Kolkata Noir – Destroy Everything Beautiful

Selecting and preparing images for my first photo exhibition ‘Destroy Everything Beautiful’, at Outpost Experimenter Gallery in Kolkata, complimenting the work of artists Aditi Aggarwal and Sophie Starck. Huge thanks to Max Mueller Bhavan/ Goethe Institut for support and encouragement, particularly Sharmistha Sarker and Frieso Maecker. I am indebted to writer Aurko Maitra without whom […]

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Sacred Skin – Second edition, 8 years in print

Sacred Skin -Thailand’s Spirit Tattoos by Tom Vater and Aroon Thaewchatturat, published by Hong Kong imprint Visionary World, was first published 8 years ago. The highly acclaimed best-selling title, currently in its second edition, garnered more than thirty reviews, including a three page spread in TIME Magazine. Sacred tattoos, called ‘sak yant’ in Thailand, have […]

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Figures Libres – A Tattoo Book Classic

I just finished translating Figures Libres, an incredible book that documents how tattoos morphed from back alley subculture to global pop culture. Published by Noir Meduse, Figures Libres features crazily beautiful portraits by Dom Pichard aka P-mod & a colorful round-the-world-to-follow-the-needle essay by Laure Siegel. Figures Libres is out in September in French and English. […]

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What if Graham Greene had written extreme horror? The Monsoon Ghost Image reviewed at Zisi Emporium for B Movies

A great review of The Monsoon Ghost Image by a retired FBI agent. What if Graham Greene had written extreme horror? Interesting thought. True, the carnage of cold war detente may have produced some hideous and bloody results, but instead of The Third Man, we could have ended up with something akin to a Tom […]

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Dirty Pictures, Secret Wars & Human Beasts – Coming soon: The Monsoon Ghost Image

Detective Maier Is Back Soon To Investigate The Politics Of Murder The third Detective Maier mystery is a taut and crazy spy thriller for our disturbing times. When award-winning German conflict photographer Martin Ritter disappears in a boating accident in Thailand, the nation mourns the loss of a cultural icon. But a few weeks later, […]

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