BROOMBERG & CHANARIN - Scarti

Background information

"'Scarti di avviamento' is the technical term for the paper that is fed through the printing press to clean the drums of ink between print runs. This by-product is usually destroyed once the book is printed.  But in this case the 'scarti' – Italian for scraps - were saved and safely stored away by publisher Gigi Giannuzzi. Following his untimely death in December 2012 this box was discovered. In these scraps the layering of the original images from Ghetto appear almost purposeful. The twice-printed sheets reveal uncanny and often beautiful combinations, both compositionally and contextually. In one the arm of a South African prisoner drops casually into the scene of young Tanzanian refugees perched in a tree, whilst in another an American octogenarian from ‘Leisure World’ retirement home sits almost perfectly atop the knee of a Kurdish lorry driver. Yet in truth they are nothing more than a series of little accidents." (publisher's note. © Trolley Books, 2013)

Book review

"Ten years after the publication of the seminal photobook 'Ghetto', which saw Adam BROOMBERG & Oliver CHANARIN document sealed-off communities – from maximum security prisons in South Africa to a refugee camp in Tanzania – the London-based artist duo have now brought us its by-product, called 'Scarti'.  Meaning 'scraps' in Italian, the book is made of reclaimed paper that was orginally fed through the printing press to clean the drums of ink between print runs. On these pages, the original images miraculously coexist thanks to the sacred geometry of chance, revealing striking combinations and suggesting new readings and interpretations. Another fantastic title from Trolley, the publishing house founded by the late great Gigi Giannuzzi." (© Tim Clark)

About the British photographer duo, Adam BROOMBERG & Oliver CHANARIN (both b.1970)

Photo books by Adam BROOMBERG & Oliver CHANARIN