Sketchbook #2
310 mm x 440 mm (broadsheet in waxed-paper sleeve)
London, UK and Ukraine (English-language)
Created by: Aria Shahrokhshahi
A broadsheet-style publication, this is the second volume of Sketchbook, a collection of photographs taken in Ukraine between 2019 and 2024 by UK-based photographer Aria Shahrokhshahi.
Inside, we're met with monochrome images of eerie, barren landscapes, grainy photographs taken from drones and sniper rifles (machines are 'the other artist' featured in this volume), as well as portraits of some of the people Shahrokhshahi met while in Ukraine.
What's also interesting is the short line of text that accompanies each photograph—all were generated by AI. Shahrokhshahi fed each photograph into an AI platform and asked it to describe what it was 'looking' at. Shivers.
The results are uncanny, with some descriptions convincing and others, also convincing at first glance, but incorrect on closer inspection (note one photograph which wrongly claims to be set in Moscow, Russia).
Each issue is signed by Shahrokhshahi.