Book & Zine 2021
Another year of photo book publishing. Whether alone or by a big name press, we bring a short list of some books and zines that deserve your attention as well as your purchase. Once again, this is by no means a ‘Best’ list. If anything it is a selection of books that came across DRP and the community we foster, creating ties through out the big state and a little bit beyond.
As 2022 rolls in, we are looking forward to our team growing and continuing to bring work to your attention. Help us fund the website by backing our Kickstarter. We have a modest goal of $300 for our domain and page.
Thank you to those who continue to visit, read interview, look at photos, art and books that are being made by these fantastic artists. Below are a few that we picked out. Some of them have featured work on the site so be sure to read and view more. Cheers Everyone.
- Raul Rodriguez, Editor
Books & Zines of 2021
Drew Ducote’s self published title, Oil Country “uses the medium of photography as a geographic research tool to provide an illustration of place.” That place stretches across a region in Texas known as the Gulf Coast where oil refiners define the landscape. Oil Country not only documents the extrinsic nature of the mechanical topography but also peeks into the community of people that reside there. The resilience of both people and place shine through the gears and machinery that dominates the landscape of the Gulf Coast. Drew previously talked to us about Oil Country here. Check it out.
Oil Country, Drew Ducote
Can you dedicate a song to a place? Dallas artist (by way of Southern California), Olivia Arratia does this in her self published book, Mi Corazon No Esta Lejos Del Tuyo (My heart is not far for yours). Arratia digs up the spiritual ancestry of her roots in new places that are far from home yet remain close to the artists’ heart. The colorfully collapsing forms that fall within her frame are a reminder that culture can be found everywhere you just have to look around. Check out our feature on Olivia’s work here.
Mi Corazon No Esta Lejos del Tuyo, Olivia Arratia
REUNION, Carlos Donjuan
This year, the multidisciplinary and multi faceted artist, Carlos Donjuan published his zine REUNION where he shares film photographs from a visit to Mexico City, Mexico 20 years in the making. Its a common thread that immigrant families often do not return to the roots of their home in exchange for the new lives pursued. Donjuan shares his reflections on a long awaited trip back to Mexico and reunites with a place that informs his life, culture and existence.
Es Una Lucha, Jessica Carolina Gonzalez
Jessica Gonzalez’s Es Una Lucha is an exploration of document and surveillance. Her self published book blurs the line between the photograph as a familial archive and its use as a record for government keeping. Her work is a necessary conversation around the issues that pertain to immigrant families and the exploitation of lives affected by these systems and policies. Gonzalez speaks to these struggles through her own family archives, using personal photographs as an entry point.
Our good friends FLATS presented (yet again) a new form in their efforts to engage the photo community in Texas. They put on shows, they process film and now they publish FLAT Files showcasing work of lens based artists from regions specific to the South Central. Issue #1 was graced with works by Patrick Collier, Jamie Robertson, Domeinic Jimiez, Leticia Huckaby and includes articles, analysis and pieces by Caroline Docwra, Sebastien Boncy, Jacqueline Saragoza McGilvray, Natalie Zelt and a symbiotic dance with the archives of Project B by Barbara Levine and Paige Ramey. A letter from the editor and FLATS show runner, Jessi Bowman, introduces their new magazine which is accompanied by a fantastic poster by Leticia Huckaby and a piece of the archives.
FLAT Files Issue 1, Flats Presents
Irene Antonia Diane Reece made a big mark this year with her self published book, Billie-James. In it she investigates how her father’s experience growing up Black in America during the Civil Right’s era forms a thread to her own experience as a biracial Black and Mexican girl in today’s modern society; coming to the realization that all is the same. Reece uses personal archives, derived images and text to make the statement bold, BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL. She received a Mack First Book Award this year for her work.
Billie-James, Irene Antonia Diane Reece
Campesino Cuba, Richard Sharum
Campesino Cuba published by GOST books shares the work of Richard Sharum as he traverses remote locations in Cuba to document how the lives of ‘Campesinos’ adapt to the shifting economic changes taking place. What Sharum found was an embrace by the ‘Campesino’ people and a willingness for their story to be told through his intimate image making. The book includes two essays by Cuban writer, Domingo Pedrera, and historian, Aldo Naranjo Tamayo. Check out our interview with Richard Sharum about his work here.
Pretty Much, Sandy Carson
Do we even remember 2020? If the pandemic year is still a fu**ing blur, Sandy Carson helps us remember it with his photo book, Pretty Much, published by Aint-Bad. The Austin based artist and photographer brings together images that cover bases on the emotional and physical ride 2020 brought. Although perspectives are unique, Pretty Much resonates what an entire world may have experienced at some point during a global lockdown, nationwide protests against police brutality, and the unavoidable moments of self reflection during our isolation.
I can’t stand to see you cry, Rahim Fortune
Rahim Fortune’s I cant stand to see you cry was published this year by Loose Joints. If ever a more beautiful array of images have been sequenced together with a tender pace, i.c.s.t.s.y.c. carries that same strength. Rahim’s book delivers a graceful approach to image making that mirrors a personal journey through the landscape of people and places that hold space in his life, if even for a moment. His ponder, analysis and point of view are reflected across a dialogue that explores our recent global events, personal loss, and the reckoning of new identities and movements.
Who doesn’t love a surprise year end publication. In October, Houston collective Mujeres Malas teamed up with Fifth Wheel Press to produce a small edition of zines titled, Lo familiar y lo perdido. This collection of artist and work curated by duo, Natalia Barrientos and Jessica Carolina Gonzalez evoke the visceral nature of photographs. A sense of nostalgia runs through their curation of artists who responded to the prompt, “Returning to the heart that grew us, blood calls me to traverse what I have witnessed, but never experienced.” The zine conveys a collective and silent cry that touches on a sense of place, family, and the pain and beauty that hides in the shadows of our memories. We hope to see a second edition. This zine is sold out.
Lo Familiar y lo Perdido,
Mujeres Malas x Fifth Wheel Press
Raul Rodriguez is the editor of Deep Red Press. He graduated with a BFA from the University of North Texas College of Visual Arts and Design. (Photo: Melissa Laree Cunningham)
IG: witofrito