Josef Koudelka Lime Gerry Badger´s Choice of Company Photobooks Photography

Koudelka, Josef, 2012, Lime, (Xavier Barral) isbn-10: 2915173850 isbn-13: 978-2915173857

Josef Koudelka sprang to fame - as Photographer X - for his images of the Russian invasion of his native Czechoslovakia in 1968. Before and since then, Koudelka has spent many years photographing gypsies; matching his lifestyle to theirs, travelling and living rough with them. From 1986 he also made very different images with a panoramic camera, depicting urban and rural landscapes devoid of people to reveal the impact of industrialisation. Other projects have included photographing the construction of the Channel Tunnel and the industrial pollution in Czechoslovakia.   

Josef Koudelka’s latest book, "Lime" (Xavier Barral), follows up on the photographer’s work on Limestone (La Martinière, 2001). That work featuring 36 panoramic photographs was published in a limited edition of 500 copies and is today out-of-print. 
 

In the 245-page "Lime", we find those same previously published photographs plus more recent ones on the same subject. In the text that accompanies the pictures, “Nature and Man: Josef Koudelka, The Freedom to Observe,” Jacqueline de Ponton d’Amécourt emphasizes the interest a number of painters since the 19th century have taken in rock quarries, from Gustave Courbet in 1850 and, later, Paul Cezanne at the Montagne Saint Victoire, to Pablo Picasso and the old quarries near the Chateau de Vauvenargues. 

Like these great painters of the 19th century, Koudelka chose quarries as his subject. At the invitation of the largest global mining group, the photographer regularly visits quarries across the world. From 1999 to 2010, he visited 51 quarries in 11 countries, sometimes spending days on location. He brought back panoramic black-and-white photographs showing apocalyptic landscapes that show traces of mankind, even though the pictures lack human presence to provide a sense of scale. 

It is for this reason that Koudelka does not consider this series as a commission, but rather a mission related to the “current concerns about man’s harmful effect on landscapes.” With this book, Koudelka touches on something timely and universal: human activity that permanently changes the landscape.
Others will see in this book an instance of Land Art.

Bernard Perrine
Bernard.Perrine1@orange.fr 

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“New Vision” look at Marseille, containing her daring high-angle shots of Transporter Bridge Germaine Krull Photography

GERMAINE KRULL’S MARSEILLE, WITH OVER 40 PHOTOGRAVURES

KRULL, Germaine and SUARÈZ, André. Marseille. Paris: Librairie Plon, (1935). Quarto, original photographic cream stiff paper wrappers.    

First edition of Krull’s “new vision” look at Marseille, containing her daring high-angle shots of Transporter Bridge.

Once called by Jean Cocteau “the reforming mirror,” Germaine Krull is considered “one of the most significant practitioners of ‘new vision’ photography, which examined the industrial and technological transformations that took place after World War I” (SFMoMA). “She was one of the first to photograph industrial images—factories, bridges, machinery, sometimes viewed from vertiginous angles, finding the essence of the muscular patterns inherent in this subject matter” (Arthur Lazere) and “turning their soaring angles into grand monuments of modernity” (Roth, 46). Man Ray told her that he and she were “the greatest photographers of our time.” Krull’s Marseille contains her daring high-angle shots of Transporter Bridge, typical of the “new framings, large plans, and search for new forms of plastic expression” that define the non-conformist principles of the New Vision movement (Chrystel Jubien). See Parr & Badger, 95.

Marseille 1928/29
© Germaine Krull

Germaine Krull

Vintage Silver Gelatin Print

4.5 x 7.5 "

Described by Jean Cocteau as a “reforming mirror”, the Modernist photographer Germaine Krull took on subjects as diverse as fashion, war and architecture.

Born in Wilda, East Prussia, Krull studied photography in Munich. After being imprisoned and then deported from Russia she moved to Berlin in 1922, where her work comprised fashion and advertising, nudes and street photography.

The central theme of Krull’s work is the modern city, which she depicted in radical angles and near-abstract close-ups. Her urban and industrial images were regularly published across Europe and having moved to Paris in 1928, Krull was acknowledged as one of the three top photographers, along with Man Ray and André Kertész.

