Hipshots

Flirting with film

Martin Amis — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:17:07 +0000

I have been playing around with a Mamiya 7ii medium-format rangefinder these past few months. The camera is a joy to use, however scanning dusty negatives is a real headache - 7 inches of snow means I have finally got around to it…

Merry Christmas to one and all!

Upcoming photobooks

Martin Amis — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 10:29:34 +0000

A selection of photobooks due out later this year that will make my personal shopping list:-

I always mention William Klein as a big influence, yet have never had much access to his books so undoubtedly Errata Edition’s Book on Books version of William Klein’s classic Life is Good & Good For You in New York will be top of the list. See the full information here. Another Klein classic photobook Rome also earns a long overdue reprint and will get the full Aperture treatment with a large 2 volume slipcased version due out in October (no information on Aperture website as yet though).

Another reissue due out this Autumn is arguably Martin Parr’s finest work The Last Resort. My personally inscribed copy (”To Martin, from another Martin….”) is one of my most looked at photobooks, so it will be good to get a less precious copy. New Parr work is also on the horizon with the release of the Chris Boot published Luxury.

Steidl’s Autumn/Winter catalogue (download here) has the usual embarrassment of riches. Books that I will certainly be taking a look at are Mitch Epstein’s American Power, Burtynsky’s Oil (each release gets bigger and heavier ironically…) and Bruce Davidson’s Journey Into Consciousness, a well deserved 3 volume retrospective with a price tag to match, which contains selections from all his series. Also noted from the Steidl catalogue is the much awaited reprint of Christer Strömholm’s Poste Restante is now rescheduled to May 2010 (was due out 3 years ago!). Similarly delayed is Saul Leiter’s Early Black and White, which may or may not come out this Autumn.

Finally, keep an eye out for news on a full Joel Meyerowitz Phaidon retrospective, although as yet no material on this seems to be available online other than a brief mention on his personal website.

Eggleston on the Beeb

Martin Amis — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:08:14 +0000

Don’t miss Tuesday night’s (14/7) 50 minute documentary The Colourful Mr Eggleston part of the BBC Imagine series. The show is directed by Reiner Holzeimer, so presumably it will feature much of the footage from the short DVD on Eggleston by the same director.

40 online photography magazines

Martin Amis — Mon, 11 May 2009 11:13:59 +0000

If you havent checked it out already, then have a good browse through the excellent list of 40 online photomags here, courtesy of Smashing Magazine (also check out the other suggestions in the comments.) Any photographer looking for a little exposure, could do a lot worse than submit to a few of these.

Martin Parr news

Martin Amis — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:51:35 +0000

© Martin Parr / Autoportrait

Interesting news on the wire today that Martin Parr will be curating the 2010 Brighton Photo Biennial. From Martin Parr: “I am looking forward to having the opportunity, through Brighton Photo Biennial, to share some of my passion for photography by exhibiting some recent finds of new work. I also want to build on the success of the last Biennial by focusing more on placing shows within Brighton & Hove and making the event a centre of dialogue and discovery.” Read the full press release here.

Look out too later this year for a retrospective of images from Parr’s books at Rocket Gallery.

William Eggleston Paris

Martin Amis — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:25:20 +0000

On show now at the Fondation Cartier is William Eggleston’s recent work on Paris. A full review can be found here via Sean O’Hagan of the Guardian. Also check out the Fondation site for a few tantalising (e.g tiny) glimpses of the upcoming book/catalogue and a video of the maestro tinkering the ivories.

More on the book, can be found at the Steidl website here.

The book was due out March 1st, Fondation Cartier states April, Steidl say May and my contact has told me Autumn 09. So place your bets!

Racing Seen latest

Martin Amis — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 10:34:56 +0000

© Martin Amis

Joel Meyerowitz interview

Martin Amis — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 11:21:07 +0000

Check out a great interview with one of photography’s most eloquent speakers Joel Meyerowitz here. A long overdue retrospective is due out in 2010 by Phaidon.

Racing Seen December

Martin Amis — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 10:17:15 +0000

Photobook round-ups

Martin Amis — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 14:12:09 +0000

There has been a glut of end of year photobook lists of late. I have compiled a list of the few I have seen so far…

First up is the truly awful Guardian collection here. With most selections, being aimed at those without any particular interest in photography, I wouldnt spend much time on it. Better photobook coverage in the Guardian can be found here, in Liz Jobey’s In Focus series of articles.

Next up we have the Daily Telegraph’s photography book list here. Eugene Richards’s Blue Room pops up on a few lists, so I am keen to see a copy of this recently released title.

Also from the UK press we have the Times’ Christmas Photography Books here, which gives top marks to Steidl’s Berenice Abott retrospective. Which leads me to the Deutscher Fotobuchpreis who awarded their top prize to the beautiful Steidl Berenice Abbot book. The rest of the prizewinners can be found here.

The most thorough round-up can be found at PDN, whose 2 part feature can be read here and here. A number of my favourites get a mention including Beaufort West by Mikhael Subotzky, Stephen Shore Road Trip Journal, Joel Sternfeld Oxbow Archive and Luigi Ghirri It’s Beautiful Here, Isn’t It.

Finally, you will probably find no better guide to photobooks online than Jeffrey Ladd’s 5b4, so take your time checking out his carefully considered best books of 2008 entry here.