Erin Azouz

photo-eye Gallery Associate

Heaven or Hell.
JOEL-PETER WITKIN

This book places many of Joel-Peter Witkin's most iconic photographic tableaux in an art-historical lineage from Goya to Rembrandt to Picasso. Dealing with themes of the macabre, perversion, religious indoctrination, the grotesque and the absurd, this book successfully and seamlessly places Witkin's work in the context of art history by rounding up artists who have dealt with similar themes from the archives of the Bibliotheque Nationale. The book also includes several written pieces by Witkin and thoughtful essays in both English and French.

My Dakota.
REBECCA NORRIS WEBB

Rebecca Norris Webb photographed her home state of South Dakota in this beautiful monograph. I love this book for its gorgeous landscapes and nostalgic interiors. Webb has successfully made this place she once called home feel like home to someone who has never even been to the state.

Sunburn.
CHRIS MCCAW

Plain and simple — I love Chris McCaw's work. Having worked in the photo-eye Gallery and looked at his original pieces on a daily basis, some of which are found in the book Sunburn, I have to say — this monograph is one of the most beautifully printed books and pays mind to the subtlety of McCaw's exquisite sunburned photographs.

Pieter Hugo.
PIETER HUGO

African photographer Pieter Hugo photographs the continent he calls home in this stunning and sometimes startling monograph. Filled with black and white and color images, from studio to environmental portraits to landscapes and documentary images, Hugo's sophisticated aesthetic is the glue that holds this book together — all the while, painting a haunting picture of political turmoil, economic injustice and race relations in Africa.

Los Restos.
KEVIN KUNISHI

In this book, Kevin Kunishi photographed the aftermath of more than a decade of unrest in Nicaragua, fueled and funded by the United States government and the CIA. Some time has passed since the revolution, and Kunishi retells the story of great political and social unrest by revisiting the sites and people who were on the front lines of the war. He doesn't document the war so much as the memory of it — a brilliant way to bring to light issues that have long since passed. This book is not only a documentation of the war, but also a testament to the power of the photograph -- that which never forgets.

A Natural Order.
LUCAS FOGLIA

Lucas Foglia offers an insightful look into people living in off-the-grid communities in this beautiful monograph. His subjects have fled the cities and suburbs of America and now strive to be self-sufficient and live independently from the centralized distribution of resources.

Antonia's Garden / Le Jardin d'Antonia.
MARISA PORTOLESE

This beautiful monograph from Canadian photographer Marisa Portolese is a contemplative exploration of the modern family through perfectly composed portraits, landscapes, and domestic interiors. Antonia's Garden speaks to a basic human desire for emotional security and acceptance among a permeating lack of connection and communication in the family unit.

Down These Mean Streets.
WILL STEACY

Through his impeccable collages from local and national American media clippings, Philadelphia-based artist and writer Will Steacy explores thirty years of failed economic policies in his book, Down These Mean Streets. Steacy suggests that the American Dream is nothing more than a pipe dream of the middle class as wealth and power have been transferred to an elite few. In flipping through the seemingly endless collages, one can't help but realize the vital role media has played over the last thirty years in fabricating consent of the masses to engage in this economic injustice.

The History of Photography in Pen and Ink. (Second Edition)
CHARLES WOODARD

This is a clever compilation of drawings from Charles Woodard, depicting some of the most iconic photographs in the history of photography. What is remarkable about the book is that despite the rudimentary stick-figure illustrations, we still recognize the photographs from which they are drawn.

Heavy Hand, Sunken Spirit.
DAVID ROCHKIND

Heavy Hand, Sunken Spirit is a tremendously powerful monograph from David Rochkind exploring the gruesome reality of the Mexican drug war. The armed conflict between rival drug cartels and local government agencies has left over 80,000 causalities in Mexico since 2006. Published by Dewi Lewis, the book contains everything you'd expect to see from documentary work covering the subject — armed, masked men, dead bodies, and mass graves. However, Rochkind's deep understanding of the subject comes through clearly as he intersperses touching, emotive portraits and vast, impoverished landscapes bathed in beautiful light, conveying a sense of hope in a reality that otherwise seems hopeless.

Erin Azouz was born and raised in Los Angeles and is a photographer, singer/songwriter and graphic designer now based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She began working at photo-eye earlier this year. Her interest in photography started in high school and in 2009, she received a BFA in Photography & Media from California Institute of the Arts. More information can be found at www.erinazouz.com

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