New book!

So, it's Christmas...kind of. Well, not anymore, but the January sales are on so I've been treating myself, perhaps a little too much, to some new goodies!
Including this great book by one of my favourite artists, Slinkachu.

I bought Global Model Village: The International Street Art of Slinkachu here after wanting another of his books ever since I got the last one!

Global Model Village: The International Street Art of Slinkachu, front cover, Boxtree 2012.

As always, Slinkachu uses the world around him to place tiny model people into human-sized situations. The book, cleverly, shows close ups of the set-ups, as you can see below, but also shows a wider angled shot, showing the background and settings and where, often you have to really squint to see the models.

 Hanging On: Slinkachu

All Star Nobody: Slinkachu

Ground Zero: Slinkachu

I love Slinkachu's work, not just for the cute quirkiness and huge skill involved but for the situations he portrays; things that every day people go through, problems that the world and its societies face and in this book, Slinkachu goes around the world, giving a more diverse range of worldly problems with interesting political and natural backdrops.

It seems the little people know how we feel! 

New books!

I got a couple of photography books for Christmas!


This one: London Street Photography 1860-2010; Mike Seaborne and Anna Sparham; is a great look back on London through past decades.
It's not quite in linear sequence which can be annoying but the images really make you think what London must have been like all those years ago! As the cover suggests, London was a very different place in the 1860s; the fashion, the transport, the commerce...  its fascinating to piece together how it changed and became what it is now. I find it intriguing that some of these people could be yours or mine relatives!
I love historic photographs and hope to do something involving my family's ancestral photographs soon.


I also received this book:

Microworlds; Marc Valli and Margherita Dessanay; a collection of images from different artists. I have a bit of an obsession with 'micro photography' at the moment so loved looking at how different artists and photographers have interpreted this genre in their own way. Even life-sized humans feature!
I really want to have a go at some micro photography myself very soon. I have some ideas whirring around in my head and they need to come out!

Check out more on both books here (London Street Photography) and here (Microworlds)

Book of the Month - August 2011.

So time has run away from me again and it's already 14 days into August! But...better late than never!

This month I've gone for a very arty book; one of my favourite photographers which includes one of my favourite photographs.

August's book is Gregory Crewdson 1985 - 2005; a collection of images from Crewdson's various projects over 20 years.
I love Crewdson's work because his images, especially his later work, are so enigmatic. You're never quite sure what's going on in the picture. It's as if he has just missed that 'crucial moment' and what we are left with is a snapshot of emotions and ambiguity which the viewer has to try and figure out for themselves.

It is obvious that the subjects are involved in some kind of drama and the viewer will never know what has really happened, leaving a sense of unease about the photographs but at the same time, making them all the more compelling.

There are so many highly crafted, beautiful, film still-like images to choose from but I've just about whittled it down to 3.

Twilight: Plate 48

Beneath the Roses: Plate 72

Twilight: Plate 46

The top image is one of my favourite photographs ever. Can't really explain it - which I guess comes with the ambiguity of the picture - but I love looking at it. It resembles Millais' famous painting Ophelia. But there are so many unanswered questions in it, it draws you in.

These images are from the series' Twilight and Beneath the Roses, some of the more recent works. But there are other, earlier works such as Hover and Natural Wonder which, although in a different style to the above series', are just as interesting and complex.

Hover: Plate 29

Natural Wonder: Plate 20

Crewdson will always intrigue me and I think I'll always enjoy looking at his images. I'd love to know what you think; if you have any interesting interpretations of his work?!

Find out more about this book here: Amazon and Waterstones

Book of the Month - July 2011.

So, time for July's book of the month!
This time, it's 'Faces in Places' by Jody Smith (ed.)
This is a highly amusing book and I'm sure would bring a smile to anyone's face! It's basically, as the name would suggest, a compilation of photographs from 95 photographers(!) who have noticed funny faces in everyday objects and the world around them.

The story behind this book is great; it started off as a blog on the internet - which is still going here: http://www.facesinplaces.blogspot.com/, got spotted and is now a great book, with the blog being updated all the time!

Here are a few examples from the book:

Tree Sad

Bahaha

Zipper Fish/Front Cover

These are merely a taster; there are so many brilliant photos in the book you won't believe how many faces appear in every day objects and out and about - and how you didn't notice them all before!

They're also on facebook here: Facebook Faces and do check out the blog - there are loads more amusing photos on there. See if you can spot a face in something - you can send them in to the blog's flickr page and it might turn up online!

Oh, AND, as if just buying the book wasn't enough, 10% of the profits of the book sales go to the charity Hope For Children. So its bringing smiles to other faces as well!

