Joan Fontcuberta - Sputnik - 1999

06
days
06
hours
57
minutes
00
seconds
Starting bid
€ 1
No reserve price
No bids placed

Catawiki Buyer Protection

Your payment’s safe with us until you receive your object.View details

Trustpilot 4.4 | 128528 reviews

Rated Excellent on Trustpilot.

Sputnik by Joan Fontcuberta is a translated hardback photography book in Japanese, published by Chikuba Shobo in 1999, with 204 pages, a dust jacket and in good condition.

AI-assisted summary

Description from the seller

Book in good condone, still retains one / bellyband, slight faded spine

In the 1990s, photographer Joan Fontcuberta decided to delve into Soviet space history with Sputnik: The Odyssey of Soyuz 2, a project that would take him seven years and was first exhibited to the public in Madrid in 1997. It recounts a tragic episode in the fascinating history of space exploration: the disappearance of cosmonaut Ivan Istochnikov in 1968 mid-flight, the victim of a failed operation.

A tragic episode... fictionalized by Fontcuberta. Two simple exercises suffice to reveal the strategies Fontcuberta employed in this work: comparing his face with that of Ivan Istochnikov and translating his name into Russian.

Seller's Story

Dartbooks is a specialized photography bookshop based in Barcelona, dedicated to photobooks, rare and out-of-print editions, and historically significant publications. With a strong focus on Japanese photography, Dartbooks was founded to provide continuity to a field that requires depth, expertise, and careful curation. The bookshop was established after the closure of Kowasa, a landmark reference for photography books in Spain. Its disappearance left a clear gap for photographers, collectors, and institutions in need of a space with a serious and knowledgeable approach to the photobook. Dartbooks emerged in response to that need, not as a replacement, but as part of the natural evolution of a cultural ecosystem. Dartbooks operates with a curatorial mindset, shaped by long-term engagement with photography and book collecting. The project functions as a book hunting platform for collectors, professionals, and libraries worldwide, and also provides advisory support to other bookshops seeking to develop coherent and specialized photography collections. The catalogue includes new publications, rare and out-of-print titles, monographs, retrospectives, self-published works, signed copies, and editions produced directly by photographers through their own imprints. The selection reflects a sustained commitment to photography as a form of visual narration, where images construct meaning beyond text. Although rooted in the Gràcia neighbourhood of Barcelona, Dartbooks serves an international audience. Its community includes collectors, professionals, and institutions from France, the United Kingdom, Japan, and beyond, both through the physical space and the online platform. Dartbooks understands the photobook not merely as an object of consumption, but as a cultural artifact that documents artistic practices, historical contexts, and personal visions. The bookshop functions simultaneously as a place of discovery, an archive in constant growth, and a point of connection between photographers, publishers, and readers.

Book in good condone, still retains one / bellyband, slight faded spine

In the 1990s, photographer Joan Fontcuberta decided to delve into Soviet space history with Sputnik: The Odyssey of Soyuz 2, a project that would take him seven years and was first exhibited to the public in Madrid in 1997. It recounts a tragic episode in the fascinating history of space exploration: the disappearance of cosmonaut Ivan Istochnikov in 1968 mid-flight, the victim of a failed operation.

A tragic episode... fictionalized by Fontcuberta. Two simple exercises suffice to reveal the strategies Fontcuberta employed in this work: comparing his face with that of Ivan Istochnikov and translating his name into Russian.

Seller's Story

Dartbooks is a specialized photography bookshop based in Barcelona, dedicated to photobooks, rare and out-of-print editions, and historically significant publications. With a strong focus on Japanese photography, Dartbooks was founded to provide continuity to a field that requires depth, expertise, and careful curation. The bookshop was established after the closure of Kowasa, a landmark reference for photography books in Spain. Its disappearance left a clear gap for photographers, collectors, and institutions in need of a space with a serious and knowledgeable approach to the photobook. Dartbooks emerged in response to that need, not as a replacement, but as part of the natural evolution of a cultural ecosystem. Dartbooks operates with a curatorial mindset, shaped by long-term engagement with photography and book collecting. The project functions as a book hunting platform for collectors, professionals, and libraries worldwide, and also provides advisory support to other bookshops seeking to develop coherent and specialized photography collections. The catalogue includes new publications, rare and out-of-print titles, monographs, retrospectives, self-published works, signed copies, and editions produced directly by photographers through their own imprints. The selection reflects a sustained commitment to photography as a form of visual narration, where images construct meaning beyond text. Although rooted in the Gràcia neighbourhood of Barcelona, Dartbooks serves an international audience. Its community includes collectors, professionals, and institutions from France, the United Kingdom, Japan, and beyond, both through the physical space and the online platform. Dartbooks understands the photobook not merely as an object of consumption, but as a cultural artifact that documents artistic practices, historical contexts, and personal visions. The bookshop functions simultaneously as a place of discovery, an archive in constant growth, and a point of connection between photographers, publishers, and readers.

Details

Number of Books
1
Subject
Photography
Book Title
Sputnik
Author/ Illustrator
Joan Fontcuberta
Condition
Good
Publication year oldest item
1999
Height
21 cm
Edition
Translated edition
Width
16 cm
Language
Japanese
Original language
No
Publisher
Chikuba Shobo
Binding/ Material
Hardback
Extras
Dust jacket
Number of pages
204
Sold by
SpainVerified
596
Objects sold
100%
protop

Similar objects

For you in

Art & Photography Books