Wednesday, 7:00am
7 December 2016

Books received #24

Eggers in the sky, Callahan’s streets, Tim Burton, rubber-stamped Chilean horror and a Brit in Japan

Here are a few photobooks that have recently caught our attention … each reviewed in no more than 140 characters.

Matías Celedón’s The Subsidiary haunts readers with a horror story made using rubber stamps.

Celedón designed each rubber stamp and individually stamped each page. He used an antique Trodat stamp set he bought at a Santiago bookstore.
Top: Spread from Understanding the Sky by Dave Eggers.

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The Subsidiary (2016) is Chilean author Matías Celedón’s first novel to be translated into English (translation by Australian writer Samuel Rutter).

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Dave Eggers’ Understanding the Sky weaves together photographs and dialogue to tell a heart-warming story about a man who wants to fly.

Understanding the Sky, 2016, by Dave Eggers. The book includes over 150 photographs, all taken by the author.

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Written in Japanese, Andrew Pothecary’s Alphabet Secrets Revealed by a British Designer is a Brit’s eye view of English characters.

Author Andrew Pothecary’s spread about the letter ‘V’. Pothecary argues that there are certain connections, meanings and associations linked to each letter.

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Cover of Tokyo-based graphic designer Andrew Pothecary’s Alphabet Secrets Revealed by a British Designer (2016).

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Ian Nathan’s Tim Burton: The Iconic Filmmaker and his Work chronicles the fantasy film director’s career with vibrant still captures.

Spread showing a still image from Burton’s Frankenweenie (2012). The images within the book are from the archives of The Kobal Collection.

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Spread showing a Edward Scissorhands (1990) poster and a headshot of the movie lead Johnny Depp.

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Cover of Tim Burton: The Iconic Filmmaker and his Work, 2016. The book was designed by Sue Pressley and Paul Turner, Stonecastle Graphics Ltd.

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Harry Callahan: The Street features the American photographer’s less well known street photography, in black-and-white and in colour.

Wells Street, Chicago (left), Old Town, Chicago (right) (1949).

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Aside from straightfoward street photography, Callahan is known for his experimental work, such as Atlanta (1985), a dye transfer print.

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Harry Callahan: The Street (2016) was edited by Grant Arnold and published by Black Dog Publishing in partnership with the Vancouver Art Gallery. On the cover is Callahan’s Providence (detail, 1967). Photographs of books in ‘Books received #24’ by Mariam Dembele.

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