Conceived during a residency at the Getty Research Institute in 2007, the results of Maisel’s inquiry cannot be diminished. Altogether spooky and compelling, these artifacts – left to dwindle in archives, have morphed into spectral vestiges, abruptly exposed and made real again. Each image is an examination of time itself, how the past – however unknowable – is always present, how it lives and moves within us, even now, questioning what we know and how we know it. Maisel is clearly fascinated with giving voice to the inexpressible, and like some ill-fated microcosm, the photographs are reminiscent of a history that can’t quite be explained. Who created this work? What type of society did they live in? What lies hidden just beneath the surface and what can it teach us? In many ways, History’s Shadow is an extension of Maisel’s larger body of work, which almost always concerns itself with the excavation of hidden or invisible realms.

     History’s Shadow is available now from Nazraeli Press. Added bonus: the book also contains a short story by novelist Jonathan Lethem.