Documentary Photography — Blind Magazine

From the war in Ukraine to the 75th anniversary of the Magnum agency or an intimate dive into the heart of Athens, here are ten photographic treasures around photodocumentary and photojournalism.

1 / Thierry Clech, Sunset in Ukraine

Moments of lightness, smiles, hugs… Thierry Clech crossed Ukraine in the summer of 2013, three months before the Maidan uprising. “Of course, without doubting that this will be the last summer that this country will experience the territorial integrity”. The beaches of Odessa or Crimea are full of Russian and Ukrainian tourists, children play in parks and on the sand, in a carefree summer…Thierry Klex shows with his writing and illustration how fragile this balance is and the upcoming conflict is already felt. From this lengthy report, the photographer returned 73 films, over 2,600 views, to finally select 76 photographs for this book.

Sunset in Ukraine128 pages, 78 illustrations, Snoeck publications, texts by Thierry Clech, French, English, Dutch, 19cm x 21cm, €28.

2/ Guillaume Herbaut, Ukraine, the desired land

Another notable work related to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is the work of French photographer Guillaume Herbaut. For 20 years, he never stopped passing through Ukraine. Ukraine, the desired land this is the result of the work. For the third time in his career, Guillaume Herbaut has received the prestigious World Press Photo 2022 award. This book helps to understand the roots of the current conflict and the complexity of the area that the photographer has explored all these years. He followed the Orange revolution in 2004, Donbass, Crimea in 2008, Maidan revolution in 2014 until the war started on February 24. “Ukraine was divided into different zones before the Russian invasion: polluted zones, war zones, and at the same time, peaceful zones as a mirror of the future of our societies. From a forgotten war to images of a conflict that destabilized the world and appeared on the front page of every newspaper, we discover a nation that rose up and fought for its freedom. A reason that keeps me going. »

Ukraine, the desired land, Guillaume Herbaut, Textuel editions, 216 pages, 25cm x 27cm, 140 images, €49.

3/ Magnum Photos 75 years

Magnum Photos is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. This book traces the history of the famous photo agency through the photographers, but also, and above all, through the small stories hidden behind the great images of our time. Traversing the Vietnam War and more recent conflicts between May 68 and September 11, 2001, the reader discovers the behind-the-scenes of a photograph that has become iconic or become the photographers’ personal anecdotes. A special feature of the book is to talk about the photographs without ever showing them directly. The reader will have to open the first and last pages of the book to discover the pictures hidden inside.

Magnum Photos 75 yearsFrench and English version, texts by Philippe Seclier, hardcover, 13.5 x 21.5 cm, 104 pages, 106 texts, €32.

4/ Comic book corner, Magnum Generation(s).

Magnum’s 75th anniversary is also celebrated in the comics Magnum Generation(s). Comic strips interspersed with vintage photographs and drawings take the reader on an adventure with the agency and the big names that marked 20th century photojournalism. “Magnum is a community of thought, a shared human quality, interest in what is happening in the world, respect for what is happening there and the desire to transfer it visually”Magnum Photos agency co-founder Henri Cartier-Bresson announced.

Magnum Generation(s).author: Jean-David Morvan, designers: Rafael Ortiz, Scietronc, Arnaud Locquet, colorist: Hiroyuki Ooshima, Magnum Photos, Caurette edition, 21cm x 28cm, 248 pages, €29.90.

5/ Chris Killip, Skinninggrove

This is a story of men and sailors. Skinningrove, a small village planted on England’s northeast coast, is home to a tight-knit fishing community. In 1982-1984, photographer Chris Killip went to meet them. “Like many tight-knit fishing communities, it can be hostile to outsiders, especially those with cameras.”Killip said. “Skinningrove fishermen believed that the sea ahead was their private territory. » It took the photographer 30 years before he decided to make this book himself, because he respected these people so much. This new Steidl edition, first published in 2018 in the form of a diary that was delivered personally and anonymously to all village mailboxes, includes an introduction by the photographer and as yet unpublished photographs: completed shortly before Killip’s death in October 2020.

Chris Killip, SkinninggroveSteidl Publications, 104 pages, 50 images, 30 x 20 cm, English, €50, scheduled for December 2022.

6/ Christopher Anderson, marion

Photographer Christopher Anderson began photographing his family as an ordinary father to preserve his memories. Photographer Tim Hetherington says he saw a picture of Anderson with his wife Marion “This photo shows the passage of time”. Anderson later realized that these photographs were, in fact, his life’s work. His new book, marionmarks the final chapter in a trilogy of books depicting their lives and loves. “It was never some sort of creative exercise. Photographs are an expression of love…a record of that expression. They are more than memoriesChristopher Anderson says.

marionChristopher Anderson, Stanley/Barker Publications, 160 pages, 22 x 25 cm, €47.95.

7/ Nico J. Kallianiotis, Athens, Looking for a home

Athens, Looking for a Home is the homecoming of photographer Niko J. Kallianiotis. This is a continuation of the first monograph of the Greek photographer. America in Trance, made in Pennsylvania, became his second home for 20 years. Here he finds a city that has changed profoundly from the one he was familiar with. His lens roams the outskirts of the city, in the alleys, meeting the residents to present an intimate portrait of the Greek capital.

Athenai, in search of a homeNiko J. Kallianiotis, Damiani, 30.5 x 21.6 cm, 119 pages, $35.

8/ Fred from Casablanca, patient hands

This is a photo project of great sophistication that Fred de Casablanca offers through the book patient hands. Since 2017, this general practitioner has been asking some of his trusted patients if he can photograph their hands. The black-and-white and tight shot, the position of the palm and fingers… reveal traces of time, individuality, personal stories. Along with the pictures, the patients provide a small piece of their experience and provide a very moving testimony of life. A beautiful proof of the special bond between a doctor and his patients.

patient handsLe Bec en l’air publications, 112 pp., €35.

9/ Goran Tomasevic

This is the bible of photojournalism, signed by a photographer who has been covering conflict zones for almost 30 years. Serbian Goran Tomasevic, born in 1969, is a war reporter. A member of Reuters since 1996, he has never stopped traveling through the tragedies of the world, following in the footsteps of Robert Capa and James Nachtwey. He publishes a 256-photograph, 444-page booklet that chronicles his incredible career, which began during the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Awarded multiple times for his presence in the Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria, he will cover South Sudan, Pakistan, Mozambique and Nigeria and even the Olympics.

Goran TomasevicLammerhuber publications, 256 photos, 29 × 31 cm, 444 pages, English, French, German, €59.

10/ Colonial deframing

The book deals with the unknown chapter of the commitment of the surrealists and the artistic avant-garde of the 1930s. Colonial deframing. The book returns to this reaction of artists during the 1931 International Colonial Exhibition in Vincennes, creating a parallel exhibition called “The Truth about the Colonies” and condemning French colonial policy, especially through photography. At the same time, the book tries to show the role of the medium in the representation of exoticism through the collection of the National Museum of Modern Art.

Colonial deframingText edition, 192 pages, 160 photos, €45.