Dutch photo book publisher Ipso Facto (IF) is pleased to announce the release of Jan Banning’s latest photo book Down and Out in the South on May 18, 2013.
The book contains 42 portraits of homeless men and women from the southern United States. While not the first to photograph modern society’s outcasts, Banning’s approach is unusual. Eschewing caricaturizing depictions, Banning places his subjects in a studio setting without their stereotypical belongings, focusing instead on their individuality — on who they are rather than what they are commonly labeled.
“Rather than the expected treatment of a marginalized population, Banning takes a more artful approach… [He] builds their identity back up in his soulful portraits [and] confers a serenity on people who we normally try desperately not to contemplate.”
– Felicia Feaster, Atlanta Celebrates Photography 2012 Festival Guide
Appended to the photo book is a “Giveaway Edition,” designed to create easy access to the photo project in public spaces and to raise questions about property. The book also contains a fiery introductory essay by the young Atlanta-based writer James Swift and an Artist’s Statement by Banning. Down and Out in the South is simultaneously launched as a digital edition (for iPad), with sound and video fragments. Customers can now purchase this iBook or download a free excerpt here.
Special Price till May 18, 2013:
Including shipping costs:
NL: EUR 30 – Europe: EUR 35 – USA: USD 46.71 – Australia: AUS 53.47
After May 18, 2013 (including shipping costs):
NL: EUR 35 – Europe: EUR 40 – USA: USD 53 – Australia: AUD 60
Book Presentation
You are welcome to attend the book presentation of “Down and Out in the South”, May 18, 2013 at 5.30 PM in de Grote Kerk, Sint Annastraat 5, (1411 PE) Naarden, Netherlands. Here, you can also visit the exhibition (of 23 of the photos), which is part of the FOTOFESTIVAL NAARDEN 2013.
The book presentation is sponsored by
- Jan Banning
May 4th 1954, Almelo
Dutch photographer and artist. Banning was born in the Netherlands from Dutch-East-Indies parents. He studied social and economic history at the Radboud University Nijmegen, and has been working as a photographer since 1981. A central theme of Banning's practice is state power, having produced series about the long-term consequences of war and the world of government bureaucracy.