Pierre Faure: Japan

I noticed Pierre Faure’s photobook Japan while browsing in the bookstore today. I love the feel of the thing; the juxtaposition of japanscapes and people. I’ve done something similar when I was there. Only much more by chance and not by assignment.

Some of the photos can be seen here, only sadly in a really small size.

I don’t really know what to think of the concept, though. Isn’t it a bit National Geographic to have a book titled only “Japan”? Could you also have “Germany”, or perhaps “Denmark”? Or would that be boring, while Japan for us westerners is exciting and exotic?

For me, almost everything that has to do with Japan is dear, so… I could not buy the book at the bookstore – it was €60 – but managed to order it used via Amazon. €20 with shipping, not bad..

Street Art, Street Life

I ordered a new photo book, Street Art, Street Life. It’s supposed to have work from 30 different street oriented photographers from the 1950′s to the present time (and was on sale at the American Book Center).

Trent Parke Podcast

A Magnum podcast about one of my favourite photographers, Trent Parke.

In London there was a small Trent Parke exhibition recently; I loved seeing his work as large prints (they are so much more impressive that way). They also had his first book Dream/Life which I then tried to find to buy but it was impossible, it’s all sold out.

David Bailey: Ailleurs

Ailleurs, or in English, Locations – the 1970′s archive is a beautiful photobook about the stuff David Bailey made in the 1970′s. Fashion, portraits, even travel photography. Pretty different stuff from his 1960′s London photographs. This was bought from a little corner store in Marais, Paris…

I’ve always kind of liked David Bailey, although I am not so enamored by the celebrity portraits. There was a wonderful exhibition by him a few years ago in Helsinki, from where I got his gigantic Archive One, which covers the period 1957-1969 and the so called “Birth of Cool”.