According to Ms Sichel, “Her greatest contribution as a photographer is the industrial, geometric abstractions that she did in Holland and France in the 1920s, the work for which she is best known. However, it is equally important to look at her pioneeing street work. In the press of the time Krull and André Kertész were the two names everyone cited. They were the people to look at and learn from, whether you were Cartier-Bresson or Brassai or Doisneau, or anybody.”

Richard Pinset, Art Newspaper ‘A photographic pilgrimage’ June 2000

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Arteries or Nerves, either feeding or cleaning the Body Corporate Carel Blazer 50 jaar Bruynzeel 1897-1947 The Dutch Company Photobook Photography

Carel Blazer 50 jaar Bruynzeel 1897-1947
...in a famous double-page spread, ducting and pipes look like arteries or nerves, either feeding or cleaning the body corporate...

50 jaar Bruynzeel 1897-1947. [Text M. Redeke [Maurits Dekker] (firm's history). Photography Carel Blazer, Eva Besnyö. Illustrations, Layout: Jan Bons, Jaap Penraat].

Zaandam / 1947 / 130 p. / hb. / 33x26cm / 154 b&w photographs, in opdracht en uit bedrijfsarchief / bedrijfsreportage, documentaire foto's / productieproces, ontspanning, opleiding). - Ill. 20 color / schematische ontwerptekeningen en komische pentekeningen. / NN / Firmenschrift / Wirtschaft, Firmengeschichte - Photographie - Anthologie - Auftragsphotographie, commissioned photography - Nederland, Niederlande - 20. Jahrh. / Printed by Firma L. van Leer en Co, Amsterdam (offset). - Opdrachtgever: C. Bruynzeel & Zonen (50-jarig bestaan). - Voorloper van bedrijfsfotoboek met kenmerken van beeldverhaal. De indeling van het boek is thematisch, naar type eindproduct. In het laatste hoofdstuk is aandacht voor de sociaal-maatschappelijke kant van het bedrijf. De fabriek wordt metaforisch voorgesteld als een levend organisme.

The Dutch Photobook describes the relatively recent history of the famed Dutch photobook. Editors Rik Suermondt and Frits Gierstberg chose over 120 of the most significant Dutch photobooks and placed them in the context of developments in photography and society.

The post-Second World War Dutch photobook is unique because of the long tradition of graphic designers and photographers working closely together. It is highly prized abroad, and many photobooks have become part of the collections of museums and private collectors. This book shows the immense variety and allure of the Dutch photobook and makes it accessible to a broad audience.

Six chapters, organized both thematically and chronologically, examine company photobooks , photobooks about youth culture, landscape books, city books, travelogues and autonomous photobooks. For each theme, the 20 most noteworthy books are described and represented by gorgeous illustrations of their covers and parts of their contents.

Despite - or perhaps because - the digitization of photography, the traditional medium of the photo book is (still) enormously popular amongst contemporary photographers. They see the book as the ideal form to present their work and to tell their story. The Dutch photo book has built over the years a certain reputation. The close collaboration between graphic designers and photographers determined in the period after 1945 the quality of the Dutch photo books. Gerry Badger wrote: ": ‘One of the most active photobook cultures in the postwar years was Holland, rivalling and perhaps exceeding even France.” 

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An excerpt from "The Photobook: A History, Volume 2" by Martin Parr and Gerry Badger: "Almost as much as the Soviet propaganda books of the 1930s, postwar Dutch photobooks were total products. That is to say, the photographers were often just part of a larger team that included writers and graphic designers, with no single element having prominence over another.This was particularly true of company books in the 1950s and 1960s, but the trend was apparent even by the late 1940s, as seen in this fine early example of the way Dutch graphic designers eagerly grasped the opportunities that had been cut short by World War II. The photographer for 50 Jaar Bruynzeel was Carel Blazer, a leading light in the 'Underground Camera' and the radical GKf Group of documentary photographers. As such, and as a member of the Dutch Communist Party, his involvement in the production of a commercial company book may seem contradictory, but apart from the obvious reason of making a living, reconstruction was the main priority in postwar Holland, and as Bruynzeel was a timber and building products company, commerce and communism had overriding motives in common. Blazer's pictures are stolidly conventional in any case; the book's radicalism lies in its design, and the way in which the images are incorporated into the total graphic package.As is typical of many company books of the period, [this book's] ideological message presents man and machine as two aspects of a single entity. The complicated services and communications systems of the factory are compared to the human body with its arterial and neurological systems. In a famous double-page spread, ducting and pipes look like arteries or nerves, either feeding or cleaning the body corporate." (Martin Parr & Gerry Badger).

