DD/MM/YYYY
Review by Ciara O'Halloran
Every month I treat myself. These treats are usually zine shaped and arrive in the post. I have a few favourite online shops I like to browse through and this month I got all my goodies from Good Press Gallery in Glasgow. They do a good thing there, supporting many visual arts with their exhibition space and a huge collection of zines, magazines and photobooks for sale.
The first one to catch my eye was DD/MM/YYYY by Alessandro Zuek Simonetti.
The strongest images from DD/MM/YYYY are quite notably the layered images, which bring a flowing textured feel to this small zine. The cover is simple, a single rose layered on a contrasting image bursting with busy black lines and dark corners. The result is very striking; it’s what drew me to this zine in the first place. Inside we find a collection of portraits, which are sectioned throughout the zine by a series of street stills and snapshots.
There is a loose order evident here; portraits, spread of snapshots followed by a composited image. It is as though Simonetti is presenting us with the evidence and fabricating a story in front of our eyes. Simonetti is a photographer and professor of photography based in New York and Italy. These images seem to have been collected while travelling. Perhaps all the travelling has blurred Simonetti’s memory and he now relies of these snapshots to piece together his journey. The resulting photomontages are a way for him to recreate the memory that’s been lost.
The images are subtle, clever in there communication. They work well on paper, everything is printed in black and white. As we turn the pages the images become more obscure with a sexual tone. Maybe it’s just me, but things begin to resemble the reproductive body parts of both men and women. Anticipation builds as a result and what we’re left with in the end is the image of a woman looking somewhat bemused, this image is layered over a window with a view of the city. It could be a hotel or it could home. Whichever it is we won’t know, but over the course of 20 pages we’ve become voyeurs in this world created by Simonetti.
DD/MM/YYYY
By Alessandro Zuek Simonetti
Published by Hamburger Eyes
Purchased at Good Press Gallery
20 pages – Staple – Laser Printer
LINKS:
zuekphotography.com
hamburgereyes.com
goodpressgallery.co.uk
by Ciara O'Halloran
