Meanwhile #186
A visual tour of my week's discoveries, from Cuba to Xanadu … via Blackpool.
“My intent was to document a way of life that could fade as the years pass and the changes that are taking place as society develops. What I wished to accomplish was to capture the nobility, familiarity, and kindness of the Cuban farmer.” There’s a striking cinematic boldness to Raúl Cañibano’s work – not to mention a whole load of delicious grain that you can almost taste. The Photographers’ Gallery has a collection of his shots available as prints and I need them all.
Most intrigued by Richard Turley’s new magazine-lookbook-thing, Nuts. It’s a delightfully large chunk of black and white stuff, like an old-fashioned zine made on the fanciest photocopier imaginable. I feel compelled to cut it up and turn it into lots of something else. Available from magCulture.
A few years ago, working on the cover for the first edition of John Boughton’s Municipal Dreams, I had the pleasure of poring over RIBA’s collection of Tony Ray-Jones photos of 60s/70s United Kingdom. Ultimately we went in another direction, but I return to those pictures all the time. This one – Blackpool, 1969 – popped up on my feed the other day, and … wow.
A stroll through Nicole and Mike McQuade’s portfolio is always a joy. Their unused collages for the Criterion Collection’s 4K release of Citizen Kane is a particular favourite. (The final, more typographic design is also lovely btw.)
While looking for something entirely unrelated, I got a little bit lost this week in the wonderful images of groundbreaking American photojournalist Russell Lee. From the Farm Security Administration collection, an incredible photographic record of the USA in the interwar period. All high-res and public domain, this is one heck of a resource for book cover design.