Unveil'd Photobook Award 2015
Address | Julia Borissova
Selected by Alejandro Acin, ICVL Studio
Judge's comment: My pick for the Unveild Photobook Award is Address by Julia Borissova. Borissova’s book draws a psychological journey through her childhood in St. Petersburg (Russia). Using drawings, collages and archive photographs she reflects on her past experiences creating a very interesting approach of how memory functions. Address plays with the idea of reconstructive memory where Julia understands her memories are not free from error during a recall and also subject to distortion. I like the experimentation behind Julia’s creative process, she likes to interact and perform with her own photographs to create new dialogues. With this nomination we would like to invite Julia to participate in one of our events in Bristol to discuss her books with our audience.
The Dutch Album | Irina Kholodna
Selected by Oliver Udy, Antler Press
Judge's comment: I have chosen this self-published book as my winner because of its poetic pacing, and delicate familiar scenes. There were many excellent books to look at for the prize, with some extremely accomplished work published in sophisticated ways, so it was very difficult to select one winner to publish. There was however, something about Irina’s book that stood out, and to me it seemed that it would work well in the Antler Documents series. The series looks for photography that is loosely documentary in its nature, but perhaps that sits at the edge of what is usually seen as documentary. The Dutch Album, with its simple sequencing, and quiet moving images documents the everyday transience of life. Antler will now work with Irina to develop a publication of the work, hopefully released later this year.
Incipient Strangers | Yoshikatsu Fujii
Selected by Matt Martin, The Photocopy Club // Doomed Gallery
Judge's comment: Incipient Strangers, by Yoshikatsu Fujii stood out to me because of it's great use of design and layout. The playfulness of the layout and the way the images can be arrange and deconstructed really spoke to me in a way I would curate an exhibition or zine. The size was perfect for the mix of large portraits and documentary work and the way you could take it all apart with the tear away cover was great design work.
Hanguk | Florian Bong-Kil Grosse
Selected by Tom Coleman, Unveil'd
Judge's comment: Upon first viewing Hanguk, I was immediately drawn into each spread. I like photographers who can organise the world very neatly through a viewfinder and yet are still able to provide humorous detail and insight - something Bong-Kil Grosse captures with ease. The combination of pastel colours, black and white images and deeply toned naturalistic landscapes sit perfectly alongside one another - complimented by the sequencing and, in turn, constructed narrative. The production and design of the book lends itself to the work in a perfectly minimal sense, allowing the imagery to take centre stage and deservedly so.