Incomplete Encyclopedia of Touch, RVB Books

Distilled from over 15.000 family albums, Incomplete Encyclopedia of Touch archives the human desire to put a hand on things. Whether it’s cars, boats, animals, trees, fridges, bridges, bushes, fellow humans or even their graves — everything that can be touched will be touched. Containing only 2.948 photos, this collection is far from ever being finished but provokes questions about the underlying motivations behind this universal pictorial behaviour. Do we seek connection? Do we claim ownership? Or do we just want to measure ourselves to the objects of our world? Perhaps you could ask yourself these questions, next time you strike a touching pose.

Erik Kessels, Karel De Mulder, Thomas Sauvin

Incomplete Encyclopedia of Touch by Erik Kessels, Karel de Mulder, & Thomas Sauvin. RVB Books, September 2025.