Background information
For the book 'Canon', the author Johannes Wohnseifer has selected photo volumes from his library that are thematically related to Africa. The reasons for the subjective selection remain hidden. Originally conceived as a photographic series of the same name for an exhibition at Johann König in Berlin, the work undergoes considerable expansion in book form and thus finds its final form. The books on display span a period of over sixty years (1948 - 2011) and raise questions about the colonial gaze and the extent to which it underlies the medium of photography itself. A panorama is sketched that maps the changes in the photographic representation of Africa from the postwar period to the present. Thus, this small volume is definitely an addition to the collection of 'books about photobooks'.
Content
Johannes Wohnseifer's photobook compendium 'Canon. On African Photobooks' is a volume that also dispenses completely with text. The chronologically listed titles are illustrated in color, and each book is presented with the cover design and two double-page spreads from the interior. In all, the selection includes 41 books.
The photographers represented with books include
Jean ROUCH, Ed VAN DER ELSKEN, Robert LEBECK, Gilles PERESS, Malick SIDIBÉ, Seydou KEITA, David GOLDBLATT, Pieter HUGO, Viviane SASSEN
Photo books by participating photographers
- ELSKEN, Ed van der
GOLDBLATT, David
HUGO, Pieter
KEITA, Seydou
LEBECK, Robert
PERESEE, Gilles
SASSEN, Viviane
SIDIBÉ, Malick
- Photographer(s)
- Ed VAN DER ELSKEN, Robert LEBECK, Gilles PERESS, Malick SIDIBÉ, Seydou KEITA, David GOLDBLATT, Pieter HUGO, Viviane SASSEN
- Ed(s)/Author(s)
- Johannes Wohnseifer
- Format
- HC (no dust jacket, as issued), 13 x 17,5 cm., 176 pp., 123 color ills., no text.
- Language(s)
- no text
- Publisher
- Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Cologne