Ciel variable has always kept an eye out for publications by artists and curators so that we can review them in the magazine’s Readings section. We’re also particularly interested in the specific genre of photobooks, which are favoured as a means for the deployment and apprehension of bodies of photographic work. Over the last several years, photobooks have seen a revival in terms of both their creation and their dissemination and marketing, and numerous commentators have debated the significance of this resurgence. Ciel variable wishes to contribute to these discussions by amplifying multiple voices sensitive to the creative richness and flourishing of this quickly developing sector.

Today, we welcome a new contributor, historian of photography, author, and exhibition curator Luce Lebart. She offers her critique of Dry Hole, a hefty book published by Morel/AMC containing archival photographs – real photo postcards collected on the Internet – that lead us back to daily life in North American small towns in the early twentieth century.