Pre-order: Paper Journal Annual 2019

3 photobook covers from 3 different artists, part of the Paper Journal Annual series.

Our new shop is now open. Pre-order your copy now.

The Paper Journal Annual 2019 is the result of a call-out which ran in June-July 2018, asking our readers to submit their work for the opportunity to be published in our inaugural photobook series. After 3 weeks and 421 submissions, 3 stand-out artists – Eleonora Agostini, Kovi Konowiecki and Rodrigo Sombra – were chosen by our Founding Editor in Chief Patricia Karallis and Editor Giada De Agostinis, resulting in 3 separate photobooks which, for a limited time, will be available to purchase together, including a signed 8×10 artist print.

All pre-orders will be shipped May 2019 and includes free worldwide shipping

Eleonora Agostini, A Blurry Aftertaste

A Blurry Aftertaste exists at the intersection between photography, performance and sculpture and focuses on the objects, activities and surfaces that belong to the domestic space, portrayed as an absurd and uncanny theatre defined by the creation of structures and the repetition of labour. The house becomes a place where memories can be reconstructed, where intimacy and claustrophobia exist simultaneously, a space to investigate how our familiar domestic existence can be reconsidered and redefined, and a platform where she can translate the gestures of everyday memories into new scenarios performed for the camera.

A Blurry Aftertaste is an attempt to better understand the precariousness of the notion of home through the action of balancing objects, and resisting gravity, the positions of power and the switch of roles that are at play within the images and during the making process.

Kovi Konowiecki, Cherry Ave.

Cherry Ave combines portraits and still lifes in a lyrical documentation of home. The photographs portray a particular area of Long Beach, California and the surrounding neighbourhood where Kovi grew up.

Rodrigo Sombra, Insular Night: Invisible Gardens

Insular Night: Invisible Gardens focuses on the urban life of contemporary Cuba and is the result of multiple journeys to the island from 2014 to 2018. The conceptual thread that binds the work together is the notion of “insularity,” which is a decisive feature of Cuban culture. This geographical concept, highlighting the condition of living surrounded by water, allowed me to approach the way Cubans gaze at what lies beyond their margins and to explore the contradictory effects of the foreign presence in the island – a crucial question in Cuba particularly since the early 1990s when the Soviet Union collapsed, and the country gradually opened itself to tourism and capitalism.

Special Edition and artist print

The special edition of 50 will include all 3 photobooks as well as the choice of 1 of 3 prints generously donated by each artist. All proceeds from this pre-order will contribute towards the final printing costs of the wider print run of 400 copies. The Paper Journal Annual 2019 will launch in London this May.

  • Eleonora Agostini, Wednesdays II, 2018

Eleonora Agostini, Wednesdays II, 2018; Rodrigo Sombra, American, 2018; Kovi Konowiecki, Boys, Liquor Store, 2017

Paper Journal Annual 2019 

  • Published by Paper Journal
  • Format: 7in x 9in
  • Book cover: Pop-set Storm 240gsm with flap, debossing and text foiling
  • Inside pages: Serixo uncoated 140gsm
  • Design: Paper Journal and each individual artist

Artist Print

  • 8in x 10in, Giclée print, signed
  • Eleonora Agostini, Wednesdays II, 2018
  • Kovi Konowiecki, Boys, Liquor Store, 2017
  • Rodrigo Sombra, American, 2018