Carel Blazer 

In 1911 in Amsterdam geboren, overleden in Nijmegen in 1980. Sociaal en politiek bewogen mens, nam in zijn jeugd deel aan initiatieven tegen het opkomende fascisme. Fotografeerde tijdens de Spaanse Burgeroorlog. Was tijdens de bezetting actief in het verzet. Mede-oprichter van fotografenvereniging GKf. Leermeester van o.a. Ad Windig, Dolf Kruger en Paul Huf. In de jaren vijftig en zestig legde hij zich toe op reclame en industriële fotografie maar maakte ook reizen in binnen- en buitenland en fotografeerde dan mensen tijdens hun alledaagse bezigheden.

Carel Blazer (1911 - 1980) Photographer | Promote Your Page Too

the photo books of Carel Blazer

Carel Blazer. [Text W. Witkampf. Typ. Wim Crouwel]. Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, 28. März bis 5. Mai 1968.

Van duin tot ijsselmeer. [Text W. Hijmans (firm's history); G. A. Brederoo, M. M. P. Muir, van Oldenborgh, J. P. Kloos, Joost van den Vondel, J. van Nijlen en A. P. Tjechow (essay). Photography Carel Blazer. Layout Mart Kempers].

Zo reist uw stem per telefoon... [Photography Aart Klein, Carel Blazer. Vormgeving: Ton Raateland].

Oosterscheldebrug. [Text Max Dendermonde. Photography Carel Blazer, C.A.L. Kotvis, T. Slagboom. Layout Joh. Enschede en Zonen.

Nieuwe Matex / Amatex. [Text (voorlichting). Photography Carel Blazer, Frits Rotgans et al. Layout Jan Bons].

De zaak is rond: Een halve eeuw SKF in Nederland. [Text Max Dendermonde (essay). Photography Carel Blazer. Layout Mart Kempers].

Verkenning in het onbekende: Vijftig jaar Koninklijke Shell Laboratorium Amsterdam. [Text Sybren Polet (essay). Photography Carel Blazer. Layout Gerard Wernars.

Wegen naar morgen: Uitgave onder auspiciën van de Nederlandse Vereniging van Wegenbouwers. [plaats]. [Text Max Dendermonde; H.A.M.C. Dibbits. Photography Carel Blazer. Illustrations Opland. Layout Mart Kempers].

Willem Ruys. To see the world. [Text Max Dendermonde. Photography Carel Blazer. Illustrations: F.W. Michels. Layout Jurriaan Schrofer].

4 gaten in de grond. [Text Eugene Eberle. Photography Carel Blazer. Layout Benno Wissing].

N. Samsom NV Nieuwbouw 1959-1960. [Text Jan Blokker (bedrijfsgeschiedenis, beeldcommentaar). Photography Carel Blazer, P. de Pater, D. van der Poel. Layout Gerard Wernars].

De wereld van vandaag: Na vijftig jaar Vredestein. [Text Max Dendermonde (essay). Photography Carel Blazer, Cas Oorthuys, Ed van der Elsken, Cor van Weele. Illustrations: E. Dukkers, Aad Feldhoen, Mart Kempers, Frits Müller, B. Witteveen, H. Bartels, Peter van Straaten. Layout Mart Kempers].

Waar ook. Photography Carel Blazer (bedrijfsreportage); Cees van der Meulen; Frits Rotgans. Layout Dick Elffers].

100 jaar Grasso. [Text Eugene Eberle (firm's history). Photography Violette Cornelius, Carel Blazer. Illustrations, layout Benno Wissing]

Rotterdam. [Text P. Verhoog (firm's history). Photography Ad Windig, Frits Rotgans, Carel Blazer. Illustrations P. Klaasse. Layout P. Klaasse en Han de Vries].

