'Pages' is selected for the exhibition Quickscan. Quickscan is about the most recent developments in the photography in The Netherlands. The exhibition is curated by Frits Gierstberg, Head of Exhibitions, Nederlands Fotomuseum. For this occasion we (Fw:) made an update of the Pages-selection that we have showed in the past. In the connected publication "If You Like This, You Might Also Like" we show the connections between the selected publications.
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COLLABORATION WITH
YEAR
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“If you like this, you might also like...” is Amazon’s clever way of directing customers buying Book X to other books that had been bought by other buyers of the same book: a personalized insight into other people’s purchasing behavior. Its cleverness is in the tone of voice. “If you like this, you might also like...” sounds like a bosom friend who knows how to value your taste properly. The selection offered is too fascinating to navigate away from it. Simple curiosity gets the better of you, as Amazon seems to offer a glimpse of your own soul. The bombardment of options takes away from this special feeling, but never mind…there is almost always something interesting amid the automatically generated ‘personal’ selection. And what if there isn’t? Even a close friend can make the mistake of recommending a movie that ends up disappointing you. No hard feelings.
The internet is like a friend who is always there for you, whom you can consult whenever you want; if you don’t trust your doctor, or if you don’t know who to give your vote to. However, it’s also like a friend who constantly gives you advice, especially of the unsolicited kind. It doesn’t seem to bother us much – in fact, we almost seem to expect the constant referral to new pages, new views, new information, new opinions, new trivialities.
It all looks so innocent, but the line between genuine or lighthearted advice and blatant advertising is becoming less and less obvious. This inspired us to go back to the basis of the idea: the intention to disclose information and reveal underlying structures. Of course, compared to Amazon, ‘Pages’ represents only an ultra-microcosm, but it is exactly because of this, that our connective system can provide insight into the machinery behind the books: Who made these books? Who published them? Who designed them? We don’t rely on data of buying behavior, but on plain facts. If you are interested in a book of Photographer A, we’ll direct you to other books of Photographer A that are part of our selection. Other ways of connecting are based
on publishers, designers, or authors.
“If you like this, you might also like…” could have been Fw:’s motto. Fw: is always looking for new connections within photography, and wants to introduce more and more people to those connections, by means of presentations and publications such as this fifth edition of ‘Pages’. Its selection comprises 33 publications that have been made in the Netherlands in the past five years. We’ve focused on the relationship between design and content. Books as media can add something to what a photographer wants to say; their design can affect the story and guide it in certain directions. The results are often experimental and unconventional books, requiring a reader’s focused attention. This edition of ‘Pages’ puts precisely those publications on display that go beyond the documentation of a photographical project and have become an essential part of its story. In some cases, they are the project. Fw: has concentrated mostly on people of its own generation, in other words: “If you like Fw:, you might also like...Raymond Taudin Chabot, Jaap Scheeren, Mieke Woestenburg, Paulien Oltheten, Vanessa van Dam + Martine Stig, WassinkLundgren, Annelies Goedhart, Ringel Goslinga, Petra Stavast, Niels Stomps, Melanie Bonajo + Kinga Kielczynska, Erik van der Weijde, Rob Hornstra, Koen Hauser, Geraldine Jeanjean, Anouk Kruithof, Monique Scuric, Ilse Frech, Nickel van Duijvenboden, Magdalena Pilko, Cuny Jansen, Vivianne Sassen, Wytske van Keulen, Dieuwertje Komen, Batia Suter and Stefanie Grätz.”