As always, here's some more info on the book: Amazon and Waterstones

Book of the Month - June 2011

So...completely didn't realise it was already 13 days in to June and so I'm only just getting around to doing this, ha!

June's book is Little People in the City: The Street Art of Slinkachu. I love this book!
Each picture is full of narrative and depicts snippets of the lives of tiny people in the real world.
It's funny, cute and even heartwarming. And what makes this book even greater is that next to each close-up image of the tiny person is a wide-shot of its situation in the real world which makes it even more obvious how tiny these model people are!

Here are some examples:

Manhole Swimming

'They're Not Pets, Susan'

Cash Machine

I'd love to do some photography like this soon! I need to start planning I think...and buying some little people!

My boyfriend bought me this book one Christmas and it's one of the best photography books I own! And I've just discovered other books by this artist..Hmmm 'add to shopping basket' I think :)

Here's the artist's website http://slinkachu.com/ where there are more images which aren't in the book and some more information of the book itself here: Amazon and Waterstones

I'd love to know if you've tried anything like this!?

Book of the Month - May 2011.

So today, while I'm listing to a Radio Rock Helsinki, I felt the need to choose this book as my book of the month for May.
This is Pierre et Gilles Sailors & Sea - a book which requires you to suspend your disbelief.

Its kind of hard to describe this book fully or put it into any kind of genre. The photographs in this book focus on stories of the sea; connoting dreams and never-ending journeys. Things which aren't qutie tangible.
Most of the images have had very heavy digital post-production but it all adds to the idea of these dreams; things which happen at sea that no one really knows about. Sirens, sailors and creatures and, according to this book, a lot of glitter!

Once you open this book you enter a world you imagine exists but is only accessable to the privaliged few. We just get to look at the pictures. It's almost worth not thinking too much about it, but just allowing your imagination to take you away with the sailors and the sea.

A few images from the book:

Dans le port du Harve, Frederic Lenfant, 1998.

Les deux poupees, 1985.

La siren et le marin, Stephanie et Didier, 1997.

Find out more about this book here: Amazon 

and here: Waterstones

Book of the Month - April 2011.

Finally my computer is back to normal! Huzzah!
So, I've just finished The Ongoing Moment by Geoff Dyer (Book of the Month - March 2011) - Pretty interesting stuff. A lot of concentration needed I felt but a lot of inspiration gained from the book too! It was interesting to see how the details, symbols and 'punctums' of photography hadn't changed through decades of photographers; how just the position of a hat, for example, can symbolise something so defining in a country's history. These 'ongoing moments' have stayed the test of time and give a lot of insight into the photographs of these periods, perhaps even into the photographer themselves, whether they knew it or not...

It was also interesting to gain an insight into the relationships of certain photographers with each other and their spouses. The Artist and the Photographer are often drawn (ha!) together, it seems.
It's kinda hard to go too deep into this book; the best thing would be to read it yourself! New ideas for projects were popping up everywhere. Everything means something...and everying is ongoing; nothing stays in the past; no path is untrodden.

So, onto April's book of the month!
This month, I've chosen Chroma: Celebrating Colour in Photography by Michel Pastoureau.

It's was given to me by my lovely boyfriend as a birthday present and is all about celebrating the colourful things in life! As much as I'm a fan of black and white, I adore colour photographs. I love saturated, atmospheric images as well as the worn and faded colours of old family photographs.
This book has some gorgeous photos inside and is separated into colour chapters, each with an explanation of why we love the colours we do and where this love arose.

Some images in the book:

Girl With a Headscarf / Peshawar, Pakistan / Steve McCurry

Policewoman Directing Traffic / Pyongyang, North Korea / Eric Lafforgue

Rave Party at the Sambadrome / Sao Paulo, Brazil / Paulo Whitaker

This book is pretty huge but well worth a look, especially if you revel in colour, as I do!

Here are some links with info about the book:

Amazon

Waterstones

Can I also just say that Steve McCurry deserves a Knight-hood or something. His images are so beautiful! A modern day August Sander - check him out! - Check them both out!

Book of the Month - March 2011.

So this is something I wanted to start as a monthly thing. I LOVE my books and wanted to share some of my favourite photography (and maybe non-photography) ones!

So this month, I'm reading Geoff Dyer's The Ongoing Moment. I've only just started it but it seems like it's going to be interesting. Dyer's not actually a photographer so he's coming at it from a more objective view point (I don't think you can ever be completely objective) but as he's not in the industry and doesn't work with photography every day, maybe he's more clear-minded about it all.
There'll be more of a review once I've finished it - I realise I've just set myself a month's deadline to do so! - but for now, here's a couple of links (under the picture) so you can read about it.

Enjoy!

Waterstones

Amazon