The finishing touch: 100 jaar Twentsche Stoombleekerij NV door Max Dendermonde en Carel Blazer. [Text Max Dendermonde (firm's history). Photography Carel Blazer. Layout Gerard Wernars].

Gebroeders Klinkenberg Wormerveer 1855-1955: gedenkschrift ter gelegenheid van het honderdjarig bestaan van de N.V. Machinefabriek en Constructiewerkplaats Gebr. Klinkenberg. [Text J.W. Klinkenberg, W.P. Klinkenberg (foreword). Photography Carel Blazer. Layout Jurriaan Schrofer].

80 jaar van Leer.[Photography Carel Blazer, Victor Meeussen e.a. Illustrations: H. Pan. Layout: H. van Gemert].

50 jaar Bruynzeel 1897-1947. [Text M. Redeke [Maurits Dekker] (firm's history). Photography Carel Blazer, Eva Besnyö. Illustrations, Layout: Jan Bons, Jaap Penraat].

Amsterdam tijdens den hongerwinter.

Tromp, Ir. Th. P.

Verwoesting en wederopbouw. Revival of the Netherlands. Text Ir. Th. P. Tromp.

Unearthly Landscape Lunar Landscapes - Maasvlakte 2 Marie-Jose Jongerius Photography

Marie-Jose Jongerius

Lunar Landscapes - Maasvlakte 2

03.NOV.2012_13.JAN.2013

From3 November 2012 to 13 January 2013, the Nederlands Fotomuseum will present the exhibition entitled Marie-José Jongerius: Lunar Landscapes - Maasvlakte 2. In this work, the Dutch photographer has recorded the development of Maasvlakte 2, the extension project of the harbour of Rotterdam, in an intriguing way. During the past year, she aimed her large-format camera at the new landscape in the night-time. This produced large-format photographic images with an enigmatic beauty.

Marie-José Jongerius

Marie-José Jongerius (De Bilt, 1970) studied photography at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, and attained her Master’s Degree in Photography at the AKV / St. Joost-Avans Hogeschool in Breda. In New York she worked alongside Dana Lixenberg, and exhibited work in the ADC Gallery and the Riverside Museum in Los Angeles, among others. In addition to autonomous work, she also carries out photographic commissions for the New York Times Magazine, ELLE and Vogue.

Jongerius worked in Los Angeles between 2002 and 2006. In this period she realized the photo project entitled Edges of the Experiment (2011), in which she placed examples of the concretized American dream next to the powerful nature of California. Her photos depict the visible and invisible boundaries that people impose on the surroundings they admire but against which they must also protect themselves. A number of these American landscape photos were on display in the Nederlands Fotomuseum during the exhibition New Topographics in 2011. Lunar Landscapes is a continuation of this type of research into the relationships between humans, the living environment, nature and the sustainability of the created landscape.

Marie-José Jongerius photographed Maasvlakte 2 with the scant amount of nocturnal light available. Her approach issues from the observation that the new, artificial land in the sea is a land without history; it is neither culture nor nature. It is a land without images. In an extremely detailed manner she records what is visible in the meagre (artificial) light. With this, her photography symbolizes the stages in a train of thought, not only about what this new land could become, but also about the images that might offer us a clue to understanding the impossible genius loci of this sand zone.

Maasvlakte 2 Series of Assignments
Since 2007 and in conjunction with the Nederlands Fotomuseum, the Port of Rotterdam and the Foundation for Art and Public Space have issued an annual assignment to a photographer, filmmaker or other visual artist to create work related to the construction of Maasvlakte 2. The assignment is to observe, analyse and interpret the development of this new part of the Netherlands, and to involve the public in their way of looking. Marie-José Jongerius now closes the series. The first stage of Maasvlakte 2 will be completed in 2013. Dorothée Meijer, Marcel van Eeden, Rosa Barba and Erik Wesseloo preceded her and also enjoyed exhibitions in the Nederlands Fotomuseum. The film Somnium (2011), which Rosa Barba made in this framework, is on permanent display in the Film Lounge of the Photographic Museum.