A Voice Above the Linn by Robbie Lawrence
In 2016 Robbie Lawrence first traveled to a remote stretch of coastline on the west coast of Scotland, to Linn Gardens, which lies at the head of Cove Bay on the west side of Rosneath peninsula. Jim Taggart, an avid botanist and gardener, had been running the gardens for fifty years and discovered that the region’s subtropical climate allowed him to grow plants and flowers from all over the world. Over the past few years, the photographer went back to visit Jim and document the garden as it passed through the seasons. In A Voice Above The Linn Lawrence collaborated with the poet John Burnside, who contributed four new poems to segment its chapters.
Edie Peters, manager of the PhotoQ Bookshop, says: “Robbie Lawrence mixes color and black-and-white photos, portraits, close-ups of plants, landscapes and poems. It results in a powerful and emotional meeting between the reader and the wonders of our natural environment. The design fits well: you can hold the book in one hand, the cover shows a simple and strong silkscreen illustration and the chosen paper feels great.”
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The Ameriguns by Gabriele Galimberti
Of all the firearms in the world owned by private citizens for non-military purposes, half are in the United States of America. In number, they exceed the country’s population: 393 million for 372 million people. Photographer Gabriele Galimberti traveled across the United States to meet proud gun-owners, see their firearms collections and photograph them in their homes and neighborhoods. These portraits, along with the accompanying stories based on interviews, examine what the institution of the Second Amendment represents today. It was ratified in 1791 to reassure the inhabitants of the newly independent territories that their Federal Government could not, one day, abuse its authority.
“We have seen a lot on the subject of arms possession and individual freedom in the United States, still this book is again a slap in the face. We see portraits of people who show their personal collection of tens of guns in often spectacular sizes. The combination with social media pages of gun owners and statistical information makes The Ameriguns another frightening report on the topic,” says Edie Peters.
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A Place in Between by Narelle Autio
The call of the ocean has long been a focus of Narelle Autio’s work. Spending her childhood growing up in Australia she has had a lifetime relationship with the beach and is fascinated by the need for many of us to return to water. In A Place in Between, Narelle Autio captures the complex relationship and drama of our love for the sea and our willingness to risk our lives to enjoy it.
PhotoQ Bookshop’s manager says: “You have to sit down and take time to leaf slowly through the pages of this book. I like it when a photo book gives you the message to calm down and relax. You will experience that relatively short moment you jump in the sea, transcending from the place where you can breathe and live, into an environment that feels great but where you also have to be very careful. Narelle Autio’s setup works thanks to the repetition of the images and the simplicity of the book: 88 pages, hand-sewn, and almost no text.”
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The Rumor by Paul Kooiker
The Rumor is artist Paul Kooiker’s statement about surrealism: one title and 19 portraits of donkeys.
“This might be the best book to comfort you within the sadness of this year. In the slightly surrealistic and expressionist black-and-white studio portraits we encounter 19 individuals, and you are going to love them all as cuddly and stubborn as they are. Paul Kooiker always wants to trigger something other than what you directly see, always busy researching the nature of photography. This is enough material for essays, but in this case, I would say: let yourself go and enjoy!” - Edie Peters.
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PhotoQ Bookshop, part of World Press Photo since August 2019, specializes in documentary, journalism, and art photo books. It is run by Edie Peters, photography lover, who has shared his knowledge with enthusiasm since opening a photo book store in 2013.
