PHOTO / ARTIST / BOOK | The most exciting recent photo books from the Central and Eastern Europe region

Recent years have seen a dynamic development in the field of artists’ book publishing. The exhibition PHOTO / ARTIST / BOOK presents the most varied recent trends in the production of photobooks from four Central and Eastern European countries, through nearly fifty publications. The list of publications has been compiled with the help of the most important artists’ book institutions and experts from the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania, and a subjective selection by the Hungarian curators. 

Some art publications, albums or catalogs may look like artists’ books, but they are not. There are also many cases of books that appear to be books, or traditional books written by artists rather than writers, historians or philosophers, but not all of these are artists’ books. Many artists' books are easily confused with exhibition catalogs, magazines, comic books, photo albums or literary publications. Their creators often deliberately use these ready-made patterns and adopt external structures to adapt them to their own artistic concept. Often artists create confusion by giving their publications the appearance of an ordinary book type. However, what distinguishes an artists' book from any other genre is that it can be seen as a printed work of art or an art project in book format. There are many varieties of artists' books, ranging from fanzine-type publications of a few pages to representative photobooks. These books are produced using a wide variety of printing types, binding techniques and paper, but they share a common characteristic of being situated somewhere in the field bounded by graphic design, visual art, publishing, design and experimental narrative. Photobooks are artists' books that use the book format for the narrative presentation of predominantly photographic content.

In recent years, more and more photographers have taken a conceptual approach to the book genre, blurring the boundary between the photobook and the artists' book. The Robert Capa Centre for Contemporary Photography presents a subjective selection of recent artists' books of photographs from the Central and Eastern European region. The exhibited publications are perfect examples of how inherently digital art projects experiment with print, rewriting the boundaries between the art press, traditional publishing and the creation of art or design objects.

In addition to the Hungarian selection, the list of publications was compiled with the help of the most important art book institutions in the Czech Republic, Poland and Romania, as well as experts in the field:
Czech Republic: Tomáš Hrůza, ArtMap knihkupectví, Prague, https://knihy.artmap.cz/
Poland: Katarzyna Zolich, Małe nakłady, https://malenaklady.org/
Hungary: Bea Istvánkó - Máté Lukács, ISBN+, Budapest, https://www.isbnbooks.hu/
Romania: Radu Lesevschi, PUNCH, Bucharest, https://www.p-u-n-c-h.ro/

List of books on display: Hynek Alt: Untitled (Infrastructures & the Beach) (CZ), Mihai Barabancea: Falling on Blades (RO), Bartha Máté: Anima Mundi (H), Bede Kincső: Porcelain and Wool (H), Matei Bejenaru: Prut (RO), Marta Bogdańska: Shifters (PL), Lucian Bran: Borrowed Territories (RO), Michał Łuczak: Brutal (PL), Geibl Kata: There Is Nothing New Under the Sun (H), Gerhes Gábor: ATLAS (H), Łukasza Gniadek - Krystyna Jędrzejewska-Szmek: Tropicale (PL), Ion Grigorescu: Bucuresti/Bucharest, Photography in the Circulatory System (RO), Hubert Humka: Eternal U (PL), Nicu Ilfoveanu: Serii Multiple Realisme (RO), Nicu Ilfoveanu - Octav Avramescu:  Gasiti si pierduti / Found and lost (RO), Libuše Jarcovjáková: Evokativ (CZ), Václav Jirásek: Cars (CZ), Karolina Jonderko: Self-portrait with my Mother (PL), Tereza Kabůrková: Hory a vody, nebe a zátiší (CZ), Markéta Kinterová: What You See Is What You Think (CZ), Alena Kotzmannová: An Attempt at regaining Reality (CZ), Kovács Kristóf (Sajnos Gergely) - Szigeti Árpád (szerk.): If I saw that in a gallery I would say, this is art (H), Kudász Gábor Arion: middle, Tropical Depression (H), Anton Roland Laub: Mobile Churches (RO), Rafał Milach: The First March of Gentlemen (PL), Perlaki Márton: The Third Hand (H), Anna Pilawska-Sita - Michał Sita: CủChi Tunnels Restoration Report (PL), Puklus Péter: Handbook to the Stars, The Epic Love Story of a Warrior (H), Łukasz Rusznica (Szerk.. Olga Drenda, Joanna Jopkiewi: Subterranean River (PL), Schmied Andi: Private Views: A High-Rise Panorama of Manhattan (H), Agnieszka Sejud: HOAX (PL), Mihai Sovaiala: Lava (RO), Mihai Sovaiala - Valentin Cernat: 4m3 (RO), Magda Stanová: In the Shadow of Photography (CZ), Václav Stratil: I’m History (CZ), Szombat Éva: I want orgasms, not roses (H), Jiří Thýn: From Now On Everything Will Be Beautiful (CZ), Martin Zet: Saluto Romano (CZ)

Curators: Bea Istvánkó - Máté Lukács, ISBN+ 
Graphic Design: Zoltán Szmolka 
Project Manager: Pál Pentelényi