Eidolon Shelf represents a collaborative effort between Eidolon and one of our favourite places in Budapest: ISBN books + gallery, a contemporary art bookstore and a gallery space. This initiative showcases a monthly selection of books closely aligned with the realms of vernacular photography, banal imaging, and contemporary photographic theories. Our goal is to popularise knowledge in these specific areas through the titles that we enjoyed and have influenced our thinking in the field of everyday imaging. Each month, a featured publication takes center stage on the Eidolon Shelf at the ISBN store, alongside other carefully curated books which are available for purchase on the spot.

Our recommendation for June is the photo-books of Joachim Schmid,

born in 1955, now is an artist based in Berlin, being a distinguished figure – perhaps even a doyen – in the field of vernacular photography and appropriation art. In the late 1980s, Schmid began creating his own artworks using imagery not originally produced in an art context, such as found images and "other people's photographs." He continues this practice today, expanding his scope to include imagery from social media platforms and exploring internet phenomena and the visual culture of the online world. He employs these images in clever yet humorous ways, using a visual anthropological approach to create an extensive collection of artist's books. One of his most well-known works is the series titled Other People's Photographs (2008-2011), in which he self-published ninety-six (!) photo-books.

Looking at his works, one can easily realise that he has firm beliefs on today's photographic culture. In a 2013 interview with American Suburb X, when asked, "What does collective authorship mean (...) to you?" he responded: "The interesting thing is, we all more or less take the same photographs, if you look at the general level. But we don’t learn that at school and our parents don’t tell us, so there must be some kind of unspoken or unconscious code of how we want to depict our lives or our societies, and this is not very well researched. We all contribute to that; there is not much originality, and that’s also true for most of the photography we find in the art world. You find the same repetitive patterns there; they are just more consciously elaborated."

This month, we recommend his books that all amplify these beliefs.

Joachim Schmid was one of the speakers of our event Talks on Everyday Imaging – The Analogue and Digital Realm of the Vernacular in November, 2023. You can watch his presentation here: 

The titles which you can purchase at ISBN are the following:

Joachim Schmid: Found on Flickr – 7990 Ft
Joachim Schmid: Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Photography – 4990 Ft
Joachim Schmid: Are you searching for me? – 7990 Ft

You can find the artist's website here, and also can view a previous photo-essay of his on Eidolon Journal.

Grab your books at ISBN books+gallery:
1084 Budapest, Víg utca 2.
Opening Hours:
Tuesday-Friday: 12-6pm