Ross Mantle's Cryptic New Photobook Keeps Us Looking

There are often photos that elicit creative envy. The kind of photo with the punch and punctum to pull you in at first tug, but with enough grace to keep you looking and looking again. And to wish you’d taken it yourself. This photo above, with its gaping mix of absence and resolution resonates this way for me. It's one small piece of Misplaced Fortunes, Ross Mantle’s new book of photographs that feel like a magically convoluted puzzle.

Published by Sleeper Studio, Mantle’s first monograph is a meandering collection of visual clues with no clear solution. A found sculpture of a golden ear. Various references to holes - both literal and metaphoric. Anonymous gravestones leaning and waiting for repair. Bodies emerging from the woods. Faces obscured by sweatshirts or wisps of hair. Hints to treasures never to be found – riddles we might never decode.

I corresponded with Mantle to learn more about his mysterious new book.

Jon Feinstein in conversation with Ross Mantle