Naksan is Nazraeli Press's third monograph by Korean photographer Boomoon. It presents a series of 33 duotone plates of a snowstorm where the sea meets the coast of Naksan - a beach in northeast Korea that faces Japan. You can see the work at Boomoon's website.

Nazraeli Press are also publishing Beyond, the first monograph by Japanese photographer Kiriko Shirobayashi, who works in colour. Some of these photographs are reminiscent of the heavily populated beach scenes of Massimo Vitali but overall there is a sense of human smallness in the landscape. Other photos exclude obvious human presence and their location (coastal dunes, deserts?) is hard to determine. A sample of her work can be seen at www.kirikoshirobayashi.com

Some of the most beautiful Nazraeli titles have come from David Maisel, including Oblivion and The Lake Project – also Library of Dust for Chronicle. His images have always had a controlled, forensic quality so it’s perhaps not surprising that his latest project, History’s Shadows, comprises a series of re-photographed x-rays of art objects from antiquity. David Maisel writes: “I began to explore the idea of images that were created in the processes of art preservation, where the realms of art and scientific research overlap each other….The ghostly images of these x-rays seem to surpass the power of the original objects of art.….To re-photograph these records, each was laid on a light box in a darkened room; the emanations of light were transmitted by long exposures onto color film. Rendering three dimensions into two is at the heart of the photographic process. With the x-ray, this sense is compounded, since it maps both the inner and outer surfaces of its subject. The mysterious images that result seem to encompass both an inner and an outer world…” Have a look at the images on David Maisel's website to get an idea of their haunting beauty. History’s Shadows is to be published in a 12” by 16” format.

I’d not previously been familiar with the work of Jeffrey Conley. I hope non-jazz fans will forgive me if I say that his Winter fits the Nazraeli template as a Jan Garbarek album fits ECM’s. Peter Fetterman writes in the introduction: “You are witnessing the beginning of a career that will be long and fulfilling. Revel in the tranquility, balance, beauty and stillness this Pied Piper of silence leads us to." Conley's first monograph comprises a selection of 42 images of the essence of Winter -interesting timing on the publisher’s part!. (www.jeffreyconley.com)

Hot on the heels of Michael Kenna’s latest Nazraeli monograph Huangshan comes a Skira retrospective published to coincide with an exhibition in Italy, Images of the Seventh Day, 1974-2009. One of our first customers to buy was Andrew Nadolski who commented: “Very nice anthology of Michael Kenna’s work. The price is very reasonable for the sheer amount of pictures it contains. Kenna has inspired way too many copy cat photographers, who try and emulate what they perceive as his trademark style by the overuse of neutral density filters on their digital cameras. There are some photographers who have made their careers out of emulating his approach. This book shows why Kenna’s work is so special - it goes way beyond simple technique.”
Long-term admirers of Kenna’s work will find much that is familiar but it includes some unpublished photos including those taken in and around Reggio Emilia where the exhibition has been held and a number of early works that have been unavailable in book form for some time.

The Mary Boone Gallery in New York recently exhibited Recent Western Landscape by Lee Friedlander and the gallery have produced a book of the same name due to be released on 31 March. Shot in locations such as Glen Canyon, Death Valley and the Mojave Desert, these black-and-white images are no radical departure for Friedlander but, with its linen binding and tipped-in cover image, this 12” by 13” hardback should be a stunningly beautiful publication. See the Mary Boone Gallery website for more images.