As it happened, 2011 saw the publication of not one but two photobooks about the marble quarries of Carrara (see also the book called Carrara by Aglaia Konrad), so that the panel were tempted, having compared them, to reject one. Instead of that, however, it was decided that both should be selected.
Hans Bol’s work is presented in a conventionally bound book of plates, a design that complements his photographs – steeped as they are in the traditions of the Romantic. Here we have overwhelming landscapes devoid of people: vistas of distant mountains.
These images are presented at a gentle pace, sometimes as double page spreads and sometimes as pairs of graphic matches. The rhythm remains constant thanks to the white space above and below the photographs, keeping the attention focused on the images themselves. Within the series the subject shifts, from distant views of the immense landscape to close-up views of details in the marble or the traces left by men. The overall result is a nicely balanced book.