Photobooks, zines, reviewed, etc...

ODE TO STREET HASSLE (THE BOYS ARE KEEPING SECRETS) / untitled, nevada 2007 - Samantha Casolari

I recently received this book and the only reason I’ve delayed writing about it here, is because I didn’t want to open it.

Let me explain. The presentation of this book is probably the best I’ve seen in a long time. The packaging consists of thin black paper (almost like tissue paper) wrapped and folder around the book. This is tied with thick brown string which is then sealed using sealing wax. Finally, the whole thing is popped inside a cellophane packet which is also sealed.

It took me a while to bring myself to break through all of this. I wanted to preserve it all intact. I tried to plan the best way to get to the book without permanently damaging the packaging (not possible unfortunately).

After that, you’d hope the book would be worth the trouble.

It is.

It’s not just one book. It contains two ‘stories’, so it’s effectively two books in one. After you look through ODE TO STREET HASSLE (THE BOYS ARE KEEPING SECRETS) you can flip the book over and look through untitled, nevada 2007. Not only that, but the two stories are printed onto different paper stock then bound together as one book. Oh and one of the titles appears to have been written using wax, and there’s evidence of hand stamping inside, and they’re hand numbered (and mine had a written message inside).

All this, and we haven’t even got to the photographs yet. I think it’s fair to say that Samantha has put a lot of thought and effort into producing this book. It would be a shame if the images don’t live up to the presentation, but fortunately this is not the case. I love both series of work, but perhaps lean more towards the second (untitled, nevada 2007) if forced to choose.

The second best way to see her work yourself is to click through to here.

The best way is to buy the book yourself. It’s only $20 and the quality and sheer attention to detail makes it worth every cent.

Samantha, you could be charging double, maybe three times the amount for this and it would still be great value for money. I can’t wait to see what you come up with next.

I just wish I hadn’t had to cut mine to get into it :(