The Humanness of Our Lonely Selves — Awoiska van der Molen. Published by Fw: Books.
The mystery inherent in this book is the draw. Its understated design and Leporello format work beautifully with van der Molen’s dark, inky images of windows. There is a psychological tension that hovers within a liminal space between abstraction and a reality devoid of people yet suggestive of humanity.
Russet Lederman is a writer, editor, and photobook collector who lives in New York City. She has taught art writing at the School of Visual Arts in New York and writes on photobooks for print and online journals, including FOAM, The Eyes, IMA, Aperture, and the International Center of Photography. She is a co-founder of the 10×10 Photobooks project, co-edits The Gould Collection, and has edited over twelve photography publications. Lederman regularly contributes essays to anthologies on photography, most recently I’m So Happy You Are Here: Japanese Women Photographers from 1950s to Now (2024). Her published editorial work has received awards from Paris Photo-Aperture, Kraszna-Krausz Foundation, AIGA, Walter Tiemann, Art Directors Club, Les Rencontres d’Arles, Prix Ars Electronica, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Her most recent publications are What They Saw: Historical Photobooks by Women, 1843–1999 (2021) and Flashpoint! Protest Photography in Print, 1950-Present (2024).