Looking at Hamburger Eyes

We get a lot of books to review here at Word of Mouth, but one of our most exciting recent deliveries was Inside Burgerworld, a collection of black and white images from the underground photography magazine Hamburger Eyes.

The pictures are gritty and raw, taken in back alleys and hospital rooms, all-night diners and loft parties. Their subjects are almost all people: amputees, Elvis impersonators, firefighters, crust punks. The magazine declares itself "the continuing story of life on earth," and though there's no storyline that connects the images, it's fun to imagine a world in which these characters would interact. What would they say to each other? Hamburger Eyes, according to their publicist, combines "the documentary approach of National Geographic with the hit-‘em-hard sensibility of a late-night tagger." The photos bleed to the edge of the pages, and the text is minimal, creating an eye-popping adventure.

If you're in New York this week, check out their opening reception on Thursday at the powerHouse Arena in Brooklyn.

Visit the Hamburger Eyes site