Jaap Scheeren

It’s not often that a photo book is controlled by both the text and the image. I often find that one commands the other; but in Flipping The Bird there is a consistent conversation between the two, that propels the narrative forward. The series follows a visual narrative of a long walk, where the “character” reconnects with nature and finds his/hers love within the rich flora and many different creatures of the Dutch dunes.

Stumbling across this book in the FOAM Amsterdam book shop the vibrant coloured cover instantly pulled me in along with the image of the bird on the front (reminded me of ‘The Pillar’). Uncoated rag paper is always a favourite of mine and in combination with Scheeren’s pictorial tonality, the detail and colours of this vast narrative are bought to life, turning from page to page I am filled with more and more surprises as I delve deeper into each picture. Turner’s ‘Newnham-on-Severn from Dean Hill’ could be a somewhat vague comparison to the wider landscape photographs in Flipping The Bird, how humans interact with mother nature and the creatures that she provides in relation to our needs in society and the world are common themes in both pieces of work; and although centuries apart the two artist’s both convey a similar and ongoing state that we as a society live in.

A funny photo book? I was once told that when a photographer’s images are described as “funny” they immediately stop making “funny” pictures. Is this true in Scheeren’s case? The text is both a fluent mix of short sharp statements and longer more poetic descriptive language. This playful narrative keeps the reader awake throughout the book; it can feel a bit repetitive with multiple photographs of forests, trees and shrubbery but the occasional creature portrait or macro study of some bark, perks up the eyes and you are met with a crow, giving the finger. “Yeah. You. Fuck you.”