josef chladek

on photobooks and books

Chris Dooks - We Love You Forever, DooksBooks, 2024, Edinburgh, Scotland

Softcover, edition of 100 copies.

Gothic-inspired photography, a blend of black and white images of dark, whimsical themes.

Although a doctor of Sound Art, Dooks was trained in photography during the 1980s, and has returned to a tactile, analogue approach in recent years, producing small, affordable editions of their work. This revival of hands-on processes offers a form of solace amid chronic illness and caregiving duties.

The current series centres on preserved dead animals—mostly small mammals and birds suspended in formaldehyde—photographed in ways that evoke nonhuman spirit guides. Shot during quiet, meditative walks through London’s older cemeteries, and natural history collections the images channel a gothic aesthetic laced with whimsy. The compositions invite comparisons to the dæmons of His Dark Materials—protective, otherworldly companions that hover at the edge of the frame, sharing space with the viewer like familiars in a shadowed realm.

Dooks has said he looked at the work of Jo Spence and Rosy Martin, who used the camera as a tool for reclaiming narratives around illness, mortality, and the body. In a more macabre register, they may also be seen in conversation with the photographic practices of Sally Mann or Andres Serrano, particularly in their shared preoccupation with death, decay, and the human-animal threshold.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/dooksbooks

Pages: 33
Place: Edinburgh, Scotland
Year: 2024
Publisher: DooksBooks
Size: 15 x 21 cm (approx.)