The first of a few great editorials this year, first a review of "Miss Titus Becomes A Regular Army Mac" and what a nice way to start, than with The Royal Photographic Society and a review by Brian Steptoe FRPS. Here is a little excerpt from the piece;
"This is an artist book, conceived by Melinda Gibson and published October 2013 by b.frank books, who specialise in artists books. It's a 46-page book, with French folds printed on both sides. Each copy is unique, signed and dated... Miss Titus, in common with many recent award-winning contemporary photobooks, uses 'found' images, in this case from the archive collection of Brad Feuerhelm...
This book is not easy to get into, to attempt to 'read', but a steer is given in the text; that the back images establish the context for the hidden images. However, in most cases there is no connection between the two, which is the actual message implied by the book - that we seek connections and meanings where there just aren't any. It's about the 'lies' of photography, about photographs never showing the 'truth.'
It also has a psychological element; should readers resist the temptation to cut open these hidden pages and for how long? It's a book as much about the tactical experience of handling as about the content."
This book is not easy to get into, to attempt to 'read', but a steer is given in the text; that the back images establish the context for the hidden images. However, in most cases there is no connection between the two, which is the actual message implied by the book - that we seek connections and meanings where there just aren't any. It's about the 'lies' of photography, about photographs never showing the 'truth.'
It also has a psychological element; should readers resist the temptation to cut open these hidden pages and for how long? It's a book as much about the tactical experience of handling as about the content."
Read more in the Winter Issue, number 54 of the magazine, Contemporary Photography.
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