Publication date UK format 5/4/22 book 144 pages
I would like to thank the author, publishers and Netgalley for allowing me to pick this to read and review all my reviews are honest.
Synopsis
Fifty-five years after famed photographer Josef Koudelka published his seminal work, Gypsies, documenting European Roma families, photojournalist Cristina Salvador Klenz brings us a similar collection of rare, intimate black-and-white images—this time featuring the Roma families of California. By taking us behind the scenes of an ethnic minority largely unknown and yet routinely reduced to stereotypes by mainstream America, Klenz captures the celebrations, social structures, and struggles of a culture that has survived centuries of discrimination and persecution. Hidden: Life with California’s Roma Families is the first photography book to feature Romani Americans. Beginning in 1990, Klenz spent several years following a number of families belonging to various “nations” of Roma and documenting their lives on 35mm, black-and-white film. With a foreword by Ian Hancock, widely considered the world’s preeminent Romani scholar, Hidden provides historical as well as social context for the book’s 100 photographs. It was lavishly printed in duotone by Italian printer Editoriale Bortolazzi-Stei (EBS). Although the Roma are still widely known in English by the exonym “Gypsies,” this book comes amidst a global movement away from the word, which is increasingly considered an offensive pejorative. Since their exodus from India more than a thousand years ago, the Roma have migrated all over the globe. Klenz’s work features various nations, including the Kalderash and Machvaya, whose ancestors were kept as slaves in Eastern Europe for 500 years; the Xoraxay, whose people arrived in California after extended stays in Chile; the Mihais, who immigrated to the United States from Colombia; and the Ludar, who were forbidden from speaking their native tongue during slavery and therefore had lost the Romani language entirely by the time they encountered Klenz. Given their widely divergent paths to America, many Romani-American nations today have little social contact with each other, but the groups have been brought together in this set of photographs so that readers may gain a greater understanding of and appreciation for Romani-American history, life, family, and tradition.
My Review
This is a wonderful book. I am so glad I found it. It is packed fullof culture and wonderful emotive pictures. The book focuses on the romany culture looking at family life within each clan. I just loved the section at the start explaining the difference of each clan and how they live there lives. I found it so fascinating. The layout of the book was wonderfully simple but very effective. The only slight issue I had was that the explanation for each each image was after the pictures. I full understood why the author did this. It was so your sole focus was on each image and so that the images show their full impact and your mind then likes to work out the pictures before you actually read about it. I loved this book so much and I would recommend this book to all those who love learning about different cultures and For those who have a keen interest in the power of black and white photography as they were some stunning powerful images.
So much praise goes out to the author and publishing team for bringing together this amazing collection of photography from a very fascinating culture which I loved learning about and I'm sure you will too.
Where you can buy this book
Amazon US HC $40.12
B&N HC $49.99
Amazon UK HC £39.85
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HAPPY READING