Four photographers take a trip through time
- Text by Miss Rosen
Photography freezes an ephemeral moment. It allows us to fill in the blanks, harnessing our imagination to do what it does best.
For Paul Schiek, publisher of TBW Books, time is the underlying theme of Annual Series No. 6 – a four-book set featuring the works of Guido Guidi, Jason Fulford, Gregory Halpern, and Viviane Sassen. Here, each photographer presents a series of work that has never been published in book form, creating an opportunity for visual dialogue from one artist to another.
“I started the Annual Series because I was interested in showing my own work alongside the work of other people, and then I realised quickly that I was enjoying showing other people’s work more than my own,” Schiek recalls.
Image courtesy of Jason Fulford and TBW Books
In Guido Guidi’s Dietro Casa (“behind the house”), the photographer offers a nod to ’80s Italy and Walker Evans, creating a gentle dreamscape. “Guidi wanted to present older black and white work where he was using these photographs as a marker of time,” explains Schiek. “It felt cinematic. It set the tone for the other books, and it was easy to create this compelling idea around photography and time.”
Gregory Halpern’s book, Confederate Moons, documents “The Great American Eclipse” of 2017. “I was fascinated,” Halpern says, “by the idea that the entire nation was staring at the sun, revelling in the apocalyptic thrill of watching the moon temporarily extinguish our life-source, all together.”
Viviane Sassen embraces the future of photography as a technical phenomenon with her book Heliotrope, which features digitally manipulated images made while travelling in Ethiopia, Morocco, Mozambique, Senegal, and South Africa.
Image courtesy of Guido Guidi and TBW Books
“I aim at subverting the way I look at these images, and at the world,” says Sassen. “Colour, graphic shapes and shadows are my tools to revisit, reinterpret and gather a different understanding of what seems familiar. The ordinary and the magical merge. The series is underpinned by the impulse to explore unknown territories, physical or metaphorical.”
Lastly, Jason Fulford’s contribution, Clayton’s Ascent, was made while travelling across the United States on a motorcycle between 1997 and 2003.
This desire to map the mysterious phenomenon of time, as it is expressed and experienced through the visible world, brings the new series into sharp focus, creating a naturally flowing rhythm between the books. “When you look at their work in a continuum, I think of it as a trip through photography and how these four artists are using time duration but taking us through decade by decade four different visual aesthetic approaches to book making,” Schiek notes.
“It’s really a heady thing that most people won’t get but that’s how I approached selecting these artists. But if you just want to look at four individual books, you can do that. There’s a lot going on if the viewer demands that from them.”
Image courtesy of Viviane Sassen and TBW Books
Image courtesy of Gregory Halpern and TBW Books
Image courtesy of Guido Guidi and TBW Books
Image courtesy of Jason Fulford and TBW Books
Image courtesy of Gregory Halpern and TBW Books
Image courtesy of Gregory Halpern and TBW Books
Image courtesy of Viviane Sassen and TBW Books
Image courtesy of Viviane Sassen and TBW Books
Annual Series No. 6 is available now.
Follow Miss Rosen on Twitter.
Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
You might like
Sepia splashed memories of Britain’s ’90s squatting and free party scene
Bygones — Moving into a Hackney squat at the age of 19, Tom Hunter spent years living on London’s edges, while documenting the vibrant, creative community and culture that it enabled. Huck’s art director Sam White chats to him about the freedom that existed, the collectivism and what’s been lost over the decades since.
Written by: Samuel White
A melancholic portrait of youth, rebellion and womanhood in Iran
And They Laughed At Me — Newsha Tavakolian has worked as a photographer all her adult life, as Iran underwent change, upheaval and conflict. Her new photobook explores the formative years of her eye and art amid generational strife, hope and disappointment.
Written by: Miss Rosen
The real life mermaids of Florida’s Weeki Wachee Springs
Old Florida — A relic of pre-Disney tourism in the state, the show – which sees women perform athletic underwater tricks in a natural spring – has been running since 1947. Jack Burke attends, while reflecting on the fragility and fantasy of old America.
Written by: Jack Burke
The intricate, clandestine art of Japan’s traditional tattoos
Irezumi — Having emerged during the Edo Period centuries ago, inking skin has long been associated the country’s working class, and particularly Yakuza. A new book by Manami Okazaki explores the history and deep meaning of the practice, as well as the horishi who dedicate their lives to the needle.
Written by: Isaac Muk
Road tripping across 1970s America
73 Trip West — In 1973, Larry Racioppo set out from Brooklyn to California, armed with a medium format camera. For the first time in over half a century, roadside photographs from his trip have been unearthed.
Written by: Miss Rosen
New exhibition spotlights the ongoing impact of Japanese Women Photographers
1950s to Now — Taking place at The Photographers’ Gallery in London, it showcases work by 27 artists from the past seven decades including Mikiko Hara, Yurie Nagashima and Mao Ishikawa.
Written by: Isaac Muk
