# A Narrow Foothold

        German philosopher Walter Benjamin’s monumental work the Arcades Project—which remained unfinished at the time of his death in 1940—represents both a treatise on the labyrinthine nature of the modern city and the realization of his dream of a book without authorship, composed almost entirely of quotations drawn from a wide range of sources. Taking their mutual appreciation for these aspects of Benjamin’s work as their starting point, friends and photographers Jonas Feige (Germany) and Alan Huck (United States) sorted through their archives of orphaned images in order to assemble a collective portrait of an anonymous city—one composed of severe geometric forms, vague symbols, and the spectral traces of a human presence. Intentionally trying to dissolve any sense of individual authorship, the two looked to Benjamin as their methodological guide, reminding them that “an enigma is a fragment that, together with another, matching fragment, makes up a whole.”
    published by Another Earth in 2024

## Images

![Book cover of "A Narrow Foothold," a black hardcover photo book with the title in white serif capitals at the top](https://www.jonasfeige.com/media/pages/books/a-narrow-foothold/09fcc796fe-1791191919/anarrowfoothold-16.jpg)
![Double-page spread from the book A Narrow Foothold, with a black-and-white photograph of a shadowy wall corner](https://www.jonasfeige.com/media/pages/books/a-narrow-foothold/097c6168a0-1791191918/anarrowfoothold-2.jpg)
![open book spread showing a black-and-white photograph of a concrete building facade with a white garment hanging over a window grid, with a blank page opposite](https://www.jonasfeige.com/media/pages/books/a-narrow-foothold/cd3fddc26d-1791191918/anarrowfoothold-4.jpg)
![Open photo book spread in black and white: left page shows a person's hands drawing with a pencil in a sketchbook, right page shows a close-up of a wave-like pattern of fine lines and streaks in a dark surface](https://www.jonasfeige.com/media/pages/books/a-narrow-foothold/da770f406b-1791191918/anarrowfoothold-5.jpg)
![A open book displaying a black-and-white photograph of a city street with a concrete barrier, a road sign post, and a long shadow cast across the pavement](https://www.jonasfeige.com/media/pages/books/a-narrow-foothold/ba4d4d8459-1791191918/anarrowfoothold-7.jpg)
![An open book spread with a black page layout, where scattered white phrases with footnote numbers form a poem-like text, titled A Narrow Foothold](https://www.jonasfeige.com/media/pages/books/a-narrow-foothold/f72f4d070f-1791191918/anarrowfoothold-8.jpg)
![Open book with a black cloth cover and blank endpaper on the left, and on the right a black-and-white photograph of a rusted metal wall with a blank white rectangle and a small dried plant growing at its base](https://www.jonasfeige.com/media/pages/books/a-narrow-foothold/f93456afeb-1791191919/anarrowfoothold-9.jpg)
![An open photobook spread showing two black-and-white photographs: a blurred, close-up view of crumpled fabric on the left, and a window with venetian blinds, tiled wall, and a door frame on the right](https://www.jonasfeige.com/media/pages/books/a-narrow-foothold/5e137d9381-1791191919/anarrowfoothold-10.jpg)
![open book with a black-and-white photograph on the right page showing bare branches and rusted metal railings against a pale, overcast sky, while the left page is blank](https://www.jonasfeige.com/media/pages/books/a-narrow-foothold/d417fa498e-1791191919/anarrowfoothold-12.jpg)
![Open photo book spread: a black-and-white photograph of a road viewed from above beside a metal staircase railing, with the facing page left blank](https://www.jonasfeige.com/media/pages/books/a-narrow-foothold/7452d1405b-1791191919/anarrowfoothold-13.jpg)
![Open photobook spread showing a hand with a hashtag drawn on the wrist holding a phone, beside a photo of vertical bars with translucent overlays](https://www.jonasfeige.com/media/pages/books/a-narrow-foothold/627851f840-1791191919/anarrowfoothold-14.jpg)
![An open book showing two black-and-white photographs: a close-up of a glowing, weathered concrete form on the left and a figure in a dark coat standing behind a glass railing against a cloudy sky on the right](https://www.jonasfeige.com/media/pages/books/a-narrow-foothold/ab35fbf2bd-1791191919/anarrowfoothold-15.jpg)