If I was somewhat unimpressed with Ninagawa Mika’s Sugar & Spice, well, it was probably the wrong book to jump into Ninagawa’s work. After all, Ninagawa is very well known for her particular and peculiar use of color, which Sugar & Spice didn’t really show to full effect. To remedy that, I ordered Ninagawa’s new …
Author Archives: James Cockroft
Michael Ashkin – ‘were it not for’
I’m not sure where I heard about Michael Ashkin’s were it not for. It wasn’t a Charcoal book, so I suspect it was the review and “Highly Recommended” rating from Jörg Colberg. I more or less trust Colberg’s reviews, and tend to more or less agree with him most of the time, but it was Ashkin’s …
Film Shooters: Refrigeration is Your Friend
I’m not sure how I ended up with two rolls of Fuji Super G. Maybe one came from a Oli’s Choice or similar mystery expired box from the FPP, or maybe a lot of expired film from the ‘bay; I think the other came from an Emulsive Santa event, maybe the 2019 version, but I’m …
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The Gathered Leaves Grab Bag
Back in November, 2020, Alec Soth’s Little Brown Mushroom imprint/project/thing ran a sale. Most of the stuff on offer was way out of my league, and I was deep into debt reduction mode anyway, but I plumped for the $100 “Gathered Leaves Grab Bag.” What is the “Gathered Leaves Grab Bag?” Well…
Bruce Davidson – ‘Subway’
Until I stumbled across Subway during an Aperture sale, I only knew Bruce Davidson for… Turns out, I had Bruce Davidson confused with Bruce Gilden and I almost scrolled right past, but I’m glad I checked it out (and bought a copy), as it’s quite something.
A week with the Harman Black & White camera
As a Muslim, I don’t celebrate Xmas at all, but, and shame on me, in late 2020 when CameraFilmPhoto launched their Advent Calendar, I jumped on one. Also, as an avid film enthusiast with some environmental concerns, I mostly avoid single use cameras, and while I heard of the Harman single use Black & White …
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Matt Martin – ‘American Xerography in Color’
Matt Martin is a photographer, curator, and promoter of photocopied photography… Photocopied photography? Yep. Check out @thephotocopyclub, which Martin founded, and his series “American Xerography 2016-2018.” In monochrome, the quality reminds me of punk flyers and zines, and has some relationship to Provoke and William Klein. In color, though, it’s something else.