Photobooks of 2020: Terri Weifenbach
Do Not Disturb My Waking Dream by John Cohen, Steidl
The book, perfectly diminutive in size but with a shout, by capitalization and size of the title, to awaken you upon entering the book. The rest is poetry, memory, a remembrance and a final goodbye. They are of John Cohen’s life and dreams simultaneously. It is an intimate book, as intimate as the last dreams we can possibly have.
as it is by Rinko Kawauchi, Chose Commune
And here is the quiet, whispered in the title. Paperback, understated, calm. Rinko’s signature light and color in the service of the transition to being a mother. Edging in sentiment, it doesn’t take the dive, beauty is not pretty. The text is very important, Rinko’s own words, deftly included with obi size translucent paper intermittently among the images, unobtrusive and available.
China Dream by Teresa Eng, Skinnerboox
A slow reveal. Text in an insert. The photos themselves are what captured me. Color is emerging, not overt. These photos of Teresa’s China come forward to the surface plane, flat or almost… giving me a feel similar to Morandi’s still lifes. These are a painter’s decisions, describing with certain vocabulary Eng’s understanding of the China she finds.
La Casa que Sangra by Yael Martinez, KYW Editions
Covered in red, swiss bound to open fully. You enter a realm where fire emanates from darkness. You know where you are. You’re here, in a place where beauty can be described as difficult, desperate; where words need to be hidden. This book is from the heart and utterly unforgettable.
A Sensitive Education by Francesca Todde, Départ pour l’image
Sized as a small novel. Francesca Todde has described in visual, visceral terms, a particular understanding of birds. The book is wrapped around the life work of Tristan Plot. His story is revealed at the end of the book in the descriptions of the characters. With her own beautiful photographs and archival images Todde guides us to this place of consideration for another whose consciousness is so different from our own.
12Hz by Ron Jude, Mack
A forthright, unadorned and elemental book. Ron’s images are presented singly (a couple outliers) allowing immersion and excluding comparisons. The effect, paging through, is a slow metamorphosis of perception, where water becomes rock and rock becomes water’s surface. Now definite, now changing, changed.
Terri Weifenbach was born in New York City and resides in Paris, France. Bookmaking is central to Weifenbach’s artistic practice. She has authored more than nineteen titles. Most recently published is Des Oiseaux: Terri Weifenbach by Editions Xavier Barral, 2019. She is a Guggenheim Fellow having received the distinction in 2015.
Images: top - as it is by Rinko Kawauchi, below - La Casa que Sangra by Yael Martinez
