Photobook Review: Between The Skin And Sea by Katrin Koenning

Set in the Australian landscape, the work is an intimate portrayal of living in post-pandemic times.

The first years of this decade brought sensible changes to our lives, making us wonder what really matters at the end of the day. The latest book by Australia-based German artist Katrin Koenning splendidly delves into this existential issue, showing four years of deep personal connections and the beauty that hides into everyday small things.

A sense of disorientation is conveyed through the images, which portray humans and other animals dealing with the natural world and anthropogenic environments. Life unfolds relentlessly – no matter if you are human or not, if you are at home, in the woods or by the beach. There is this common need for staying together and finding shelter and love in the midst of upheaval.

The editing and sequence, developed with Chose Commune’s Cécile Poimboeuf-Koizumi, emphasizes her approach, which trusts instinct and is free from the constraints of rigid visual strategies. "I work across many different formats, so we didn't want to lose that. We both wanted to honor the pictures in their respective formats. There are also photographs that have a sense of brokenness or imperfection all throughout the book - a blur or a light leak or something falling off the edges…. It's something I love about photography - I feel a kind of presence there in the brokenness, an unease, an unsettling, a melancholy maybe."

The chaotic and revelatory nature of the time is captured in the book. Reassuring and uncanny images alternate, dictating a slower or faster pace, while we start recognizing some recurring figures throughout the pages. All the people living on the book’s pages belong to Katrin’s innermost circle – her friends, her partner, her family. "The children of two sets of my closest friends reappear throughout the book, and we see them grow through the years. In the beginning for example N. is a baby - then here and there he is, a little older, and then here again 3 years on, looking back at us. Repetition is another core element of my practice, both visually and in a more bodied way - I return to specific people, places, communities, trees or streets or washing lines over and over and over." Beyond these hints and the personal interpretation we can give to its narrative, this publication feels brave and honest. It’s the effort of an author who is not afraid of showing her vulnerability.

Reclaiming images as a space to evoke emotions is a crucial aspect in a world saturated with images. "For me, the act of photography is always about drawing closer, and about love. It's a relational practice, and I don't just mean that in terms of human communities. It extends to greater-than-human communities — encompassing humans and other animals, the world."

"The red cover honors the Australian land, the earth, and the cover image is de-embossed for an embedded feel. Cecile's arrangement of the text, flowing like a ‘river around the picture’ resonated deeply with interconnection and fluidity. I opted against a hardcover because I wanted the object to feel soft, like the pictures. A rigid cover to me felt like it would act against this. Another design choice is that of including two distinct colour sections in the second half, acting as small ‘stumbles’ or ‘pebbles’ in the flow. The book's size was an intuitive decision, driven by a desire for both intimacy and breath." All together they well-encapsulate the concept of this work, letting it roam free beyond the finite solid body of the book to encourage us in connecting with our own emotions and experiences.

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Between The Skin and Sea by Katrin Koenning is published by Chose Commune - Get your copy here

First edition
Editing and sequencing: Katrin Koenning & Cécile Poimboeuf-Koizumi
Design: Cécile Poimboeuf-Koizumi, in collaboration with Perrine Serre
188 pages
125 plates
21 x 26 cm
Section-sewn OTA-bound debossed softcover with tip-on
French / English
Publication date: November 2024
ISBN: 979-10-96383-48-1

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Katrin Koenning lives and works in Naarm Melbourne, on the unceded sovereign Lands of the Eastern Kulin Nation. Pursuing intimacy and interconnection her photographic, video and text-based work centres around practice as relational encounter. Katrin uses fragments and slippages to suggest worlds that are fluid and multiplicit. Many of her series render non-human human entanglement. Koenning has been the recipient of multiple awards. Her work is regularly exhibited in Australian and international solo and group exhibitions and has been published widely.