Critique
Critique (established 1999) is the regular Eye column by Rick Poynor.
Godard becomes ‘Godard’
In 1961, the new wave director posed for a German fashion photographer. The publicity pictures that followed are as self-reflexive as his films. Photo Critique by Rick Poynor
Palaces of petroleum
The adventurous design of a 1960 book promoting Australia’s fossil fuel industry offers a poignant glimpse of an optimistic, unquestioning age.Photo Critique by Rick Poynor
The haunted shore
Images of spectral sea-bathers haunt the light-filled pages of Nigel Grierson’s self-published photobook.
Photo Critique by Rick Poynor
Netherworld of crime
A new book expands upon an impressionistic photo-essay about crime by Gordon Parks, including images not published at the time.
By Rick Poynor
Recolouring the past
At a time when image falsification is a source of concern, the digital colourisation of documentary photographs is a retreat from the truth.
Photo Critique by Rick Poynor
Instant object of desire
A Polaroid photo’s aura of ephemeral uniqueness lies in its small white frame and supercharged surface. Photo Critique by Rick Poynor
Whiteness made strange
A brave, if flawed book of artists’ photographs addresses racism through the lens of white privilege. Photo Critique by Rick Poynor
Scalpel sharp
A UK retrospective examines the explosive photomontages of feminist artist Linder, from the shock of her punk collages to pictures that juxtapose provocation with flowers and dance
Among the spirits
Nadav Kander’s poetic and mysterious portraits of celebrities steal the limelight in his new book The Meeting. Photo Critique by Rick Poynor
Four-wheeled dreams
A new book of photographs of cars fails to acknowledge the bigger picture. Photo Critique by Rick Poynor