Gnawing curiosity of the unknown leads to exploration. It has no material hard cover. The sewn and glued spine further implies, opulence is not needed or wanted here. The story boldly begins with a black hole floating in the sky. There is a lot of darkness, rather blackness that lurks throughout many of the double pages, but something else is always present: outlines of the action, of the memory or of the dream. Reflection is a key to seeing what surprises the trip has to offer. Take the risk. This object is a combination of two of Holland’s most dynamic young artists, Kruithof who investigates perspectives and the physicality of photography, and Scheeren’s ironical and emotional stagings for his photographs. Designer Hans Gremmen fulfils the triad, making this small book one of the finest influential examples of Dutch photo book projects in the past years.

— Celina Lunsford, Frankfurt am Main

Anouk Kruithof & Jaap Scheeren: The Black Hole 
Design: Hans Gremmen
Episode Publishers, Hup Editions, Rotterdam, 2006
With text from Leon Van den Langenberg
ISBN 90 597 3044 5

These photographs were taken in the basin of the Los Angeles river and document the debris and remnants of society collected there. It is a wandering journey through an area the photographer played in routinely as a child, however guided with a mature eye and sense of color and composition.

— Manuel Esposito

Anthony Hernandez: Everything
80 pp., 45 four-color illustrations, 12×13″
Nazraeli Press, Tucson, 2005

This slim book by Enno Folkerts was published in 1936 and presents typical Bavarian scenes of that time. It is, of course, a product of the political environment of the 1930s in Germany but it still remains historically important, especially as a photo book, showing the quality of book making and printing in Germany at the time. The style of the portraits themselves also strikes an interesting balance between the poetically stylized work of Erna Lendvai-Dircksen and the reportage style of the day.

— Hermann Liefeld

Enno Folkerts: Oberbayricher Bauern-Adel
J.F. Lehmanns Verlag München, 1936

Alyse Emdur wrote to hundreds of prison inmates requesting photographs of themselves taken in front of the murals that are routinely hung inside jails to take portraits to send home to family members. From the images she received, she curated the following selection. It is a moving and tender work. Her own photographs of the murals add another layer of sadness and absurdity to the project and help steer it away from mere voyeurism.

— Christine Morrison, photographer

Alyse Emdur: Prison Landscapes
192 pp., 158 color illustrations, 6½x9¼”
Four Corners Books, 2012

Welcome to Springfield  is a surreal trip into the American suburbia of the past, with Michael Abrams at the helm. It is a collection of found photographs that are assembled together to create fictional place, a place full of grit, spunk, bad attitudes, and lewd behavior. Every page has a fresh and unique layout thanks to the book’s designer John Gossage. Gerry Badger also contributes a wonderful text.

— Frank Delmas, book collector

Michael Abrams: Welcome to Springfield
156 pp., 135 duotone illustrations, 8¾x7¾”
Loosestrife, 2012

Gary Briechle’s collodion wet plate images of family life stand on their own, with a darkness and gothic tone that is wholly unique. To compare these images with Sally Mann is obvious, because of the process and subject matter, however Briechle manages to capture grit and solitude in a way that avoids romanticism. This book, by Twin Palms, is wonderfully printed and sequenced. Highly recommended.

— Sam Telners

Gary Briechle: Photographs
96 pp., 66 duotone illustrations, 10×12″
Twin Palms Publishers, Santa Fe, 2010

This recent catalog of the great Mexican photographer Manuel Álvarez Bravo includes many rare images and new glimpses at a complex artist. Well assembled and sequenced, the quality of this catalog is evident in your hands. Another fine production from T.F. Editores.

— Lore Muñiz

Manuel Álvarez Bravo
240 pp., 150 color illustrations, 9½x11¾”
T.F. Editores, 2012. 
Gerardo Mosquera, Iván de la Nuez and Catherine David

This little green felt covered book is fun trip back in time to the cozy good ole days of playing tennis in the 90′s. If you like tennis and photobooks, this one’s a no brainer.

— Jerry Hicks, tennis player

Emiliano Biondelli & Valentina Venturi: Ordinary 90′s Playgame
blisterZine, 2013

Karl Blossfeldt (1865-1932) legte in seinen Pflanzenaufnahmen durch vorsichtige Präparation und mit Hilfe fotografischer Mittel den Blick auf das Wesentliche frei: Urformen von Natur und Kunst gleichermaßen, die sich als symmetrische, helikale und rekursive Strukturen beschreiben lassen. Als florale Vorlage für die Gestaltung kunstgewerblicher Objekte angefertigt und insoweit noch dem Art Nouveau verpflichtet, maß er seinen Aufnahmen keinen eigenständigen künstlerischen Wert bei. Dieser wurde erst durch die Vertreter der Neuen Sachlichkeit erkannt. Die feinen Kupfertiefdrucktafeln der 1928 als Album und Mappenwerk erschienenen „Urformen der Kunst“ bieten immer noch den besten Zugang zu seinem Werk.

— Klaus Mayer, Sammler

Karl Blossfeldt: Urformen der Kunst
Verlag Ernst Wasmuth. Berlin o.J. (1928)

Laura J. Padgett intensively intervenes through the use of film documenting the construction of the Städel museum’s new wing and renovation of its existing building designed by Schneider + Schumacher. Over the course of 2 years from 2010 – 2012 Padgett’s field of research was the building process, matching up the old with new, while in dialogue with the construction workers. Padgett fascinated by the chaos and order of construction shot images from aerial perspectives as well as from the inside defining interior details. At times poetic and at others systematic, and often romantic Padgett’s fascinating body of work processes and defines the creation of the underground gallery for contemporary art. The spectacular 195 round skylights are integrated into the floor of the Städel garden. Padgett working in the field of architecture and art history shares her views of the Städel’s annex and renovation within the boundaries of space and time.

— Annabelle von Girsewald

Laura J. Padgett: Raum über Zeit
Verlag: Kehrer, Heidelberg (Januar 2012)
ISBN-10: 3868282785