Seltmann & Söhne: a view of reality - the Reportage Album 01

Reportage photography is one of photography's oldest stylistic methods. Time and time again, photographers have travelled the globe in order to bring us closer to people, events or cultures. And advertising photography is increasingly looking to journalistic styles to make give the odd product a more authentic and natural feel.

The interest in authentic photography seems to be as potent as ever, especially in the age of digitalism. Surfing through the internet, many forums, blogs and sites are waiting to be found, which consciously deal with journalistic photography in an engaging way.

But where does this fascination stem from? Surely, it must be the power of narrating with pictures. Whatever a writer might create with their words, a journalistic photographer can use their pictures. He or she explains, quotes or describes reality and draws it closer to us. Still, it does not always have to be about big events.

Sometimes, it might be something ordinary. Something we overlook or choose to look away from. Hence, a mundane day can become more exciting than any journey. Journalistic photography prompts us to grapple reality. The most thrilling aspect is the fact that there is no chance of running out of topics. No matter how often they have been photographed, over and over again, photographers keep showing us their respective views and perspectives. That’s what makes journalistic photography so bold and bodacious.

Seltmann & Söhne Verlag equally share this fascination and set about making a 300-page strong book about it. The Journalism album 01 transmits a unique overview over current German and international journalistic photography.

The Journalism album is the 8th volume of thematically subdivided photography yearbooks and was published at the beginning of January 2010. The albums are a canon for photographers, creative minds and photography enthusiasts and are published every three months, sporting a new topic each time.

They offer orientation, inspiration and regularly inform on the current state of German and international photography. A mono-thematic reference book, the ‘albums’ are a useful and essential instrument when it comes to professional photographer scouting. By now, they have become an established resource of creative enrichment in advertising agencies and editorial departments.

Even veteran adepts of the scene will always find new photographers here. The ‘albums’ are published by Seltmann & Söhne. The publishing house and print office can look back on a century old letterpress tradition, resulting in highly skilled craftsmanship. Oliver Seltmann is responsible for choosing the pictures and the layout, who has been working as an art director for high profile advertising agencies for more than 10 years. Due to their modern design, the ‘albums’ differ from the usual photography yearbooks and are a must have in any collection of photography books.

The following albums have been published to date:

- Autoalbum 01, released April 2008 (Vehicle album)
- Portraitalbum 01, released July 2008 (Portrait album)
- Stilllifealbum 01, released October 2008 (Still life album)
- Architekturalbum 01, released January 2009 (Architecture album)
- Landscapealbum 01, released January 2009 (Landscape album)
- Fashionalbum 01, released May 2009 (Fashion album)
- Peoplealbum 01, released September 2009 (People album)
- Reportagealbum 01, released January 2010 (Reportage album)
- Beautyalbum 01, to be released April 2010 (Beauty album)

All editions can be purchased for 49,– € at all good bookshops or direct from www.diealben.de