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.

To kick off 2023, we offer a look back at the twentieth century through the images of Ansel Adams (1902–84), the heart and soul of Mike Mandel’s book Zone Eleven. In his review, Michel Hardy-Vallée raises questions about the relevance of revisiting, even if admiringly, the aesthetic canons of the past.