Cyril Costilhes, Grand Circle Diego, 1st edition, signed, excellent condition

Cyril Costilhes GRAND CIRCLE DIEGO Signed Publisher: Akina Books Year: 2014 Format: Hardcover (quarterbound leatherette) Edition: First (Edition of 800 copies) Size: 16 x 23 cm 144 pages, with 81 color reproductions. Includes a text by the artist. Offset UV printing on Munken Polar Rough Condition: New Very rare collectible edition Context: Grand Circle Diego is the first photobook by French photographer Cyril Costilhes.

Densely black and haunting, it is a highly personal book, the result of a very intimate journey, an inward search for oneself. The dominance of rich black color is the first thing that catches your eye - the contrast in the color images is very strong, the blacks lush and deep. With the text placed at the very end (forcing us to first flip through the book before getting any back story), we're led through a desperate parade of shadowy images, shot with a direct flash and often overexposed. Almost all the photographs have intentional vignetting, forming black layer at the periphery; it creates a visual tunnel, reinforcing the feeling of the unknown, of uncertainty and loss. What exactly is happening (or has happened) here?

At the end of the book, in what looks like three diary notes, Costilhes gives us a few clues to help to reconstruct the narrative. Costilhes' father moved to Diego Suarez, in the far north of Madagascar, where he opened a casino business, looking for paradise and beautiful young women. His expatriate dreams came to an abrupt end as a motorcycle accident left him with heavy front lobe dementia; he was taken back to France and has been in a coma ever since (over eleven years now). Costilhes' writing is very personal as he envisions the last moments before the crash and the nightmare that followed - it's as if he is talking directly to his father. Grand Circle Diego is a dark exploration of the photographer's ghosts, and it powerfully captures Costilhes' quest to reconnect with his father. Through its lavish printing, elemental design, and careful editing, the book creates the ambiance of very personal catharsis, leaving most of its mysteries unrevealed.