cover image TRANSIENT: Armin Linke

TRANSIENT: Armin Linke

Hans Ulrich Obrist, Stefano Boeri, Stalker, . . Skira, $39.95 (224pp) ISBN 978-88-8491-492-7

The hyperreality of globalism has been heightened by photographers like Jeff Wall and Andreas Gursky, who manipulate their images; Milanese photographer Linke manages to let his eerily huge scales and odd mix of built and "natural" transnational spaces speak for themselves. These 180 beautifully printed images depict scenes all over the world, from the Museum of the Unknown Soldier in Baghdad to the "Water Shop" in Nukus, Uzbekistan; a computer shop in Lagos, Nigeria; the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas; and a Genoa barricaded for the G8 summit. As Linke notes in an included interview, the photos mark the point where "the boundary between fiction and non-fiction blurs or becomes invisible." (Oct.)