5 Books

Shades of Time

by Annelies Štrba

Swiss artist Annelies Štrba photographed the same subject for over 20 years, her family life. In this book, she takes us on an intimate journey, a family portrait capturing four generations through time and memories. Her aunts and mother, herself as a child, and her siblings, her children and their children. Love, birth, celebrations, or just children sleeping, brushing each other’s hair. It’s the everyday life — real, messy, nostalgic — a universal subject, so beautifully powerful.

Digital Nudes

by David Lynch

I love these images because it’s not about the flattering angles. Instead, these images are raw, honest and mysterious.

Self Life Death

by Nobuyoshi Araki

Araki is an exuberant man. This book is an extensive self-exploration of his life as an artist and a human. It’s particularly unashamed and fearless. His photographs and his own words are full of love, energy, arrogance, and humour. However, Araki reveals softer feelings as he talks about his belated wife or describes his state of mind at his mother’s funeral. It’s a book of unexpected vulnerability. His writing is jammed with self-deprecating and egocentric remarks, laced with sentimental and unpretentious feelings, whether it may be happiness, regret or sorrow.

The Forgotten

by Paula Rego

Paula Rego is not afraid to touch on taboos or unspoken subjects such as depression or the elderly. In her recent show, we see ageing bodies and abused souls. Yet the line, the pastels and the colours remain full of life and energy. In a series of drawings portraying herself after a brutal fall, she candidly reveals moments of her own fragility. She is not hiding behind her work but instead inviting us to look at the unseen and the forgotten. The book features a personal and reflective text by the novelist, playwright and poet Deborah Levy and a conversation between Paula Rego and fellow artists María Berrío, Cecily Brown, Marlene Dumas, Tracey Emin, Kudzanai-Violet Hwami, Chantal Joffe, Wangechi Mutu, Celia Paul, Adriana Varejão and Flora Yukhnovich.

Wild Flowers

by Alan Fletcher

Alan Fletcher (1931–2006) was an incredibly inspiring, iconic graphic designer, visual thinker and storyteller. One of the most important British graphic designers of the last century. He was described as "the most highly regarded graphic designer of his generation, and probably one of the most prolific". He founded the design firm Fletcher, Forbes, Gill in the early 1960s. There was a sensitive and generous soul behind a gruff voice, extraordinary wit, and great sense of style (oh, I remember that dapper hat). His kindness and sincerity shone through his drawings and anything he created. This humble book is bound in green, highly textured card and has its title blind-stamped to the front. It's a monograph of Alan's paintings of wild flowers, a lovely collector's piece signed by the author. Beautifully crafted, it was published by Very Interesting Paper Company in 2003.