Family Tree

Ringel Goslinga — Family Tree 17 x 24 cm / 256 pp. / English / 2007 / re-published by Fw: in 2009 / ISBN 978-94-90119-02-7 The subject of this book is intriguing. Contrary to what you might expect, it does not trace Goslinga’s family tree. Instead, it gives us 108 photographs of people who have been important to him. Some have to do with a particular period in his life or with his divorced parents, others he regards as important for his person, for Ringel Goslinga as he now is. This interpersonal approach gives the images something impalpable, something poetic. The book derives its strength from the photos and the way they have been put together. There is enough room between the four sections into which the material has been divided. Black fields mark the place of people who were unavailable for the photographer. The whole project is a form of self-exploration. Goslinga links people through photos, and the result is a self-portrait. The whole thing has been brilliantly printed in tritone and very nicely sewn and bound.