Towards the 21st Century: Baghdad Calling by Geert van Kesteren

 

General Photography, Photobooks

VanKesteren_BaghdadCalling.jpg

Baghdad Calling by Geert van Kesteren showcases what a good photojournalistic photobook can achieve and how the medium “photobook” has moved way beyond the simple gallery-show-on-paper format that was so prevalent not that long ago. The book also shows how photojournalism can adjust to the conditions of the 21st Century, without either severely restricting its own power and credibility (for example by “embedding” with the same military it is supposed to report on) or chasing after popular photographic trends in a feeble attempt to remain relevant (using “Instagram,” for example). For details c.f. my review of the book.