Dienststelle Marienthal by Andreas Magdanz, reviewed by Wayne Ford

The images above are iPad screen grabs.

Over a 12 year period commencing in 1960, the West German government constructed a secret underground bunker near Bonn — this vast complex contained 25,000 doors, of which only 38 would lead to the surface, and 900 offices. A product of the cold war it was designed to house 3,000 key government personnel in the event of a nuclear attack. At one stage the building was so secret, that to even acknowledge its existence was an act of treason. 

In 1998, German born Andreas Magdanz was granted access to three of the bunkers five sections (prior to the building being decommissioned), the resulting book, Dienststelle Marienthal (The Marienthal Government Bunker), takes is name from the official designation for the building. Reflecting upon this work Martin Parr and Gerry Badger write in The Photobook: Volume II (Phaidon, 2006), ‘Magdanz depicts an environment that is repetitive, uniform and soulless, lacking privacy and the more “civilized” amenities of living.’

Format: Compatible with iPhone and iPad.

Price: $4.99 

Links: iTunes, App website and MagBooks

Comment: Dienststelle Marienthal is now a highly sought after book, commanding high prices on specialist auction sites. But Magdanz — who was an early adopter of digital technologies — has produced a digital version for the iPhone using MagBook® technology, in what he described as a’worldwide first’ when he first issued the app for the iPhone and iPod Touch in 2009. Whilst in my view this should not to be viewed as a substitute for the original book, it is a welcome opportunity for anyone interested in Magdanz’s powerful work to do so at a very democratic price.  

RATING

Content: 18/20

Design: 12/15

Value: 5/5

TOTAL: 35/40

Figures & Fictions by Tamar Garb, reviewed by Wayne Ford

The images above are iPad screen grabs.

Staged by London’s Victoria & Albert Museum and curated by Tamar Garb in 2011, ‘Figures & Fictions: Contemporary South African Photography’ highlighted the work of 17 South African photographers — Jodi Bieber, Kudzanai Chiurai, Hasan & Husai Essop, David Goldblatt, Pieter Hugo, Terry Kurgan, Sabelo Mlangeni, Santu Mofokeng, Zwelethu Mthethwa, Zanele Muholi Muholi, Jo Ractliffe, Berni Searle, Graeme Williams, Guy Tillim, Mikhael Subotzky, Nonsikelelo ‘Lolo’ Veleko and Roelof Petrus Van Wyk — all of whom life and work in the country and whose images were made of the past decade. 

Format: App compatible with iPad only.

Price: $4.99 (was $16.99 at the time of the review)

Links: iTunes and MAPP Editions

Comment: This app is a digital version of the catalogue that accompanied the V&A exhibition which was published by Steidl (2011), with enhanced content in the form of both video and audio introduction by Garb; videos of Bieber, Essop, Kurgan, Mlangeni, Mofokeng, Van Wyk and Williams; additional audio content, interviews and biography also accompanies each artists entry, with enlargeable images allowing the user to explore each photograph in detail. There is a foreword by Martin Barnes, and an extensive essay by Garb, and in depth conversation between Garb, Achille Mbembe, Sarah Nuttal, Riason Naidoo and Colin Richards, in the form of a text, which will be familiar to anyone who has read the Steidl catalogue. 

There is much about this app to praise — with excellent enhanced content and superb navigation — however it is let down by the design, which presents long bodies of text as pale grey type on a dark coloured background; making the reading experience far from enjoyable.  

RATING

Content: 18/20

Design: 8/15

Value: 5/5

TOTAL: 31/40

Oil by Edward Burtynsky, reviewed by Wayne Ford

Video walkthrough with Edward Burtynsky.

All the images above are iPad screen grabs.

"In 1997 I had what I refer to as my oil epiphany. It occurred to me that the vast, human-altered landscapes that I pursued and photographed for over twenty years were only made possible by the discovery of oil and the mechanical advantage of the internal combustion engine...These images can be seen as notations by one artist contemplating the world as it is made possible through this vital energy resource and the cumulative effects of industrial evolution."  Edward Burtynsky

Originally published by Steidl (2009) in print, Oil — which won the Deutscher Fotobuchpreis Silver Medal in 2010 — is the Canadian Edward Burtynsky’s visually powerful document of the production and consumption of ‘black gold,’ and it’s impact on our shared society, whilst also addressing it’s rising cost and it’s rapidly approaching end.


Format: App compatible with the iPad only.

Price: $9.99

Links: iTunes and Melcher Media

Comment: Over one hundred images from Burtynsky’s expansive survey that was recently shown at London’s The Photographers’ Gallery, are presented in a well thought out and designed format, that includes voice overs by the artist offering a personal perspective on 24 of the powerful images, where he describes how he made them, what they show, and how they fit into his narrative on oil; along with extensive essays by Michael Mitchell, William E. Rees and Paul Roth, and video walkthroughs with the artist of the exhibition staged at the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto in 2011.


RATING

Content: 16/20

Design: 12/15

Value: 5/5

TOTAL: 33/40