The Waiting Room

A writeup on The Waiting Room by the Editor-in-Chief at Transitions Online, a great site focused on Eastern/Central European news and features.

billcrandall:

Excited that my book The Waiting Room - Photographs from Belarus is now available in Prague, at Knihkupectvi Ostrov (Ostrov Bookstore). It’s in Nové Město, near Národní Třída metro. So if you’re in the neighborhood…

Great place I’m told, formerly run by Victor Stoilov who publishes the Fototorst series of Czech photo books. Thanks to Karel Cudlin for hooking me up.

The price is 499 Czech Kč, about 25 dollars (same as the US price).

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A good friend of mine just found his grandfather’s Belarusian passport, c.1922. En route to America.

3/22/12. Launch party for Bill Crandall’s photo book The Waiting Room - Photographs from Belarus. Also featuring art by Zoya, music by Shuma. @ Montserrat House, Washington DC.

“At last, somebody (Bill Crandall) who actually spent time and effort trying to get the best photographs of something. Most refreshing. […] Fashions will change and what’s nowtrendy will eventually be passé, and your copy (one of just five hundred) of The Waiting Room may become a “collectible” — but no matter if it doesn’t, because you’ll have enjoyed good photography for a modest outlay.”

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billcrandall:

Nice review of The Waiting Room over on the phot(o)lia blog.

http://photolia.tumblr.com/post/20511639880/the-waiting-room-bill-crandall

Belarus, a post-Soviet country “squeezed between Europe and Russia”. The most common association is probably Chernobyl and current political regime referred to as “the last dictatorship in Europe”. No surprise that those few photographers who get to that part of Europe focus on one of those issues. Bill Crandall did something very different. He came to Belarus to document everyday life and he spent one decade visiting the country: observing, learning, reflecting. [S]ome images are just surreal, others are very intimate, many are captivating but all of them create beautiful and intriguing narratives […].

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Glimpse of The Waiting Room book launch @ Montserrat House, 3/22/12. Photo exhibit plus paintings by Zoya (Minsk) and ethno-electronica music by Shuma (Minsk).