobooks. I really liked the format of the book, displaying the photographs in the format of a business schedule, including a calendar under each page and even pages of important Japanese holidays. This format complimented the photographic content of well dressed Japanese businesmen whose lives are heavily organised and structured. Quinquet states that "On one hand, it explores images of masculinity and normality in the world of Tokyo office workers. On the other hand, it is an observation of the sense of the season in the Japanese capital. The photographic style is an attempt to adapt in a creative way to the increasing constraints of portraits rights on candid street photography. As a result, mystery and poetry seem to blossom around the supposedly boring corporate world." (credit)
other books
Here are some of the other books in the show that caught my attention.
Speaking of Scars - Teresa Eng
(video)
I liked this book because of the use of layering. Some images were printed on opaque paper (like tissue paper) and it also included little open out sections of paper. You can see this in the video link above.Labels: bruno quinquet, e book show, este seu olhar, gallery, john hansard, maira soares, peter bennett, photography photobook, salaryman project, southampton, speaking of scars, teresa eng, the voyage
