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rouleur photography annual 2008 - rapha publishing, 304pp £37
last year, rouleur produced their first photographic annual initially in a signed limited edition, hardback format, followed by an unsigned version, then lastly in softback, generally to high critical acclaim. and rightly so; if you are a rouleur aficionado, the opportunity to settle down of an evening with such an attractive volume on your knee, was very hard to resist. but while rouleur has continued to delight its many fans throughout this past year, is the annual release of more of the same, in softcover only, the sort of project that bears repetition?
hell, yes!
it is a testament to the photographers involved that almost all of them are working at the cutting edge of their vocation; effectively, on our behalf, the acceptable avant garde of the photography world are hell bent on producing art that can be appreciated on so many levels. this standard of photography is rarely surpassed in any current field of photographic venture. it is eminently possible that the rouleur annual 2008 could seriously be presented as a textbook for bona fide photography students. commentator phil ligget points out in his foreword...
'as can so often be the case, the difference between being brilliant and boring is just five hundredths of a second away.'
however, as cyclists, we must pretend to be too mundane in outlook to appreciate the contents on such an artistic level - we want cyclists, bicycles, racing, character, crowds. they're all there, and all there in bucketloads. if you've been having a hard time persuading better halves, work colleagues, or the man in the street just how passionate and exciting the sport of cycling really is, you have now been provided with 304 pages of propaganda.
this beautifully printed volume contains a wide range of observations by camille mcmillan, gerard brown, geoff waugh, taz darling, rein van de wouw, guy andrews (who knew he was this good a photographer?), ben ingham, tim kolln and olaf unverzart, each section arranged in the similar order to the cycling season, beginning with dengie (no, me neither - buy the book and find out) and etoile de besseges, through the classics, the major tours and finishing with a highly interesting selection of spectres by olaf unverzart. selected sections are accompanied by text from some of cycling's finest writers, including rouleur editor guy andrews, matt seaton, will fotheringham, herbie sykes and several others.
there will doubtless be annuals from others in the world of cycling, particularly as we head towards christmas, but at the risk of being accused of either favouritism or pre-judgement, they will be hard pushed to supplant this as one of the finest photographic testaments to the 2008 cycling season that money can buy.
the rouleur photography annual 2008 is available from rouleur.cc for £37 including uk postage. if you're across the pond or of an international flavour, contact rapha via their website for pricing.
posted on saturday 11 october 2008
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