Kikuji Kawada – ‘Chizu’ (Maquette Edition)

Kikuji Kawada’s Chizu is one of those photobooks that I read about many times, looked for many times, always blanched at the price, and expected I would never see. First edition copies from 1965 rarely come up for sale, the Nazreli 2005 version runs about $1000, well above even my most wasteful outrageous photobook purchases, and even the 2014 Akio Nagasawa Reprint is quite out of range for me, most of the time anyway.* So when Mack announced its printing of the Maquette Edition, I preordered a signed copy immediately.

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Bertien van Manen – ‘Archive’

Archive is my introduction to and only photobook from Bertien van Manen, so far, and as far as I know/recall. Where has she been all my life? smh. Anyway. The book collects selections from projects undertaken over roughly 40 years and across three continents. In black & white and color, the work has looks almost effortless in a way. I would give the book a wholehearted recommendation, but it failed in being a book in a way that I’ve never seen before and hope to never see again…

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‘Claudio Pogo’s Guide’

I have no idea where I came across Claudio Pogo’s Guide. I thought maybe swerdnaekalb or amolitar put me on to it, but I couldn’t find any reference to the book on their excellent blogs… Oh! Wait… Andrews doesn’t write much on his own blog these days. He’s more often found on Collector Daily, and that’s where I stumbled across this book.

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‘William Eggleston’s Guide’

What can I say about William Eggleston’s Guide? It’s just one of those photobooks that everyone knows. You’ve probably got a copy; if not, you’ve seen all the pictures enough times that you don’t need one. Even those lucky people who pay no attention to photography or photobooks have seen a few of the pictures thousands of times. I had it on my ‘to buy’ list for many years, after seeing what must have been a first edition copy in Half Price Books for more money than I wanted to spend at that time.

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Martin Parr – ‘Black & White’ (Café Royal Books)

Did you know that Martin Parr started out with black & white film, or shot it from time to time after making his name with color? I didn’t, not until I acquired a complete set of his Café Royal Books zines from the Martin Parr Foundation shop, all signed and presented in a handsome slipcover…

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Raymond Meeks – ‘ciprian honey cathedral’

Raymond Meeks’ ‘ciprian honey cathedral’ is a meditation on home and family, and it’s the sort of book I’d like to make, more or less. Looking through it makes me want to pick up the camera again, start looking again, and I know it’s impossible for me to make Meeks’ book, so the cameras continue gathering dust even though I know I’ll only make my book by making pictures…

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