VIEWFINDING #39
Magdalena Wywrot / Wedge Collection / Saul Leiter
Magdalena Wywrot: Pestka
Just published by Deadbeat Club, Magdalena Wywrot’s Pestka is a gem of a photobook, full of images with gothic playfulness that remain seared on the mind’s eye.
Living in Krakow, Poland, Wywrot predominantly documented the life of her daughter, nicknamed Pestka – hence the book’s title – as she grew from childhood through to early adulthood. Many of the photographs were made in, or looking out from, their apartment high above the city’s streets. Others are beautifully stark landscapes, near-abstract architectural compositions, or quiet observations of the natural world. Some images echo the high grain, high contrast style of Japan’s Provoke movement, while others have an altogether more subtle tonal balance. Expertly edited by writer and curator David Campany, this is a captivating book with balance and poise.
In the words of the publisher, ‘There is a fishbowl quality to Wywrot’s photos, which shapeshift, mercury-like, between Expressionism, Impressionism, and abstraction. The portraits are tender, mysterious, full of sparks of wonder and ecstasy, while the landscapes are disorienting, forbidding, vaguely apocalyptic, and often sublime.’
‘Earth is an extraordinary laboratory. We are here for only a fraction of a cosmic second. What we see, touch, experience, give of ourselves – it's all ours. And it doesn't matter where we come from.’ Magdalena Wywrot, translated from Polish
Magdalena Wywrot: Pestka is available from Photobookstore in the UK, or directly from Deadbeat Club. The publisher also has two special editions available, each coming with a print of a different image.
All images © Magdalena Wywrot, courtesy of Deadbeat Club
As We Rise: Photography from the Black Atlantic
Toronto-based dentist, collector and archivist Dr. Kenneth Montague has been building the Wedge Collection since 1997, and in this time has created an extraordinarily rich collection of photographs and artworks from African Diasporic culture. The current exhibition at Saatchi Gallery is an extension of his best-selling Aperture-published book of the same name and this is the first time the collection has travelled to the United Kingdom.
With many works acquired early in artists’ careers when support is most needed, the collection is a rollcall of some the most notable artists, Black or otherwise, from the 20th and 21st centuries. These include Liz Artur Johnson, Seydou Keita, Gordon Parks, Malick Sidibé, Zun Lee, Charlie Phillips, Jamel Shabazz, Sanlé Sory, Dennis Morris, Horace Ové and James Barnor.
‘Too often in the larger culture, we see images of Black people in attitudes of despair, pain, or brutal isolation. As We Rise gently refuses that. It is not that people are always in an attitude of celebration – no, that would be a reverse but corresponding falsehood – but rather that they are present as human beings, credible, fully engaged in their world.’ Teju Cole in his preface to As We Rise: Photography from the Black Atlantic: Photography from the Black Atlantic (Aperture, 2021)
This is simply a must-see opportunity to view works from Canada’s largest privately-owned collection dedicated to Black artists.
As We Rise: Photography from the Black Atlantic is showing at the Saatchi Gallery until 20th January, and the Aperture book is available from the publisher and other outlets.
First image © Samuel Fosso, courtesy JM. Patras, Paris, second image © Liz Artur Johnson, courtesy Black Balloon Archive, third image © Jamel Shabazz, courtesy of the artist, fourth image © Zun Lee, courtesy of the artist
Saul Leiter: Carte Postale
Saul Leiter: Carte Postale has just been published by Antwerp’s Gallery 51 to coincide with its eponymous new exhibition. Discovered only recently by Leiter’s estate, Carte Postale is a collection of intimate, postcard-sized photographs, produced by the artist over several decades.
Leiter uses similar visual language in these diminutive monochrome prints to that of his ground-breaking colour work, his eye consistently elevating potentially mundane scenes into images of poetic grace and beauty.
‘Being ignored is a great privilege. That is how I think I learned to see what others do not see and to react to situations differently.’ Saul Leiter
Saul Leiter: Carte Postale is available directly from Gallery 51 and from Photobookstore in the UK. The accompanying exhibition is showing at Gallery 51 from 23rd November to 1st February.
All images © Estate of Saul Leiter, courtesy Gallery 51
You can follow David Hill Gallery on Instagram here.
You can download a PDF of Alice Mann’s Drummies series, currently showing at the David Hill Gallery, here.
I love that 2nd shot of Magdelena Wywrot's..that's incredible.