From an unflinching study of women and their bodies by Dutch photographer Lotte Van Raalte to Pieter Hugo’s La Cucaracha, an exploration of sex and death in Mexico
BODY by Lotte Van Raalte, self-published
A new photo book by Lotte van Raalte, titled BODY, collates images from a recent project which saw the Dutch image-maker photograph 46 women nude, from girls in their teens to those in their nineties. The resulting images provide a visceral portrait of the embodied experience of being a woman – scar tissue, stretch marks, wrinkles, and all – in its resplendent glory. “I want people to see the beauty in imperfection and impermanence,” Van Raalte told AnOthermag.com. “Our bodies are an incredible instrument, without them, we would be nothing.”
La Cucaracha by Pieter Hugo, published by Editorial RM
Pieter Hugo’s newest series, La Cucaracha, goes on show later this month at Huxley-Parlour gallery in London, and a book on the project was recently published to coincide. Shot in Mexico, the series – the title of which translates to ‘The Cockroach’, also the name of a traditional Spanish folk song – is an exploration of sex and death in the country, via portraits of people Hugo found through community theatre groups, Instagram and Grindr, among other places. “I don’t think the work needs to be read as a narrative – I’d prefer individual images that happen to be set in Mexico,” the photographer told Another Man last year. “Mexico has got this unique aesthetic and approach to mortality which I find very refreshing – there’s something celebratory in it. There’s also this acceptance that there’s more to life than what meets the eye. In the Trump/narco-state era, I’m curious about the normalisation of violence.”
Peter Lindbergh: Untold Stories, published by Taschen
A new volume from Taschen accompanies celebrated fashion photographer Peter Lindbergh’s first-ever self-curated exhibition, Untold Stories, which opens at Düsseldorf Kunstpalast this month. It was also sadly to be his last: Lindbergh died this past September, aged 74. Untold Stories nonetheless stands testament to the era-defining image-maker, whose photographs, while cinematic, favoured reality over artifice – and would end up ushering in the era of the supermodel with his 1990 cover of British Vogue. “This should be the responsibility of photographers today to free women, and finally everyone, from the terror of youth and perfection,” he once said. “If you take out the fashion and the artifice, you can then see the real person.”
Polaroid SX-70 by William Eggleston, published by Steidl
A new book, published by Steidl, collates the rarely seen photographs of American photographer William Eggleston, who is often deemed the godfather of colour photography. Though he would photograph only a small number of Polaroids in his life – the book, in fact, collates his entire oeuvre using the medium – they nonetheless evoke his larger works: taken on sunlit meanderings around Mississippi, they demonstrate his inimitable eye for colour and fascinations with small-town America and its many symbols, like the gas station, the muscle car and the diner.
Northern Rivers by Lola & Pani, published by Palm Studios
Photographic duo Lola Paprocka and Pani Paul’s series Northern Rivers captures a ‘brotherhood’ of local boys in the New South Wales region, Australia, that’s known for its white beaches, subtropical forests and the alternative lifestyles its inhabitants seek out. Pani himself grew up in the area, and the pair began photographing the local boys when they visited family there in 2017. “I loved being there as a kid but I could not wait to leave when I turned 18,” he remembers, speaking to Another Man. “I wanted the city, I wanted structure. Nowadays, with globalisation and the internet young people are connected with what’s happening and have access to everything online. When I grew up there you really felt the isolation. I think it’s only natural for young people to rebel.” The beautiful photographs are currently on show in London, at Hempstead May Gallery.
Heels by Karl Hab, self-published
For the past decade, Paris-based photographer Karl Hab has honed in on footwear, making high heels the focus of an ongoing series which he’s just published as a book. Hab has found a compelling subject in heels, and the singular elegance which they afford a wearer, his photographs also charting some of the last ten years’ shoe trends. The image-maker has photographed fashion shows and events throughout his career, and Heels collates pictures taken all over the world.
