The Eriskay Connection

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The Eriskay Connection

Dutch studio for book design and an independent publisher focussing on contemporary storytelling at the intersection of photography, research and writing.

Eriskay is a remote Scottish island. To get there many steps are necessary travelling by plane, train, bus and ferry. These steps connect the small island to the large world and vice versa. And this is precisely the objective of The Eriskay Connection. The Eriskay Connection is a Dutch studio for book design and an independent publisher of art books at the intersection of photography, research, so

cial issues and science. We are particularly interested in projects that map relevant matters, provide insight into the world we live in, tell a story, make a statement, expose a history or give directions to our view on the future. Since 2011 the love for designing books inspires us in creating a publishing path that takes us into the unknown. On our way we find travel companions who accompany us in contemporary publishing structures. By sharing experiences we aim to find new companions, alternative routes and discover unexpected destinations.

24/01/2025

Images from the Sense of Presence. Rogier Maaskant (NL) enchanting images unveil a diverse array of insects in flight during twilight and nighttime – in forests and above fields, ditches, and ponds around Rotterdam. By using strobe light, his single exposures provide a unique view of the flight of caddisflies, moths, lacewings, dragonflies, gnats, and various other species that illustrate the rich biodiversity.

For Sense of Presence, collaborated with scientists and butterfly experts. His work is in line with the current era of renewed interest in nature and a widespread awareness of the need to protect it.

Design:

21/01/2025

NEW RELEASE
The Tumen River Project (Hyung-Geun Park)

Between politically and ideologically distinct regions, the Tumen River (두만강, Doomangang) is a natural border on the northern edge of the Korean Peninsula. The river, which separates China, North Korea, and Russia, carries a deep emotional connection as it is immortalised in many Korean songs and historical narratives. The river’s role as a crossing point for North Korean defectors risking their lives to seek freedom, emphasises its tragic significance.

Hyung-Geun Park (KR) retraced the defection routes of these refugees, starting in Seoul and passing through various Chinese cities before reaching the basin of the Tumen River. This journey is documented through photographs of views and places associated with the defectors’ stories. Park’s constructed images are devoid of any significant human presence and combine documentary truth with symbolic references.

The Tumen River Project begins from two perspectives: from the Unification Observatory in South Korea, which offers a seemingly peaceful but artificial view of North Korea, and from the Chinese border, where the harsh realities of the North Korean regime become more apparent. These contrasting views highlight the dichotomy between the idealised image of North Korea and its harsh reality.

The Tumen River Project is part of the series Layers of Memories, together with Jejudo. Both titles are co-published with Vostok Press.

Design:
print:

17/01/2025

MONUMENTAL MOMENTS

While browsing an auction site full of second-hand snapshots, Erik Lieber (NL) bought the first five images of what would grow into a collection of 929 amateur snapshots over the next ten years. Monumental Moments consists of anonymous private prints, which he calls ‘orphan snapshots’. They show an unknown Japanese ‘Mom’ and ‘Girl’. The collection is almost entirely defined by the repetitive manner in which both women were photographed, preferably in or near tourist attractions. Each picture looks like an ordinary family snapshot. But the more the collection grew, the more questions it raised. Monumental Moments evokes associations and questions about the transience of self-images. Is this perhaps a memento mori?

Design: .studio

16/01/2025

NEW RELEASE
Aluk to Dolo (Ringel Goslinga)

Aluk To Dolo ( ) shows how a family history became intertwined with the colonial history of the former Dutch East Indies. The spread of Christianity as a new faith was received with mixed feelings on Sulawesi, home of the Toraja people. Traditional feasts and rites were banned in return for education, churches, and medical care. Almost a century later, Ringel Goslinga (NL) meets the Toraja of today and learns about the local customs and objects that still play a role in their culture. What began as a photographic research into the interface between ancestor worship and missionary work, gradually deepened into a study of almost extinct animistic patterns and traditional weaving forms. In the process, Goslinga learned the ‘language’ of weaving and sought to record these customs and traditions before they fall into oblivion.

