.. Our Lonely Selves

22 x 28 cm | 56 pages | Leporello with 16 page insert | Design: Hans Gremmen | isbn 978-90-833459-8-7 | 2024

Individual orders at publisher Fw:books

'Critically acclaimed for her psychological landscape images, Awoiska van der Molen presents a new body of work with understated black-and-white photos of built-up environments that reveal traces of human presence: she zooms in on illuminated windows in the darkness of the evening in Japan.

One could say that these windows function as a screen between the photographer (or the observer) and the world, between a psychological inner world and the external world of things. Through the windows, we catch a glimpse of the life behind them, yet there is no substantial contact. The windows serve as a barrier to the desire for safety and companionship as well as a glimpse of it. They simultaneously represent the longing for connection as well as comfort with distance. In this sense, the windows symbolise the existential loneliness that most of us must come to terms with to a greater or lesser degree.

24 x 29 centimeter / 48 pages / greyback paper + 16 pp on IBO (Japanese bound, black inside) / 5 colours + varnish / cahier / EN / Design: Hans Gremmen / Publisher Fw: books  / 2020

This is the third publication in which Awoiska probes deeply into the essence of the remote unspoiled natural worlds where her images are created. The book is published alongside the music composition ‘The Living Mountain’ written by Thomas Larcher as composer-in-residence at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam (2019-2020). The music piece draws inspiration from photographs that Awoiska made for Larcher in the mountains of his native Tirol (Austria). The monochrome landscapes are combined with reproductions of Larcher’s scores and remnants. The title for both the composition and this book is taken from Nan Shepherd’s book of poetic prose on the Scottish Cairngorms mountains that she wrote in 1942 and which was first published in 1977.

The world premiere of the live concert ‘The Living Mountain’ took place at the Dutch Royal Concerthall in april 2021 and was performed by Asko|Schönberg, one of the leading ensembles for new contemporary music. Words by Nan Shephard from her book The Living Mountain are brought by the dazzling French-Cypriot soprano Sarah Aristidou.

New concert dates to be scheduled in future in a.o. London and Innsbruck.

Book Reviews:
Collector Daily  Loring Knoblauch
Conscientious  Jörg Colberg
Photobookstore Magazine  Rodrigo Orrantia
Punctum Magazine  Mathias Gjesdal Hammer

24 x 29 cm / 36 pages / tritone / canvas cover / EN / Text by Arjen Mulder / Design: Hans Gremmen / Isbn 978-94-90119-48-5 / 2017
1500 copies - Sold out
Fw:Books publishers

“Spending long periods of time in solitude in remote landscapes, Awoiska van der Molen slowly uncovers the identity of the place, allowing it to impress upon her its specific emotional and physical qualities. Using her personal experience within the landscape for her creative process, she instinctively searches for a state of being in which the boundary between herself and her surroundings blur”. —  Anna Dannemann, The Photographers’ Gallery | Deutsche Borse Photography Foundation Prize 2017. ‘Blanco’ is Awoiska’s second publication, following the much celebrated ‘Sequester‘.

Vimeo Blanco

24 x 29 cm / 80 pages / duotone (partly printed on black paper) / hardcover / Design: Hans Gremmen / Isbn 978-94-90119-29-4 /  2014

*1st  edition   750 copies - Sold out
(font at back side in grey)
*2nd edition 2000 copies - Sold out
(font at back side in black)

Fw:Books publishers
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Vimeo Sequester

Photography exists by the virtue of light, but the landscapes in Awoiska van der Molen’s photographs loom out of the darkness. Her monochrome photographic works arise out of a desire to penetrate deeply into the core of the isolated world in which she photographs. Awoiska van der Molen is known for her monochrome landscapes. She stands out as someone who remains rooted in the riches of analogue photography and printing. She plays out these roots in an extreme manner by creating monumental pieces that combine intentionality in choice of subject and photographic craftsmanship.

Awards:
Sequester was shortlisted for the Paris Photo – Aperture First Photobook Awards, Nov. 2014
Sequester was awarded the silver medal in the competition ‘Best Book Design from all over the World’ in Leipzig, March 2015

Reviews:
Conscientious Photo Magazine Jörg Colberg
The Guardian  Sean O’Hagan
The Great Leap Sideways  Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa
Photobookstore Magazine Rodrigo Orrantia

Best Books lists:
Paris Photo Aperture First Photobook Awards  / The Guardian: ‘ Sequester Best Photobook of 2014’  / De Volkskrant: The 15 Best Dutch Photobooks 2014 / Best of 2014 by British Journal of Photography / Photobook of the Year, Claxton Projects / Photo-eye’s Best Books of 2014 / Best Photobooks 2014 by Jörg Colberg / Best of 2014 by Photobookstore Magazine / Vogue Italia 2014 PhotoBooks / The Best Dutch Book Designs 2014 / Silver Medal ‘Best Book Design from all over the World’ / Best of the Year Kassel Fotobookfestival / The greatest Photobooks Of All Time