NY ART BOOK FAIR
Until Death Do Us Part / 双喜
Publisher: Jiazazhi
Artist: Thomas Sauvin
(Image Source: beijingsilvermine.com)
Until Death Do Us Part comes from the Beijing Silvermine project, which I have been following for several years. Thomas Sauvin, the French Collector who initiated this project, collects discarded negatives from a recycling plant on the edge of Beijing and archives them. This collection reflects the ordinary lives in Beijing from 1985 to 2005.
According to Jiazazhi, Until Death Do Us Part collects images from this archive project, focusing primarily on “the unexpected role cigarettes play in Chinese weddings”. It records the Chinese tradition of the bride lighting a cigarette for every man invited to the wedding. This photobook is placed in a real Shuangxi Cigarette box. “Shuangxi”, which means “double happiness” in mandarin, is widely used in Chinese weddings, representing the good wish of living happily together after marriage. This crafty combination makes this photo book really interesting.
Bees and the Bearable
Publisher: Jiazazhi
Artist: Chen Zhe
(Image Source: shashasha.co)
I was attracted by the unique making of this book. It is a layered notebook of diaries and writings along with images that documents the artist’s experience of self-mutilation. Through these intimate writings and these bold images, I am led through a journey of self discovery.
Lips! Lips! Lips!
Publisher: Akio Nagasawa Publishing
Artist: Daido Moriyama
(Image Source: shashasha.co)
Daido Moriyama is one of my favorite photographers. Many of his photographs are off-focus, blurry, warped and grainy. This kind of aesthetic becomes his own visual style. I can see this persistent roughness in his photo book Lips! Lips! Lips!. As the title states, this book is all about the lips. Daido applies his visual style to these photographs, and presents these lips in their sexiest way.