You can order your regular or signed copy om our website or go to your local bookshop ✨

Design:
Lithography:
Printing:
Print cover: .amsterdam
Binding:
Distribution:

15/01/2025

Aluk to Dolo ( ) available at our local bookshop 📚📚📚

13/01/2025

BOOK LAUNCH + EXHIBITION
The Wizard of Awe (Kevin Cooley)

From Jan. 18 — 1 Feb, ( ) exhibits his work at gallery THESE DAYS in L.A. During the opening (This Saturday 7—9) he will sign his book and can tell you all about his book The Wizard of Awe. An an ode to pyrotechnicst Ken Miller, focusing on his life’s work that has been marked by both brilliance and misfortune.

Kevin can use some extra support 🖤 Because of the Eaton Fire, the opening of his exhibitions has been postponed but the saddest thing is he lost his home and studio.

.la

10/01/2025

SPECIAL EDITION
Petrified Media ( )

A colourful speculation on the deep future of electronic waste as it sediments into Earth’s stratigraphic record.

RISO PRINT
Limited edition riso print “Atlas” (35×50 cm)
Comes without the book. Riso print by

C PRINT
Book + C-print “Technofossil” (35×50 cm)
Limited edition (10)

Book and editions available through our website!

08/01/2025

CROWDFUNDING
Edges of Landscape (Bas Ketelaars)

You can now support finance the production of the book through (link in bio). Since 2020 Bas has been working on his project 'Edges of Landscape' for which he visited several interesting locations across Europe. He went to the dunes of the Curonian Spit in Lithuania, to the primeval forest of Bialowieza in Poland, to the Norwegian westcoast and other places. The photographic results of these travels will be combined with drawings.

is currently finalizing the design of the book. Release spring/summer 2025

31/12/2024

Just before the end of the year, Aluk to Dolo ( ) has been delivered 💥 First books will be shipped by the end of this week, pre-order your (signed) copy now!

Design:
Print:
Binding:

22/12/2024

You don't need soil to grow (Benedetta Ristori)

Berlin is a city characterised by its international population and gentrification. b.ristori (IT) examines how contemporary society is defined by change and uncertainty, and shows how individuals, particularly expatriate women, find their identity and sense of belonging in a pre-existing urban fabric. Through intimate portraits taken in rigid urban spaces, Ristori captures the tension between these women’s freedom to reinvent themselves and their fleeting connection to the city. In parallel, Ristori’s project also focuses on the German Kleingärten (small gardens), which provide a refuge within the urban world. With You don’t need soil to grow, Ristori questions what it means to belong in an age where the only constant is change.

Design:
Production:

18/12/2024

EDITION
Book + print

“Ghost Face” and “Pool Creature”
(13x18 cm)

Creatures Found (Adam Thorman) is a series based on finding the animate in the inanimate. The world comes alive through the lens of pareidolia – the human tendency to see familiar shapes and patterns in the structures of inanimate things, such as seeing faces in clouds and monsters in shadows. (US) has always been sensitive to this phenomenon, often spotting anthropomorphic beings in objects such as rocks, tree stumps, and fences. This books is a collection of the creatures he has encountered over the past 18 years. They belong to the viewer as much as they do to him, because in each image everyone will recognise their own creature, something familiar, something animal, something human, something real.

Design:

16/12/2024

CROWDFUNDING
Floating Signifiers (Daan Paans)

We are pleased to announce that we are working on Daan's latest book. In 2013, we published his first book Letters from Utopia, one of the first books we published as a publisher 📚

You can now pre-order Daan's upcoming book 'Floating Signifiers – Case studies on image, origin and representation' to help him finance the production of the book. Special editions are also available through our website.

‘Panta Rhei’ is an old philosophical saying by Heraclitus that can be interpreted as ‘all that is observable flows continuously’. In the spirit of this reflection, Daan Paans attempts with Floating Signifiers to provide insight into the constant transformation that things and phenomena undergo under the influence of a complex set of factors. In a broader sense, he investigates how changeability is expressed in the visual culture of the past, present and future.

Over the past ten years, Paans has analysed the genesis of a wide range of subjects that come together in this publication. This has resulted in case studies, ranging from the extinct aurochs, the pre-human paradise, the future life of an oak tree, meteorites from sci-fi films, variations on the lion-man or Indiana Jones’ Golden Idol.

