Explore Stories

Photobook

Tate acquires Martin Parr's 12,000-strong photobook collection

“I have always wanted my photobook collection to go to a public institution in the UK and with the recent commitment to photography from Tate, this was a very easy decision to make. I’m also very happy that thanks to Maja and LUMA, the city of Arles will embrace the photobook phenomenon,” says Martin Parr. Well-known as an avid photobook collector, co-author of the seminal three-volume anthology The Photobook: A History, and a respected photographer, the Magnum Photos member has given his entire collection to Tate. Built up over 25 years and including 12,000 photobooks, it is a world-class library which includes a broad geographical scope and many different approaches to photography, and includes self-published amateur work and mass-produced books alongside iconic publications by artists such as Hans Bellmer, Nobuyoshi Araki and Robert Frank. 

11 September 2017

Shooting the establishment: Martin Parr's Oxford

“You could say I’m a member of the establishment,” says Martin Parr, the Magnum Photos member who has published early 50 monographs, had solo shows at The Barbican, Jeu de Paume, and Maison Europeenne de la Photographie, guest-directed the Rencontres d’Arles, and co-authored The Photobook: A History. We’re discussing his latest exhibition and book, Oxford, which was shot on commission for the world-famous university, is going on show in its Weston Library, and will be published by the Oxford University Press.

7 September 2017

Sure shot – a Guyanese father and child, by Jamain Gordon

“This portrait does not simply show a man who earns a living as a tattoo artist but the reason why that living is so important to him – his family,” says Jamain Gordon, reflecting on the portrait of Ricardo and his daughter outside their home and tattoo parlour in the South American country of Guyana. “It was Ricardo who wanted to have his daughter in the photograph and the warmth of their relationship can clearly be seen.” The image is now featured in a photobook, One People, One Nation, One Destiny, which shows the traditions and culture of this small but proud country.

5 September 2017

The story of Japanese photobooks, from 1912-1990

“There was Hiroshima, Nagasaki and the American occupation but also the uprising of students and farmers against the seizure of land for Narita Airport. It all unleashed the desire of the young generation to say that they had enough,” says Manfred Heiting as he introduces The Japanese Photobook. In a century of vast changes, from traditions to technology, empire to war, the photobook became an institution in its own right in Japan, documenting the history of the country as it happened.

23 August 2017

Opening closed doors in Vincent Ferrané's Milky Way

“I have simply seen breastfeeding as an act of life and love that is not always an easy task, and that therefore is deserving of encouragement in its all dimensions, psychological, physical and social,” says Vincent Ferrané, whose photobook Milky Way is a testament to his wife and women everywhere as they begin their lives as mothers. The series focuses on breastfeeding, a natural act that can sometimes cause controversy when brought into the public sphere. Ferrané’s photobook hopes to move past that and reclaim the breast as an empowering part of the female body.

22 August 2017

Rifles, surveillance and civilians in Kratsman's The Resolution of the Suspect

“I have to be scared, because the moment I’m not scared it might be dangerous.” Miki Kratsman has found himself in a number of difficult and dangerous situations over the course of his 33 year career photographing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In that time, he has repeatedly changed his approach to create different narratives, showing not only the danger in the region, but those brave enough to stand up to the attacks, the pernicious nature of surveillance and latterly creating a Facebook community to share news of what has happened to the subjects of his photographs.

15 August 2017

Any Answers: Donald Weber

“I’ve just about had enough of photojournalism. What I find most disheartening is the staunch anti-intellectualism; an almost complete lack of self-awareness, with severe consequences in today’s world of ‘alternative facts’. We don’t trust what we see. Why is that?” asks Donald Weber, originally a trained architect but now a leading thinker with four photobooks to his name

14 August 2017

Humble Cats makes the case for our furry friends as serious subjects

The internet is used for millions of things by billions of people on a daily basis. More important than the latest news update though is our obsession for cats and the proliferation of feline-based jokes knows no bounds. In a new photobook, Humble Cats, Jon Feinstein hopes to move beyond just the meme-based disposable photos of our furry friends and see what potential these companions have to inspire artistic photographs.

11 August 2017

Organ Vida photofestival returns to Croatia to ask the big questions

The international photography festival in Croatia celebrates its ninth edition, hoping to unite audiences in a ‘divided’ world with its eclectic programme, which includes a Pieter Hugo retrospective; Dana Lixenberg’s award-winning Imperial Courts; and Dragana Jurisic’s elegiac pilgrimage through the former Yugoslavia, YU: The Lost Country

11 August 2017