josef chladek

on photobooks and books

Stephen Gill - Coexistence (Cover 4), Nobody/CNA, 2012, London

 

Hardcover (leather bound spine), edition of 1,500 copies (5 different covers, 250 copies made of each).

"In the summer of 2010 I was asked if I would be interested in making a photographic response to an area containing a pond situated within an industrial wasteland -- the remains of the deceased steelmaking industry in Dudelange, Luxembourg. I knew that the pond in Dudelange would be teeming with unseen life now that its industrial past had come to an end. For the eight months leading up to my first visit to the territory, my mind increasingly started tuning into microscopic worlds within worlds, and I became ever more aware of the many parallels between patterns and processes in the pond and those in our own lives as individual humans within societies. Slowly I became committed to the idea of attempting to bring these two apparently disparate worlds -- so physically close yet so different in scale -- visually closer together. Grappling with the idea of knitting together these parts of life that coexist but don't belong together nor are ever usually seen together, I decided to make a photographic study that would resemble a kind of tapestry. The University of Luxembourg kindly taught me to use one of their medical microscopes so that I was able to study single drops of the water, and I began searching the pond for diatoms and other minuscule creatures and plant life. The more I thought about the human factor that was so essential to the series forming in my head, the more I wanted to involve local people from the small town of Dudelange, which has a substantial community of families with Portuguese and Italian origins. For health and safety reasons it was not possible to invite people to come to the cooling ponds, so I decided instead to take the pond to the people. I filled a red plastic mop bucket with water from the pond, and dipped my underwater camera into this pond water prior to making portraits of the Dudelange residents. Later on I also dipped the prints into the pond itself, so microscopic life was also transferred onto the surface of the paper."

Pages: 152
Place: London
Year: 2012
Publisher: Nobody/CNA
Size: 22 x 29 cm (approx.)


Included in "The Photobook: A History Volume III" by Parr/Badger
>> see more Vol. III picks here






 Stephen Gill - Coexistence (Cover 4) (Front)

Stephen Gill - Coexistence (Cover 4) (Front)

 Stephen Gill - Coexistence (Cover 4) (Spine)

Stephen Gill - Coexistence (Cover 4) (Spine)

 Stephen Gill - Coexistence (Cover 4) (Back)

Stephen Gill - Coexistence (Cover 4) (Back)




Sample page 1 for book  Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)

Sample page 1 for book " Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)", josefchladek.com

Sample page 2 for book  Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)

Sample page 2 for book " Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)", josefchladek.com

Sample page 3 for book  Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)

Sample page 3 for book " Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)", josefchladek.com

Sample page 4 for book  Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)

Sample page 4 for book " Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)", josefchladek.com

Sample page 5 for book  Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)

Sample page 5 for book " Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)", josefchladek.com

Sample page 6 for book  Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)

Sample page 6 for book " Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)", josefchladek.com

Sample page 7 for book  Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)

Sample page 7 for book " Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)", josefchladek.com

Sample page 8 for book  Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)

Sample page 8 for book " Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)", josefchladek.com

Sample page 9 for book  Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)

Sample page 9 for book " Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)", josefchladek.com

Sample page 10 for book  Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)

Sample page 10 for book " Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)", josefchladek.com

Sample page 11 for book  Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)

Sample page 11 for book " Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)", josefchladek.com

Sample page 12 for book  Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)

Sample page 12 for book " Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)", josefchladek.com

Sample page 13 for book  Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)

Sample page 13 for book " Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)", josefchladek.com

Sample page 14 for book  Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)

Sample page 14 for book " Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)", josefchladek.com

Sample page 15 for book  Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)

Sample page 15 for book " Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)", josefchladek.com

Sample page 16 for book  Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)

Sample page 16 for book " Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)", josefchladek.com

Sample page 17 for book  Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)

Sample page 17 for book " Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)", josefchladek.com

Sample page 18 for book  Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)

Sample page 18 for book " Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)", josefchladek.com

Sample page 19 for book  Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)

Sample page 19 for book " Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)", josefchladek.com

Sample page 20 for book  Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)

Sample page 20 for book " Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)", josefchladek.com

Sample page 21 for book  Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)

Sample page 21 for book " Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)", josefchladek.com

Sample page 22 for book  Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)

Sample page 22 for book " Stephen Gill – Coexistence (Cover 4)", josefchladek.com

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Hardcover (leather bound spine), edition of 1,500 copies (5 different covers, 250 copies made of each).

"In the summer of 2010 I was asked if I would be interested in making a photographic response to an area containing a pond situated within an industrial wasteland -- the remains of the deceased steelmaking industry in Dudelange, Luxembourg. I knew that the pond in Dudelange would be teeming with unseen life now that its industrial past had come to an end. For the eight months leading up to my first visit to the territory, my mind increasingly started tuning into microscopic worlds within worlds, and I became ever more aware of the many parallels between patterns and processes in the pond and those in our own lives as individual humans within societies. Slowly I became committed to the idea of attempting to bring these two apparently disparate worlds -- so physically close yet so different in scale -- visually closer together. Grappling with the idea of knitting together these parts of life that coexist but don't belong together nor are ever usually seen together, I decided to make a photographic study that would resemble a kind of tapestry. The University of Luxembourg kindly taught me to use one of their medical microscopes so that I was able to study single drops of the water, and I began searching the pond for diatoms and other minuscule creatures and plant life. The more I thought about the human factor that was so essential to the series forming in my head, the more I wanted to involve local people from the small town of Dudelange, which has a substantial community of families with Portuguese and Italian origins. For health and safety reasons it was not possible to invite people to come to the cooling ponds, so I decided instead to take the pond to the people. I filled a red plastic mop bucket with water from the pond, and dipped my underwater camera into this pond water prior to making portraits of the Dudelange residents. Later on I also dipped the prints into the pond itself, so microscopic life was also transferred onto the surface of the paper."

Pages: 152
Place: London
Year: 2012
Publisher: Nobody/CNA
Size: 22 x 29 cm (approx.)


Included in "The Photobook: A History Volume III" by Parr/Badger
>> see more Vol. III picks here