The case studies in this book attempt to provide insight into how archetypal primal forms in their ‘transmuted’ form continue to have an effect on our contemporary (visual) culture. With the ambiguous nature of his work, Paans aims on the one hand to indicate the deeply cherished bond that we have with ‘ecology’, but on the other hand also to offer the insight that this ecology is subject to an evolutionary transformation process.

Paans’ research methodology relies heavily on the photographic medium, but in its development he usually expresses himself in the form of multimedia installations, in which he uses video, 3D renders, sculpture and documentary archive material – depending on the nature and meaning of his choice of subject.

Design:
Release: Spring 2025

15/12/2024

This looks better irl – Exploring Cosplay Cons (Xiaoxiao Xu)

'This looks better irl' follows young people in this contemporary subculture, largely influenced by various Asian media and pop culture, full of community spirit, individuality and personal challenges, as they prepare for and attend cosplay conventions in Western Europe.

The work of (CN/NL) focuses on people who relate to traditions and social conventions, but are still driven by individuality and personal desires. For years, her camera has focused on China, but she is now investigating the influence of Asian culture on Western society. In this case, cosplay, a form of performance art in which participants use costumes and accessories to portray a particular character. These are drawn from the world of comics, pop culture, anime, manga, video games, and films.

Over the past few years, Xu has attended various cosplay conventions and met many cosplayers. Their self-made costumes range from endearingly amateurish to lifelike, giving a personal interpretation to the characters they portray.

The cosplay community is very diverse. There is a great deal of mutual acceptance and therefore a large proportion of neurodivergent people. Is there perhaps an overlap with the social and emotional problems that young people are struggling with today? Are there deeper emotions hidden beneath these costumes? To investigate, Xu collected hundreds of screenshots from the cosplayers’ social media accounts. These screenshots form a recurring element in the publication, revealing much of their underlying feelings.

This looks better irl shows a timely subculture in which the interplay between the online and offline worlds, the astonishing costumes, and the youthful vulnerabilities are so delicately portrayed by Xu.

Design:
Lithography:
Production:
Print and binding:

Order your regular or signed copy now 📚

14/12/2024

Ending the year with a bang 💥 We have created a number of special editions around the book The Wizard of Awe (Kevin Cooley).

— Limited edition with signed book, and signed C-print (60×40 cm)
— Limited edition box with signed book, C-print (24×30 cm), custom T-shirt (M, L or XL) and model rocket “The Wizard” construction kit 🚀

The Wizard of Awe ( )is an ode to pyrotechnicst Ken Miller, focusing on his life’s work that has been marked by both brilliance and misfortune.

Design:

You can find all special editions on our website.

13/12/2024

Today from 16:30 to 22:00 you can find us at the BON VIVANT christmas/art market at in Breda. Organized by . We will bring our latest books and some beautiful prints 📚🎄🎁

12/12/2024

NEW RELEASE
This looks better irl – Exploring Cosplay Cons (Xiaoxiao Xu)

'This looks better irl' follows young people in this contemporary subculture, largely influenced by various Asian media and pop culture, full of community spirit, individuality and personal challenges, as they prepare for and attend cosplay conventions in Western Europe.

The work of Xiaoxiao Xu (CN/NL) focuses on people who relate to traditions and social conventions, but are still driven by individuality and personal desires. For years, her camera has focused on China, but she is now investigating the influence of Asian culture on Western society. In this case, cosplay, a form of performance art in which participants use costumes and accessories to portray a particular character. These are drawn from the world of comics, pop culture, anime, manga, video games, and films.

Over the past few years, Xu has attended various cosplay conventions and met many cosplayers. Their self-made costumes range from endearingly amateurish to lifelike, giving a personal interpretation to the characters they portray.

The cosplay community is very diverse. There is a great deal of mutual acceptance and therefore a large proportion of neurodivergent people. Is there perhaps an overlap with the social and emotional problems that young people are struggling with today? Are there deeper emotions hidden beneath these costumes? To investigate, Xu collected hundreds of screenshots from the cosplayers’ social media accounts. These screenshots form a recurring element in the publication, revealing much of their underlying feelings.

This looks better irl shows a timely subculture in which the interplay between the online and offline worlds, the astonishing costumes, and the youthful vulnerabilities are so delicately portrayed by Xu.

