Brut by Paul Kranzler

My review of Paul Kranzler's Brut (Fotohof, 2010) is now online at photo-eye. You can get the book here.

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'Home' in all its iterations is a dominant theme within photography. Approached from infinite different angles, it can provide a wellspring of ideas and inspiration for a photographer, or it can be a comforting shelter to confirm well-worn platitudes. Paul Kranzler is a young photographer who has already proven himself unafraid to stare at the darker side of life as seen in his first two books Land of Milk and Honey and Tom. While his first two books are more focused portraits (a struggling alcoholic couple and the life of an adolescent named Tom), Brut is a loving meditation on Kranzler's family - both biological and adopted.

All images © Paul Kranzler and fotohof

As Kranzler writes, "these are images of places and people I have known for a long time, whether related by blood or otherwise. And places and people who know those I know, and also people who I don't know in places I have known for a long time. You become the way you are in your own environment. Relatives are an integral part of the genetic environment, and people, to whom you are not related and who become your relatives are always your closest environment."

 All images © Paul Kranzler and fotohof

Kranzler works in a recognizable contemporary documentary style. Portraits are mixed with still-lifes, color with black & white, and the occasional nude with a landscape to form a loosely structured photo-album and narrative. All the images date between 2004 and 2009, and were taken in Kranzler's hometown of Traun in Upper Austria. Shooting with medium format - often using flash - Kranzler creates images that feel at once staged and captured on the fly. From the haunting portrait of a man bathed in the blue light of a home tanning salon to an image of the Golden Gate Bridge projected on a lonely screen, Krenzler's omnivorous and unflinching eye is exemplary. Faces reappear, but Kranzler never rests long enough to provide a detail portrait of one person, instead we weave ever outwards through his expansive clan.

The book itself is nicely designed and does not overwhelm or detract from the images. Instead, the understated design takes a backstage to the compelling images that are either paired or set one to a spread. Arranged without any text, the book ends with a small pamphlet tucked in the back that offers captions, a short essay and some of Kranzler's insights into the individual images.  

All images © Paul Kranzler and fotohof

Although not at first obvious, the book also owes a debt to Philip-Lorca diCorcia's masterwork A Storybook Life. Although set to a smaller scale than diCorica's work, which covers twenty-years, the book similarly seeks to draw upon a large archive of personal imagery in order not only to explore Kranzler's own family history, but also to offer some greater insights into contemporary life - and more specifically working-class Austrian life. It may seem unfair to make such a comparison, but the book contains a great number of excellent images. However, given its strength and potential for greatness, I can't help but wish the book had been more tightly edited. Containing over 100 images, the weaker images begin to detract from the stronger.

Despite this minor criticism, Brut is an honest and compelling book. Kranzler has already proven himself to be an important voice in contemporary photography, and this book builds upon that admirable record.

*Brut, translated from German, is not only a brood or clan, but to think, hatch, reflect and sulk.

Please note: This review first appeared on July 26th, 2011 in photo-eye. You can get the book here.

House of Love by Dayanita Singh

I've started writing reviews for photo-eye. You can read my first review of Dayanita Singh's House of Love (Radius Books, 2011) here. I have a few more in the pipeline, which I will post once they go live.

After college, I almost worked for Photoeye when a job at the now defunct photobook publisher, Arena Editions, fell through. I decided to move to NYC instead, but I've always loved Photoeye and am excited to contributing in some small way.

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South of Delhi, in the plains of Uttar Pradesh, the Taj Mahal stands as a testament to love and devotion. Built by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who tragically died in child birth, the iconic mausoleum took over twenty years to construct. By the end of its construction, Shah Jahan himself was deposed and eventually buried next to his wife -- forever resting with his beloved. In addition to hosting millions of visitors a year, the Taj Mahal has come to represent not only the love of a king for his queen, but the rich and diverse culture of India itself. As a mirror, the Taj Mahal reflects not only stories of love, but also the complex stories of Indian life -- both past and present.

All images © Dayanita Singh and Radius

The photographer Dayanita Singh's latest book House of Love uses the Taj Mahal, or 'house of love,' as a thread to tie nine photographic stories together. Well-known for her photographic books, such as Sent a Letter and Blue Book, Singh's work is particularly well-suited to the intimacy of the book. While her work has always had a poetic and literary quality, that relationship is even more apparent in this latest book where her work is paired with prose by Aveek Sen.

Explicit narrative aspirations in photography rarely work. Too often narrative structures pin down the meaning and trajectory of the work -- rather than allowing the images to speak, breathe and offer their own meaning. In the case of Singh's latest book, her work fortunately does not fall into this trap. Arranged with roughly ten images in each, the book's chapters include -- Continuous Cities, Portrait of a Marriage, Departure Lounge and Being In Darkness. Images of nocturnal cities, dioramas, various manifestations of the Taj Mahal, and night reoccur. Although each chapter has its own tone, these repeated motifs invoke the historical ghosts, edifices and myths that haunt everyday Indian life. Well-known for her black & white work, Singh has increasingly turned to color -- in particular, the colors of night -- to explore the world. Both color and black & white are blended in the book, which adds texture and emotional range to the nine stories.

All images © Dayanita Singh and Radius

All images © Dayanita Singh and Radius

 Careful attention is also paid to the design of the book, which smartly incorporates the text and images. Upon first glance, Sen's incantation and riff on the title of the book -- "a house of love is a house of illusions is a..." -- encircles the dust jacket and draws us into the book. Trailing inwards along the end papers and book, Sen's circular chant suggests the poetic potential and multi-layered meaning of the titular house and Singh's images. Tucked in the back of the book on beautiful cream-colored matte paper, Sen's poetic essays mirror Singh's images in their exploration of contemporary life, history and photography.

There is no simple meaning to Singh's work. The chapters give the book a loose structure, but don't constrain the work. Exploring issues of love, history, longing, despair and beauty, House of Love is a beautiful book and welcome addition to any library.