Symbolik
What is Symbolik about?
Symbolik is a thoughtful and visually sophisticated photobook that explores how we understand the world through signs, symbols, textures, and fragments of everyday life. Rather than telling a straightforward story, photographer Steven Lee invites the viewer into a more personal and interpretive experience, where meaning is discovered through intuition, memory, and reflection.
Inspired by an encounter with ancient inscriptions in Rome near the Pantheon, the project grew from a fascination with how symbols can survive centuries while continuing to provoke thought. Across images gathered from places such as Florence, Paris, Tuscany, and Japan, Lee captures walls, reflections, architecture, objects, and details that become visual clues rather than literal records.
What makes Symbolik especially compelling is its use of diptychs pairing two photographs to create a new meaning between them. The result is a book that rewards slow looking, where each spread becomes a conversation between time, place, and perception.
Foreword by Benedetta Donato.
This is not simply a photography book, it is an object of contemplation. Symbolik belongs on the shelf of readers who appreciate art that deepens with every revisit. If you admire photographers such as Man Ray, Ralph Gibson, or Lee Miller, you will recognise the lineage of visual intelligence and poetic ambiguity present here.
Pre-orders are now open. The book will be ready for collection or shipping in mid-May!
Symbolik is for readers who value:
- Fine art photography that goes beyond documentation
- Books that reward repeated viewing with new meanings each time
- Elegant visual design and conceptual sequencing
- Collectible photobooks with intellectual and aesthetic depth
- A slower, richer viewing experience in an age of endless scrolling
Symbolik is for the discerning reader, collector, or creative mind seeking a book that does not shout for attention but quietly stays with you long after the final page.
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Language: English
Format: Hardcover | 56 pages
Dimensions: 203 x 254 mm
Publication Year: 2026 | First Edition
Limited 100 copies | Signed & numbered
ISBN: 978-0-9559424-4-0
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