By Jessica on July 6, 2011
The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel posted a wonderful review and interview with Jen today on their online site, JSonline:
“While other survivors have written about their Katrina ordeals, no one has documented such harrowing experiences quite the way Shaw has in “Hurricane Story” (Broken Levee Books, $18). Using toys and dolls, some altered and hand-painted, Shaw staged 46 scenes from her family’s evacuation, exile and return, then photographed them with a plastic Holga camera with a magnifying lens glued onto it, pairing the often eerie images with simple lines of text. The result is a compelling graphic novel that feels like an art exhibit tucked inside a lovely, clothbound board book.”
41: FEMA hauled off our downed trees.
Jen great up in Milwaukee, and began to explore photography there through the city’s abundance of artistic resources and a nurturing community. We’re thrilled to see so much hometown love! Read the full article here, and if you’re in southern Wisconsin, be on the lookout for the article in this Sunday’s print edition.
Posted in Book Reviews, Interviews, Press
By Jessica on June 30, 2011
Press Street, a New Orleans-based nonprofit literary and visual arts collective, featured Hurricane Story today on their wonderful blog dedicated to the literary life of New Orleans, “Room 220” They had some lovely things to say:
“Chin Music (Press) has taken the opportunity to provide the photos, story, and experience with a proper published art object. The new hardcover edition features an elegant design that presents the images and story cleanly while allowing them to retain their surreal and melancholy feel.”
Read the full post here.
Posted in Book Reviews, Press
By Jessica on June 29, 2011
Rob Walker, contributing writer to The New York Times Magazine and author of Letters From New Orleans featured Hurricane Story today on “Observers Room,” the Design Observer blog. Rob has been a big supporter of Hurricane Story far before the project was collected into book form, and he wrote the Foreword for the updated hardcover edition. In the post he shares his contribution to the book along with several images and his thoughts on the final product.
Read Hurricane Story‘s Foreword and Rob’s post here.
Posted in Press
By Jessica on June 24, 2011
Amye Archer posted her review of Hurricane Story on the PANK Magazine blog today, discussing her own experiences with reacting to and understanding the stories emerging from Katrina, in addition to the book itself:
“Shaw’s story is beautifully told with weighted insights and tempered observations. She captures brilliantly the ambiguity of the weeks and months that followed the hurricane’s arrival.
Then, there’s the images. Shaw, a RISDY grad, is a gifted photographer who uses toys and a soft filter to create an almost surrealist view of the events she is describing. A small red truck driving away from us, a midwife with cold, wide open eyes, a line of green army men. There are certain images that belong to the collective consciousness of mankind. Shaw, manages to not only capture those images, but to skew them into a new reality. A feat that mimics how Katrina changed New Orleans forever. We will always see the Crescent City in a different light, through a different lens, post-Katrina. She is a town of hope, of survival, she is a town of rebirth, and, thanks to Jennifer Shaw’s Hurricane Story, she is a town with a story that is only beginning to be heard.”
Read the full review here.
Posted in Book Reviews, Press
By Jessica on June 16, 2011
Hurricane Story is today’s feature at aCurator Magazine, a wonderful online photography magazine that was just named one of Time.com’s Top 20 Photo Blogs of 2011.
“The simplicity of this book, and every image in it, is exceptionally engaging; everything about it just works. I strongly suggest you treat yourself to a copy, and at $18, you can also buy one as a gift.”
A big thank you to Julie Grahame at aCurator for her support and excitement about the book! Read more here.
Posted in Book Reviews
By Jessica on June 14, 2011
Hurricane Story was featured this morning on Lenscratch, a popular photography blogzine that Wired, Source Review and InStyle have all called “one of the 10 photography blogs you should be reading.”
Lenscratch curator Aline Smithson interviews Jennifer Shaw about the book, saying:
“I’ve been a fan of Jennifer’s work for some time and in particular, this series that takes us through an experience that was life changing in so many ways. Her unique photographic approach to simultaneously experiencing Hurricane Katrina and the birth of her first child, is indeed, a success story!”
Read the full interview and see a preview of the book here.
Posted in Book Reviews, Interviews, Press
By Jessica on June 13, 2011
The Monroe News Star featured Hurricane Story in their June 12 article, “What remained after Katrina captured in photos”
“(Shaw) recounts the fleeing to Alabama, the birth, the horrific news coming out of New Orleans and the nightmarish two months that followed accented by dreamlike photos of toys and dolls in “Hurricane Story” by Broken Levee Books, an imprint of Chin Music Press. Using a Holga camera — what Shaw calls “a cheap toy camera made in China” — she captures the depression, anger and surreal experiences of the hurricane’s aftermath with simple text and photos that deliver a powerful story. The story’s sometimes strangely humorous (“The dogs enjoyed their vacation”), honest (“We attempted to drown our anxieties”) and interspersed with deep tragedy (“My husband turned into a freak”).”
Posted in Book Reviews, Press
By Jessica on June 10, 2011
Hurricane Story is now available for preorder through your favorite online retailers. But, as a special “thank you” for ordering directly from the book’s publisher, Chin Music Press, they are offering free North American shipping through July 4, 2011 on all preorders. Books will ship in early July.
As if that wasn’t enough, they are also entering everyone who preorders the book before the 4th into a giveaway for a signed, numbered, limited edition 17″ x 17″ archival inkjet print of one of Jennifer Shaw’s photographs from the book:
"We drove further north to the farm."
This prize is a $500 value, and a winner will be drawn randomly from all preorders. The giveaway is open to all international destinations!
For more information, check out the Chin Music Press blog. To purchase, head to the Chin Music Press online store. Good luck!
Posted in News
By jenshaw on June 7, 2011
Derek Darke reviews Hurricane Story on the new British photo blog, Lenses on the World.
“This sequence of 46 images recounts not only the story from leaving to returning but also depicts moments of despair, joy, fear, friendship and even humour. Shaw’s method focuses upon the subject while the images hazy properties leave space for the viewers imagination to experience emotional connections to the events.”
Read the full review here.
Posted in Book Reviews, Press
By jenshaw on June 4, 2011
Jim Higgins, book editor of The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel included Hurricane Story in his recent list of 52 summer book recommendations.
Posted in Press
