Olivia Arthur - Jeddah Diary

I just got a copy Olivia Arhtur's debut publication Jeddah Diary, a chronicle of her travels and relationships with young Saudi women. Olivia, now a Magnum associate, is showing in Fotohof at the moment with her series "The Middle Distance" which was the winning work for the Inge Morath Prize in 2007. Since then, Olivia has continued an interest in the lives of young women in the Arab world and specifically in the grey zone between East and West.
What is immediately special about these new images is how Olivia has managed to not insult the cultural restrictions which prohibit these young women from showing their face, yet keeps them very tangible; the small prints are re-photographed, allowing the flash glare to do the job of the normally brutal black-bar across the eyes. There are also diary style text pieces which anonymously give the girls a voice to their situation, their future and the decisions they are currently facing which will affect the rest of their lives.

If you are in London, be sure to go to the launch which is on Wednesday April 25th at the FISHBAR, a space in London for documentary photography. There are only 1000 copies and I'm sure they will sell out fast. I see that you can pre-order them if you can't make it to the launch.


Just for the record, I think this will be on many "best of" lists this year. Its already on mine.

Salford Zine Library, a new home

The Salford Zine Library has found a new home but needs help with the details. Check out the goodies you can get for just a bit of sponsoring, besides that it is an important place.

"720-two times around" newspaper

The Easter Bunny has brought me a stack of newsprint catalogues of "720- two times around".

The original book from 2010 is sold-out but this is a collection of the images which will accompany a show at the Brunnhofer Gallery in Linz in October this year.

This is a long way from the original, in fact its quite trashy as newspapers can sometimes be, but somehow suites the project well. The images are all here as well as a great text from Sebastien Zanella from Desillusion Magazine.

I am selling the few that I have to put the funds towards the show.

720 - two times around

32 pages, newsprint.

5,- Euro + shipping

order here

FOTOHOF - the new space

left: Dirk Braeckman "N.P.-M.V.-05" © Dirk Braeckman - Courtesy of Zeno X Gallery Antwerpen,

right: gallery view Herman Seidl

The time is finally here. After more than a year of planning and building and moving, Fotohof is finally settled into the new space and we will be celebrating this weekend.

If you are in town, stop by Friday night, the 24th of February for the opening of Dirk Braekman in the main hall and Peter Dressler in the new library space. On a huge projection screen we will present works of current Austrian positions.

On Saturday morning I will moderate a discussion between Jeffrey Ladd and Dirk Braekman about his new book.

Hope you can join us, here are the details.

Justin Winz - Paris

Justin Winz sent me his latest book of polaroids and light/chemical manipulated plates. American Surfaces is the first one I put on the blog 2 years ago, just as Polaroid went under. I didn't make it to the presentation in Paris during Paris Photo, but I think you can still get one via Schaden, at least the special edition. To get the normal version, maybe try Justin directly.

Kudász Gábor Arion - A Special Edition of Luck

A bit early for St. Patrick's day, but if you are looking for a little something special for that unlucky person in your life, this new edition by Arion might be the right thing.

Arion's mother accumulated a collection of 200 four-leaf clovers, packed each one in a newspaper cut-out of the day and then left them to Arion who is now offering the clover along with the corresponding photograph.

The clovers are the heritage from my mother who could not possibly look at an inch of grass without finding a handful of four-leaf clovers.

What do you do when you have loads of lucky clovers in your wallet, pockets, diaries and calendars? Throw them away or keep them? My mother carefully pressed them between pieces torn from the daily newspaper and put them in a box, and then in another box, and another one. Of course, even a flood of four-leaf clovers could not improve her life. Only the uneven distribution of goods occurred in a less monetary form (clovers), now by giving them away as part of this special edition I try to compensate.

Arion

It is a fundraiser of sorts to get money together for a forthcoming publication of his personal work Middle.

They are only 20 Euro each, get all the info here.

Baptiste Lignel - Face à La Vie

Baptiste Lignel, who's book Ce Qui Demeure I have featured before, is raising money for his next book which will support a very important cause. He has spent the last year, following a small magazine assignment, photographing in the pediatric cancer ward at the hospital in Garches. The images show the daily struggles, routines, fear and pain, punctuated by moments of laughter; "a place where life is happening."

There is a show on right now, until March 4th in the Cité des Science in Paris, where the images are accompanied by interviews.

The ultimate goal is to produce a book, the profits of which will go to support Regarde la Vie, a charity organization which works directly in the children's ward.

Follow the project on his specific site. www.facealavie.org to pre-order a book and help support the cause.

all images: Baptiste Lignel, 2010-2011