Michael Magers: Independent Mysteries
Michael Magers: Independent Mysteries
Independent Mysteries is the first monograph from documentary photographer Michael Magers.
In it, Magers exposes the persistent tension between connection and disconnection – a feeling of “intimate distance” – he grappled with while traveling to places like Japan, Haiti, and Cuba for various assignments and personal projects.
Drawing on nearly a decade of work, each image can be viewed as a film-still, with little context other than light brushes of human contact, fleeting intimacy, solitude and vulnerability. Every one of the grainy, black-and-white photographs in this book carries with it a secret to be discovered and explored.
These pictures not only celebrate the essence of everyday life but also the magic of each moment.
Independent Mysteries features design by Bonnie Briant, editorial by Nadine Barth and Claire Cichy of Hatje Cantz, and contains original prose/poetry/artwork from a host of collaborators with whom Michael has worked over the past few years including acclaimed Cuban musician Daymé Arocena, photographer Larry Fink, celebrated Japanese Tattoo Artist Horiren 1st, award-winning authors Matt Goulding and Mitch Moxley, and musician, poet, and visual artist Matthew Shultz.
About the Author
Michael Magers is a documentary photographer and journalist based in New York City. He is a frequent collaborator with the highly acclaimed team at Roads & Kingdoms and served as the lead photographer on their award-winning books, “Rice Noodle Fish” and “Grape Olive Pig” (as well as contributing to the 3rd book in the series “Pasta Pane Vino”) published by Harper Collins/Anthony Bourdain.
His images are exhibited both internationally and in the U.S. and have appeared in a wide range of digital and print publications including TIME, Smithsonian, Vogue Italia, British Journal of Photography, Huck, Outside, The California Sunday Magazine, CNN’s Explore Parts Unknown, New York Times – T Magazine (Instagram Takeover), The Guardian.com, and The Washington Post.
His first monograph, Independent Mysteries, was published by Hatje Cantz in late 2019. Michael’s work documenting craftsmanship in Japan was named a 2016 Critical Mass Finalist and in 2019, he was shortlisted for the Hariban Award.
