Nice reviews on photobooks about Myriorama + Kaugummi zines

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  Myriorama - Estelle Hanania
  

  I’ve been a fan of Estelle’s work for a while now, and after some unsuccessful attempts to get hold of her work in print form (e.g. shops having sold out after I placed my order) I was delighted to see this publication made available.

  Like everything else published by Gottlund Verlag, the book itself is a work of art. The cover is letterpress printed and you can see where the ink has run through to the inside of the front cover on my copy. It lends a certain tactility to the book that engages you, before you’ve even got to the photographs.

  The images in this book deal with costume and ritual, and in the same way that these can transport us through time and space, so the book achieves the same in its portrayal of these concepts.

  I especially like the shots in which the illusion is spoilt - by trainers showing from underneath the costume, or the photo where the man has taken the mask off to smoke - because these apparent flaws in the façade only heighten the air of surrealism that exists throughout the book.

  I love the mysticism that Estelle conjures up in these images, and I can only imagine what it must be like to stumble upon one of these rituals being performed, especially in a car park of all places.

  This is a really strong set of images, presented in the typically high Gottlund Verlag tradition, and a wonderful addition to my collection - and yours too?

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  NOTES

  Family Zines (2010) - Various (Kaugummi)

  This set of five zines was launched at an event at Family, Los Angeles. Due to geographical constraints I was unable to attend, but fortunately the zines were made available online and I picked up all 5.

  Of these, I was particularly interested in two of the zines, those by David Horvitz and Estelle Hanania. There’s nothing wrong with the other three but as they’re not photography based they simply don’t interest me as much.

  David Horvitz is known for his long term art projects (e.g. the 2009 project in which regular mini art project ideas were sent out to email subscribers) and his collaborations with the band Xiu Xiu. This zine contains a series of black and white photos printed onto bright yellow paper. It sounds like it shouldn’t work, but it does. The last image is particularly striking, but all the images contain subjects which are - arguably - mainly yellow, so it’s a clever use of the medium.

  I’ve been fascinated with Estelle Hanania’s work for a long time. This zine appears to focus on her work with Attila Csihar, specifically his elaborate costumes. Costumes in general form a theme throughout Estelle’s work, which I’m hoping is explored in more detail in her book which arrived yesterday. The choice of paper doesn’t appear to play as big a part in her zine, but the colour doesn’t detract from the images in any way.

  Overall, this is a really nice set of zines. I wish there was more photography in there, but for those who are interested in art zines in general (as opposed to photography zines in particular) there’s a lot to like.

  Despite mainly being interested in 2/5 of the set, I’m perfectly happy to support Kaugummi because they work hard consistently to produce superb photography books and zines, and publish artists we might not otherwise have access to.