RVB Books

RVB Books is a new publisher based in Paris, who've been putting out some great photobooks. I've included three of their books below, but there are more on their site. All the books are especially well designed and each has a different look and feel from the encyclopedic design of The Significant Savages by Grégoire Pujade-Lauraine to the playful oversized board book Cathedral Cars by Thomas Mailaender.

I've also include The Hibernators by Ruth van Beek, whose work I first became aware of at Erik Kessel's fantastic, albeit polarizing, show, Use Me, Abuse Me, at the 2010 NY Photography Festival.* van Beek's work is a great example of the humorous and smart contemporary work being done in collage. I already have a soft spot for guinea pigs, but her collages of headless cats, dogs and guinea pigs are funny and poignant. I also can't help but think of a certain famous Star Trek episode.

I'm hoping to do a review for at least one of the books, which I will post in the near future.  

* Note: Thomas Mailaender's work was also included in the same show. I would include a link, but the folks at the NYPH Festival have inexplicably removed all trace of prior festivals from their site. The exhibition catalog for that show, which is really a sticker book, is awesome too.

The Significant Savages by Grégoire Pujade-Lauraine (RVB Books, 2011)

 

The Significant Savages by Grégoire Pujade-Lauraine (RVB Books, 2011)

 The Hibernators by Ruth Van Beek (RVB Books, 2011)

The Hibernators by Ruth Van Beek (RVB Books, 2011) 

 Cathedral Cars by Thomas Mailaender (RVB Books, 2011)

  Cathedral Cars by Thomas Mailaender (RVB Books, 2011)