Journal — Tristan Parker Photography

Daido Moriyama - Mirage

Just a pre warning, some of the images in this post may be considered not safe for work. Timing is interesting. I was on Facebook today and a good friend posted some photos of some books that he was taking back home with him from a trip. One of them was Daido Moriyama's Mirage. I had this post set as a place holder already and when I saw the image on Facebook I decided it was the right time to finally start to write it.

Added to this is the fact that I am traveling for work at the moment and as a little inspiration I have brought some books with me that I have been planning on writing about for a while. One of them was Mirage.

Photo Book ReviewTristan ParkerJuly 8, 2014Artistic Inspiration, Film Photography, Photo Book, PhotographyComment

Jesse Marlow - Dont just tell them show them

I recently received a copy of a new book by Jesse Marlow to review. After recently purchasing his previous book Wounded, I was very excited about the new publication from Jesse. Jesse is a Melbourne based photographer, and this is one thing that I find drew me to his work. From a slightly selfish perspective, its a source of inspiration to see someone roaming the same streets that I search and coming away with such strong work. Its great to see the locations and know where they are. It lets me become just a little more immersed in the images than with a book shot in a location that I am unfamiliar with. This is all well and good for me as a Melbournian, but I have no doubt the book is hugely successful without this locational connection. Maybe even more so, I dont have that perceptual advantage.

Anders Petersen and Jacob Aue Sobol - Veins

I have a slight obsession with Jacob Aue Sobol that was already well developed prior to buying this book. It would be an interesting survey to complete of the people who have purchased this book, how many bought the book for Petersen and how many for Sobol? I was squarely on the Sobol side of the fence when I made the purchase, but may be sitting more on the fence after taking in the images. This is a fantastic thing. That youre able to take in the pages and not have a clear favourite artist in a collaborative book is on a simple level good value for money. On a more complex level, its a great achievement by the two artists involved in producing a book that flows so well even though its not the product of a single photographic eye. Sobol is just an amazing talent and also a very interesting and passionate man. I am sure thats a statement that applies to many of the past and current Magnum crop. After seeing a long video of him speaking at the Nordic Light Festival about his latest project, this was further cemented. Its a long video, but its well worth sitting down to with a nice glass of red and taking in what Sobol has to say.

Photo Book ReviewTristan ParkerMarch 11, 2014Book Review, Film Photography, Photography, Street PhotographyComment

Andrew Miksys - Disco

Disco... What are you thinking of? Gloria Gaynor? Dianna Ross? You bet ya! That period of time in the 70's that you hear so much about, or maybe some of you even lived it... Im not that old. That period that created so many classic musical moments. Due to this, I thought we would start by adding a sound track for this post. Cool track this one... Not one of the disco classics that we are referring to, but a more modern take on the theme. This track is not the norm as far as disco music goes, neither is the 'Disco' that is reflected in Andrews book.

Photo Book ReviewTristan ParkerMarch 3, 2014Artistic Inspiration, Book Review, Photography, Street PhotographyComment

Koji Onaka - Lucky Cat

This is going to be a really interesting and quirky kind of review if it does any justice to how quirky and interesting Koji Onaka's wonderful little book Luck Cat is. The basics are that its a simple soft cover book. The paper quality is really nice, and the vibrant colour and contrasty nature of the prints is well done also. I do prefer hard cover books, they seem to add a touch of class to a book, but the soft covering on this edition of Lucky Cat is actually quite well done. The simple utilitarian design on the front cover of the book really matches the nature of the images within.

Photo Book ReviewTristan ParkerFebruary 26, 2014Artistic Inspiration, Book Review, Photo Book, Photography, Street PhotographyComment

Sakiko Nomura - NUDE/A ROOM/FLOWERS

I will just state very quickly that some of the images in this post are NSFW. Sakiko's book was a surprise for me when it arrived in the mail a while back. I found the book on Japan Exposures and thanks to the really great sample images of the books on their site was able to get a good grasp of the fact that I would like the book. I wasnt mistaken...

Thanks also to their great samples, I also have a very long wishlist waiting for some savings as well.

Photo Book ReviewTristan ParkerFebruary 17, 2014Artistic Inspiration, Book Review, Photo Book, PhotographyComment

Zoe Strauss - America

Its really early on in my plans to slowly work through my book collection and review them one by one to be making this call, but America by Zoe Strauss is one of the best photo books available. Period.

If you dont know the story behind the book then this is a great way to start your journey through its pages, but I am going to give away a little of it here. Zoe poured her heart and soul into this book. Something that is plainly evident when you spend some time taking in the work in its pages. There isnt really many ways to put it, other than to say that there is a range of stunning images in the book. Some of them simple, and others highly complex.

Nuno Moreira - State of Mind

I am going to start this by making something perfectly clear... I am a little biased about this style of black and white photography. That gritty grainy feel to some of the images, the high contrast look in others. The tonal ranges are very pleasing to my eye.

Housekeeping first... The book is printed on really nice quality paper. It is presented in a glossy soft cover and the first edition was printed in 2013 in Japan, and is limited to just 500 copies. There is no page numbers so I am unsure how many images are in the book, but the image size on the page is great, with really high quality print quality finishing off the premium feel.

Photo Book ReviewTristan ParkerJanuary 31, 2014Artistic Inspiration, Book Review, Photo Book, photography reviewComment