Design:
Lithography: Marc Gijzen
Production: Jos Morree (Fine Books)
Print and binding: Wilco Art Books (NL)

Order your regular or signed copy now 📚

11/12/2024

Happy to share that both Control Refresh by Toma Gerzha and Lebensborn by Angeniet Berkers are among the 10 best Dutch photobooks from 2024 selected by Dutch Newspaper De Volkskrant! ✨📚✨ congratulations to Angeniet and Toma!

10/12/2024

BOOK + PRINT
Edition Sense of Presence (Rogier Maaskant) with C-print of choice.

Signed book + signed and numbered C-print (21×29.7)
You can choose 1 print or both (“Scorched Carpet” & “White Plume Moth”)
Limited edition (25 each)
Printed by

(NL) enchanting images unveil a diverse array of insects in flight during twilight and nighttime – in forests and above fields, ditches, and ponds around Rotterdam. By using strobe light, his single exposures provide a unique view of the flight of caddisflies, moths, lacewings, dragonflies, gnats, and various other species that illustrate the rich biodiversity.

For Sense of Presence, Maaskant collaborated with scientists and butterfly experts. His work is in line with the current era of renewed interest in nature and a widespread awareness of the need to protect it.

With an essay by Auke-Florian Hiemstra, science communicator at Naturalis, Leiden.

Adres

Breda

Telefoon

+31683785816

Website

https://www.eriskayconnection.com/

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Video's

CROWDFUNDING Edges of Landscape (Bas Ketelaars) You can now support @bas_ketelaars finance the production of the book through @voordekunst (link in bio). Since 2020 Bas has been working on his project 'Edges of Landscape' for which he visited several interesting locations across Europe. He went to the dunes of the Curonian Spit in Lithuania, to the primeval forest of Bialowieza in Poland, to the Norwegian westcoast and other places. The photographic results of these travels will be combined with drawings. @robvanhoesel is currently finalizing the design of the book. Release spring/summer 2025 #edgesoflandscape #basketelaars #photobook #drawings #bookdesign #storytelling

A glimpse into Niemandsland (@danielchatard). An investigation of the impact of brown coal extraction in Germany’s Rhineland, showing the emotional and physical toll of the mining operations. Design: @carelfransen #niemandsland #danielchatard #browncoalmine #braunkohle #lignite #opencastmine #hambachforest #hambacherforst #environment #protest #bookdesign #photobook

CROWDFUNDING You can now support @mate.bartha through his crowdfunding (link in bio) to realise his book Anima Mundi. Anima Mundi, meaning ‘world spirit’, is rooted in Platonic thought and reflects the ancient concept of a universal organising principle that connects all beings. Máté Bartha (HU) explores the hidden anatomy of an archetypal metropolis, portraying urban space as a social product. A ‘second nature’ shaped by human hands, yet one that has evolved into an autonomous organism no longer governed by its creators. Designed as an obscure encyclopedia, Anima Mundi attempts to capture a world in its entirety through complex and often cryptic visual codes. Divided into chapters that examine urban phenomena from the microcosmic to the cosmic, it invites the reader to act as an interpreter, searching for a hidden logic behind the scenes. Design: @carelfransen Release: Nov. 24 #theeriskayconnection #publisher #artbook #photobook #bookdesign #animamundi

A glimpse into the unbound book Niemandsland (Daniel Chatard) Niemandsland investigates the impact of brown coal extraction in Germany’s Rhineland, where some of Europe’s largest open-cast lignite mines have dramatically altered the landscape and contributed heavily to CO2 emissions. These mines have displaced entire villages, causing a sense of powerlessness among residents who grew up knowing that their homes would one day be destroyed. In 2012, environmental activists occupied Hambach Forest. Despite some success in preserving parts of the forest and five villages, a sixth village, Lützerath, was demolished. By engaging with the affected communities, Daniel Chatard (DE) shows the emotional and physical toll of the mining operations. A reminder of the costs of energy production and the enduring human spirit in the face of overwhelming odds. Design: @carelfransen Release soon, pre-order your copy now📚

