People of the Twenty-First Century - Hans Eijkelboom
If the cover of People of the Twenty-First Century makes an immediate visual statement, the rest of this book is the ensuing manifesto. Each page captures between fifteen minutes and three hours in the life of a variety of global street corners, during which time Dutch photographer Hans Eijkelboom does more than merely chronicle the parade of humanity. He observes very particular recurring forms with unnerving precision, from Parisian women in leopard-print coats to Amsterdam men in trademark "Rolling Stones tongue" t-shirts to Shanghai commuters biking in ponchos. Unlike in his precursor August Sander’s People of the Twentieth Century, Eijkelboom never defines these archetypes, as they’re not immediately meaningful categories that he creates. The arrangements of people do nag at you, though, whether that twinge is uneasiness or witty pleasure at the repetitions of collective, consumer life. Either way, the book is a remarkable act of hypnosis.
