Paris Photo
Two publications printed by KOPA printing house are on the Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards shortlist
Celebrating the evolving narrative of the photobook, the not-for-profit foundation, Aperture, connects the photo community and its audiences with the most inspiring work, the sharpest ideas and with each other - in print, in person and online. Initiated in 2012, the Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards celebrate the photobook’s contributions to the evolving narrative of photography. Each year, thirty-five selected books are shortlisted in three major categories: First PhotoBook, PhotoBook of the Year and Photography Catalogue of the Year. We are humbly honoured that the recently announced 2021 PhotoBook Awards Shortlist lists two of our printed books in the First PhotoBook category.
Remnants of an Exodus, Al J. Thompson
Remnants of an Exodus is Al J. Thompson's first monograph: a love letter to his second home of Spring Valley, NY, a Caribbean immigrant community, 40 minutes from New York City. The hardcover book with faux leather casing contains black-and-white photographs taken over several years. The author observes and experiences change firsthand, as the community undergoes a dramatic shift in both demographic and political landscapes. In turn, he finds Spring Valley fraught with insecurity and uncertainty but bound by love. The book also includes an essay by Shane Rocheleau entitled Gathering Remnants.
The front cover is embossed with a gold foil image. There are also some highlights inside the book – contrasting bright red sheets of translucent paper.
You Can Call Me Nana, Will Harris
In this intimate book, Will Harris confronts the complexities of coping with his grandmother’s progressive dementia. This personal family memoir introduces us to the author’s grandmother, Evelyn, who suffered from dementia in the later years of her life. As her memories eroded, history and fiction collided and a new relationship bloomed; once her grandson, the young photographer became an old friend, creating this work while trying to make sense of a newfound connection and deal with his own grief. At times both haunting and lighthearted, this book weaves together family archives with altered images, collages and new photographs, including views inside the multi-generational family home in Pennsylvania. Along with some confused and touching conversations with Nana, Will assembles the fragments that went missing from her mind. Like dementia itself, this personal book is nonlinear and at times confusing, but Harris’s gaze on his grandmother’s condition consistently remains tender and subtle.
The hardcover book is decorated with an embossed image of the grandmother’s silhouette. Symbolically, the cover colour was chosen in a deep shade of blue like the bloom of a forget-me-not flower – the symbol of dementia.