One of the questions perpetually bedeviling the artist-driven photobook is how to translate a unique print into ink and paper. Witho Worms photographs terrils, or slagheaps, in Belgium, France, Germany, Wales, and Poland. From each mound that he photographs, he takes some of the coal and grinds it into a pigment used to create carbon prints. The images are beautifully printed in five colors, including a white ink, on black paper, effectively capturing the dusky nature of both subject and prints. The obvious format for his panoramic prints would be the long and skinny photobook—a format that can be quite tedious. The designer, Hans Gremmen, has resolved this by wrapping the prints around Japanese-bound page, a steady march of mountains winding their way through the book—all-in-all, an extraordinary object.
WITHO WORMS studies cultural antropology at the Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, and audiovisual design at the HKU in Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Photographs by Witho Worms
Designed by Hans Gremmen
Paperback with Japanese binding
8 2/3 x 9 1/2 inches
176 pages
68 photographs
Published by Fw: