Bøger udgivet af Kult Books

Aapo Huhta's book Gravity presents a collection of black and white studio portraits of human figures and shapes combined with imagery of mummified remains from late 16th-century Sicily. In these gently surreal scenes, human bodies float, enveloped in grainy textures from chemical residues and light leaks. By photographing and rephotographing through transparent and reflective objects, Huhta transforms the figures into contorted human-like creatures. He also manipulates the interaction of film, developer, and overly expired photographic paper by hand and re-establishes the unpredictability into a process that is commonly sought to be controlled. "Gravity seems to take place just outside of the imaginary event horizon of a fantastic black hole, in a limbo where both matter and concepts are altered to the point of collapse. The disintegration of the body is exposed in all its terrifying beauty as Huhta rejects the norms of depicting the human individual. But embedded within the endless night of Gravity's outer space are clues of what lies beyond the final loss of power: the end is an enduring arid landscape. This, then, is what peace looks like."-Helen KorpakThe catalyst for the work Gravity was a change in identity that happened after becoming a parent. The result is a subjective interpretation of the complexity and fragility of human life and an intuitive response toward the unknown.

Les yeux fermés explores how the human body can engage in a therapeutic healing process, as well as the role of performative photography in this journey. The few anonymous protagonists of the book are followed on a quest through a changing Mediterranean landscape, interacting with their surroundings. By engaging in rituals and performative actions, the body taps into external energies to fortify its inner strength. The journey culminates in Greece's Stefanos volcano, symbolising a new boundary to cross. The active volcano represents both danger and a lost paternal figure. Eliot Nasrallah, a French-Lebanese artist based in Paris, initiated the project after experiencing the loss of a place of personal significance, as a result of the loss of a loved one. The deliberately underexposed photographs create a visual language connected to broad themes of memory, absence and loss.

In 1961, in the small Spanish village of San Sebastian de Garabandal, four young girls had an apparition of the Virgin Mary. They entered a state of ecstasy in which they became completely unaware of their surroundings and sensory perceptions. Reportedly, witnesses would pinch the girls, pierce their skin with needles, lift them up and drop them onto rough rocks, and yet they remained entranced. The light and presence of the Virgin is all they claim to have experienced. Twenty years later, in the town of Medjugorje, in Bosnia & Herzegovina, six children also had simultaneous visions of the Virgin, with similar ecstatic qualities. In his debut book Noema Michael Swann investigates the aura of place and religious experience by searching for signs of the Virgin Mary's presence in these two locations. Alongside original photographs made at both sites, Noema also includes images that have been appropriated from video footage of the visionaries taken during their apparitions. These emphasise the impenetrability of the individual religious and phenomenological experience, and speaks to the separation between what is apparently being seen and what Is photographable.

Between the finite human life and death, there is a suspended moment in which one passes from one to the other. Those who bear witness to this transition are the caretakers responsible for performing the final treatment. They cleanse the bodies, dress them, comb their hair and arrange them in a peaceful repose for the very last time. The caretakers attend to the deceased almost as if they were living, a testament to a uniquely human trait that has existed throughout time and across all cultures. The performance of these last rituals is a human way to demonstrate the ability to face and address mortality. In her debut book Transi, Margot Jourquin documents this liminal instant between the two realms and the people who prepare the dead for their burial. "I enter with the funeral home employee into a small, sterile room in the basement of a hospital. It's lit by neon lights, the floor is of linoleum. There are metal stretchers, metal fridge doors, metal tools. The zinc coffin lid, screws, a soldering iron. The only thing that warms the atmosphere slightly is the presence of fabrics. White sheets, pillows, decorated blankets. The funeral home employee takes the stretcher out of the fridge and gently lifts the sheet. I observe the scene through the camera viewfinder. I'm hiding, in fact. We're here for Mrs. R, an elderly woman with smooth grey hair. Shortly after I'm left alone with Mrs. R. I begin to really look at her, not focusing on making photos anymore. There are two of us in the room, and yet, I am alone. I can't comprehend that she's dead. I watch for any movement in her hands or in the sheets. By staring so intently, I get the feeling that they are moving. I fear she might open her eyes. I dare not turn my back on her. Confronted with something I can't understand, I'm petrified and frozen still."-Margot Jourquin

Billboards are strategically set up in high traffic areas, designed to catch our attention. They are positioned atop buildings, along highways, and in market squares. Even when devoid of advertisements, they continue to draw one''s gaze. The sculpture-like metal frames and blank canvases remind of things that have come and gone. Even in the absence of advertising content, a billboard remains a medium of communication. But when empty of advertisement, what message does it convey? Janne Riikonen''s book Notes For Our Legacy serves as a statement against the unsustainable culture of consumption and the values typically conveyed on billboards."For as long as I can recall, I''ve been bothered by advertisements-both their appearance and the values they most often promote. I wish I didn''t have to see them. The primary message of advertisements is very clear. Whether it''s a product, a service, an education, or a political agenda; they aim to sell something. Yet beneath this primary message lies a more subtle, subliminal note of inadequacy - You can do, look and behave better.The work is a manifestation agains these messages, both primary and secondary. The values they promote and with whose terms all of this is done. The constant exposure to advertisements has inevitably contributed to people becoming more materialistic and focused on status. I believe that in a society not as saturated with advertisements, we would be more compassionate and considerate towards one another."-Janne Riikonen

During a period of six years Alejandro Morales collected more than 500 photographs depicting bodies published his local newspaper P.M. in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. The time of extreme violence made Ciudad Juárez among the most violent cities in the world, marked by the large number of intentional homicides committed in its streets. The limits of what the press could publish were blurred as it was so common to find oneself in the middle of a shootout or come across an abandoned corpse. Morales removed all the corpses that he found in the photographs in the P.M. Newspaper by manually erasing them with a gum eraser. Morales approached the newspaper from its name, understanding it as a "Post Mortem" space. When what was supposed to be in the image no longer appeared, the void that was left opened up a chance to think about what was actually happening. The softness of the eraser, the duration of the erasing process and its ritual connotations confront the immediacy and brutality of these cases. These new images intend to grant an opportunity for mourning, a more dignified form of death.

According to old pagan beliefs Il Malocchio or 'the evil eye' is a curse causing bad luck and misfortune. In his debut book Il Malocchio Italian photographer Andrea Simonato depicts the quiet villages of his home region of Vicenza in the Northern Italy as upon this curse of unluckiness causing decay and abandonment.

The devastating Black Rain has transformed the once-lush land into an arid wasteland, turning all water into a gel-like substance across the globe. Fresh, drinkable water has become the planet's most precious commodity, sought after by all. Some have chanced upon underground liquid reserves, while those with no choice but to drink gelled water become "Corrosives," disfigured by a verdigrislike substance covering their bodies.The Golden Tower of Prince Boris shines above the otherwise derelict city of Torono, housing his Silkers army.From the Golden Tower, Geo Woodman secretly leads the fight to save his clan and the people of Torono from the dangers of corrupt leaders and the hazardous climate.

The book Blueprint explores how the mass media has influenced political debates and democratic processes during the process of Brexit. The stills grabbed from Brexit-related video material examine what sort of imagery is used to manipulate people by spreading beliefs concerning national pride, anxiety, immigration and lack of control. The blue color of the cyanotypes reflects on the idea of the invisible influence of the European Union on the United Kingdom.