Water, in abundance or in scarcity, is the central theme of Uncertain Homelands. @norabibel (DE) investigates the repercussions of climate change around the world, focusing on Indonesia, Namibia, and Germany. Through a combination of drone photography of landscapes, intimate portraits of people affected by human-made climate change, and interviews, Bibel creates a layered body of work that thoughtfully engages with global interconnectivity and the mutual influence of water systems. The uncertainty lies in the question how our lives will change as a result of climate change. Uncertain Homelands is a story about the threat to our familiar way of life, but also about the resilience and diverse adaptation strategies that people use to counter it. #theeriskayconnection #publisher #photobook #norabibel #bookdesign @syb_photo_book

CROWDFUNDING This Looks Better irl (Xiaoxiao Xu) We will publish Xiaoxiao's 4th book in spring 2025. You can now support her through her crowdfunding campaign (link in bio) to cover costs for lithography, printing and scanning film. Cosplay is a unique form of self-expression where cosplayers wear costumes and accessories to bring their favorite characters from anime, manga, films, comics, and games to life. In this photo book, Xiaoxiao takes you on a journey through the enchanting world of cosplay conventions. Over the course of two years she visited countless conventions. Here, cosplayers showcase their most impressive creations. Cosplayers spend hours, days, or even months creating their cosplays, honing skills such as pattern drawing, prop making, sewing, makeup, and hairstyling to perfection. The individual interpretation of the character plays an important role here. The book captures not only the most convincing cosplays but also the relaxed group moments around the events and the often overlooked, small playful details that make these conventions so special. It offers a personal look at how young people in this community find their identity and freedom. 'This Looks Better irl' explores the passion, creativity, and sense of community within the world of cosplayers. Conventions are where this form of self-expression flourishes, where the love for cosplay is shared and celebrated. Design: @robvanhoesel #cosplay #photobook #publisher #bookdesign #xiaoxiaoxu #crowdfunding

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE UNCERTAIN A meditation on doubt (Anna Püschel) Fascinated by awareness and ignorance, @annapuschel (DE/FR) began collecting definitions of words related to knowledge from a broad range of sources, from medieval texts to modern dictionaries. These definitions – some objectively true, others with questionable veracity – are brought together in the Encyclopedia of the Uncertain, a work that redefines referencing, and boldly juxtaposes French poetry to conspiracy theories, recipes, and political essays. But regardless of their origin, the definitions show that we have always yearned for the truth. As individuals in uncertain times, we must acknowledge what we do not know and listen to nuance, for there is beauty in uncertainty. Design: @carelfransen Signed and regular copies available 📚 #theeriskayconnection #publisher #bookdesign #storytelling #artbook

CROWDFUNDING Micheldorf Micheldorf Micheldorf Micheldorf While exploring the society he grew up in, @elias.holzknecht (AT) ended up in the village of Micheldorf by chance. He became increasingly aware that no form of representation could do justice to the complexity of a social space. Even the name of the village was ambiguous, as three other Micheldorfs exist in the same country. The story therefore concentrates on all four eponymous localities. Micheldorf Micheldorf Micheldorf Micheldorf gives the impression of a linear narrative. However, there are several versions of the same book. Each version contains the same images and fragments of dialogue, but in a different order, highlighting the complexity of a story that at first glance seems clearly comprehensible. Design: @carelfransen You can now support / pre-order the book through crowdfunding (link in bio) Release soon 📚 video: @michaelhaunschmidt #theeriskayconnection #publisher #bookdesign #storytelling #austria #micheldorfmicheldorfmicheldorfmicheldorf

You Don't Need Soil to Grow (@b.ristori) A photobook by Benedetta Ristori that explores the sense of identity and belonging in Berlin's ever-changing landscape. You can help Benedetta through crowdfunding(link in bio) to cover the last step of printing costs and turn the work into a real book 🌱 Design: @carelfransen Release: Fall / Winter 2024

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Our Story

The Eriskay Connection is a Dutch studio for book design and an independent publisher of art books at the intersection of photography, research, social issues and science. We are particularly interested in projects that map relevant matters, provide insight into the world we live in, tell a story, make a statement, expose a history or give directions to our view on the future.

Since 2011 the love for designing books inspires us in creating a publishing path that takes us into the unknown. On our way we find travel companions who accompany us in contemporary publishing structures. By sharing experiences we aim to find new companions, alternative routes and discover unexpected destinations.