Smiler: Recommended Reading

To coincide with our exhibition Smiler: Photographs of London by Mark Cawson, the ICA Bookshop recommends some great titles covering everything from the ethics of photography to the politics of squatting.

Smiler
Neal Brown
£25
This striking limited edition catalogue accompanies the ICA exhibition Smiler: Photographs of London by Mark Cawson. Published by Sorika, the book presents 48 photographs by Mark Cawson and features new texts by Neal Brown.

The City Is Ours: Squatting and Autonomous Movements in Europe from the 1970s to the Present
Bart and Ask
£15.99
The City Is Ours outlines the vibrant story of autonomous behaviour and squatting in contemporary Europe. Taking one city per chapter, the book provides portraits of well-documented radical movements in Amsterdam, Berlin and London, also revealing more obscured group behaviour in cities such as Poznan and Athens.

The Squatters' Movement in Europe: Commons and Autonomy as Alternatives to Capitalism
Squatting Europe Kollective 
£19.99
The Squatters' Movement in Europe is the first book to present the act of squatting as a direct alternative to capitalism. Written by an activist-scholar collective, this anthology of case studies exposes the campaigns of those autonomous groups advocating communal living, housing campaigns and community incentives.

Out of Order: The Underground Rave Scene 1997 - 2006
Molly Macindoe
£40.00
Molly Macindoe’s photographic study of modern subculture documents the teknival, free party and underground rave culture scene from 1997 to 2006. From the dark woodlands of Eastern Europe to the ruins of post-industrial estates, Macindoe’s photographs offer a celebratory behind-the-scenes view of underground communities, cultures and spaces.

Savage Messiah
Laura Oldfield Ford
£19.99
Critics have called Savage Messiah "one of the most striking fanzines of recent years." Part graphic novel and part artwork, the book provides a forceful visual polemic against the social and spatial exclusion of London’s working classes. Reminiscent of a Sophie Calle project, the pages are a poetic disarray of drawings and photographs which seem to simulate a theoretical drift through an equally fragmented landscape of London.

On Photography
Susan Sontag
£8.99
Sontag’s ground breaking collection of essays analyse photography’s role in transforming the way we see the world, and ourselves.  Beginning with the famous In Plato’s Cave essay, the book offers five other prose meditations which delve into the moral and aesthetic issues surrounding photographic imagery.

The Good Terrorist
Doris Lessing
£8.99
From the acclaimed author of The Golden Notebook comes the story of an anti-Thatcherist group of squatters who get mixed up in terrorist activities far beyond their capabilities. Protagonist Alice is a maternal and highly organised member of the group whose exploitation by the other malcontents has devastating consequences. ■

All titles are available online or in our bookshop on The Mall.