josef chladek

on photobooks and books

Kim Thue - Dead Traffic, dienacht, 2012, Leipzig

One of 1000 Copies (#714), Designed By FLUUT, hardcover, cloth bound.

"This photo book, Dead Traffic, is a raw and bewildering journey through the fringes of Freetown, capital city of Sierra Leone. 
Shot over the course of two separate trips, Kim Thue spent 10 months living in close proximity to a notoriously rough area of the slums, digging deep into the livelihoods and emotions of his subjects.
Through a visual stream of unsung tragedies, vulnerable integrity and chance encounters, his efforts leave us with an engaging account of a corner of the world normally unrevealed to most of us." (publisher's note, dienacht)

"Despite Sierra Leone being renowned for its brutal civil war, I didn’t have a hidden political agenda, a specific humanitarian issue or even a clear story in mind whilst making the book.
I went to Freetown, not as a photojournalist, but as a stranger with a camera and an open heart. What I hope to have created is something the viewer can tune into emotionally.
Something that hits a nerve without being coercive in nature, and without staking a monopoly on a specific kind of truth. A collection of images simply suggesting that the inextricable coexistence of beauty and
dread is an ever present theme within this vigorous and inclement city.” (Kim Thue)

Pages: 96+12
Place: Leipzig
Year: 2012
Publisher: dienacht
Size: 24 x 19 cm (approx.)