'Leaving Today' is the first major photo book by Berlin photographer Holger Biermann, following a series of 28 small-format booklets. It features 68 photographs from New York, taken between 2001 and 2003, on 128 pages. Holger Biermann experienced September 11, 2001, and its aftermath as an eyewitness. A large portion of the images depict the street life of the metropolis in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the style of classic street photography and in black and white. Interspersed throughout, however, are his color photographs of the events of the day itself, which seem like flashbacks to a nightmare.
The photographs collected in 'Leaving Today' mark his start as a passionate professional photographer. The images are preceded by a text by Freddy Langer, editor of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and responsible for the arts and photography section, as well as a text by the photographer.
After the dummy of the book made it onto the shortlist for the Luma Dummy Award 2024 and the first edition was sold out within three months, Blotto Books is now presenting the second edition for the Rencontres d’Arles 2025, this time specifically with a French text section.