book binding

I spent my day binding a few books that I created while in grad school but never had the time to properly finish. The first project was a series of small books that I made while shooting at West Point. The size of the books was inspired by my great grandfather's "trophy print albums" from WWII. These books are basically his snapshots bound in the order that they were photographed. I liked the idea of making a book that used sequence without over-thinking content or progression. I decided to keep the books simple with a basic stitch to hinge them. The second project is an edit of portraits of various kayakers, canoeists, Coast Guard, Army and military men. I'm tentatively titling the book, Men of Action. The book is constructed as an accordion fold, which basically means the images zigzag between two unhinged book covers. Pretty thrilled with how the book turned out and excited to make more book dummies as I work on my edit for The Height of Land.

a work in progress

I've taken almost a 2 wk hiatus from the blog and I have to admit it was a well deserved and needed break. Creatively I've been working on the book and editing photos everyday, I just haven't been writing about it on the blog. For that I apologize. I will make a better effort to write posts detailing my work in the studio... starting tomorrow.

new york weekend

Big weekend plans! Hoping on Bolt bus tomorrow morning at 7am to head to the NY Art Book Fair at PS1/MOMA. Will spend the day looking at amazing art books, meeting publishers and networking. Really excited to spend a few hours in New York, it's always so exciting to be in the city.
Then back on the bus to Boston tomorrow evening so I can pick up my dog, Stout, and head to Upstate NY to celebrate with Zach & Stephanie Arem. Zach & Stephanie were married in August down in Florida but are throwing a fall bash with friends on family for those who couldn't make the trip. I will be sure to take photos and post them on Monday when I am back. Have a great weekend everyone and enjoy the lovely, cool fall weather.

nyc art book fair: exhibitors

Over the past two days I've been extensively researching the list of exhibitors at the NY Art Book Fair taking place this weekend at PS1/MOMA. I wanted to write a post and share some of people and projects I most look forward to seeing.

This past May I had the great fortune of traveling to NYC with my classmate Dan Boardman and photographer extraordinaire Matthew Monteith (see May blog post: NY City Book Tour to read more). In short, we had a great day visiting various bookstores but the highlight was spending the afternoon at the International Center of Photography's amazing library and meeting Deirdre Donohue & Matthew Carson, ICP's talented and amazing librarians/archivists.

Deirdre and Matthew will be running a pop-up reading room in Long Island City. I've added some information about their event below, copied from the ICP Library's blog.
10×10 Reading Room, a 3-day pop-up reading room sponsored by the International Center of Photography Library and the Photobook Facebook Group, presents 100 Japanese photobooks from the perspective of 10 specialists who have each been asked to select 10 postwar Japanese photobooks or magazines.Over the past 10 years an ever-expanding community of photobook collectors has grown in both Japan and the West. Recent photobook studies and resources have primarily focused on rare and out of print photobooks. Those seeking information beyond these seminal books have turned to museum libraries and online communities. Realizing that a void existed for the general public to have direct access to many of the smaller editions, lesser known postwar Japanese photobooks and magazines, the International Center of Photography Library and the Photobook Facebook Group have invited 10 specialists, who include critics, curators, editors, writers, publishers, gallerists and booksellers, to share their knowledge about Japanese photobooks. By no means conclusive, the selection presented in the 10×10 reading room is shaped by the specific interests of each specialist and is just a small sampling of the larger breadth and variety within Japanese photobooks.

10×10 Japanese Photobooks Reading Room
ICP – Bard MFA Studio Space
24-20 Jackson Avenue, 3rd Floor, Long Island City
Runs concurrently with the New York Art Book Fair at MoMA PS1 and is located across the street.

Next up: J & L Books J&L Books is a non-profit Atlanta / New York based publisher of artists' books, founded in 2000 by Jason Fulford and Leanne Shapton. J&L produces two to five new books each year of previously unpublished or rarely seen work by contemporary artists.

Selection of J&L Books from left to right: Golden Palms by Ed Panar, Crushed by Jason Fulford and Shut Up Truth by Michael Schmelling.

J&L produces some amazing art books! Jason Fulford is a master when it comes to the book form, whether it be editing and sequencing his own work or working with other artists. One of my recent favorites is Gregory Halpern's "A" which came out last year. Images from Gregory Halpern's book "A".

Greg came to lecture at MassArt this past spring and gave one of the best and most engaging lectures about photography books that I've ever heard. He described sequencing images in photo books like a musician arranges a score of music- paying special attention to repetitions and how a "note/photo" can reappear but grow louder or softer throughout an edit. If you visit his website you will get a sense of the lyricism that I am talking about.

Next up: TBW Books
Images: from Paul Schiek's book "Dead Men Don't Look Like Me"

I had the great, albeit, brief pleasure of working with Paul Schiek when I lived in San Francisco. We spent some time working on a frame project for Stefan Kirkeby at his shop Smith Anderson North. Paul is an amazing photographer, I greatly admire his work and I'm thrilled that his publishing company, TBW Books, is taking on such ambitious projects. I've listed some information below about his Subscription Series, text copied via TBW Books website.

Subscription Series:
Every year, TBW Books invites four accomplished artists working in the photographic medium to present an intensely personal and poetic exploration of their work to be released in the form of a book. Represented by one book in this four book series, each artist is given complete creative control. These gifted individuals craft powerful, surprising, and completely uncompromised works that implore the viewer to contemplate the relationships between images. The books provide an unparalleled glimpse into the thinking processes of who we consider to be four of today's most exciting image-makers.

All components of the books are printed and assembled proudly in Oakland, CA. We recognize the value of keeping resources within the community, and are committed to doing business with like-minded, independent printing professionals.
Images from Dru Donovan's "Lifting Water" series published in Subscription Series 3.

Past Subscription Series have been recognized and collected by many prominent galleries, museums and institutions, and have also been featured in many articles in contemporary art and culture magazines.

Our subscription series and format is a novel idea that has already made an impact on the art and publishing worlds. By offering these books only as a set, we seek to preserve the relationships that take place between them. Our commitment to publishing a variety of both established and early career artists contrasts the art world’s habit of disconnecting artists based on their generations. We feel the dialogue between the works of different artists emphasizes that great photographs come from a place unaffected by time or space, and instead act as independent truths.

The Subscription Series is a limited edition, hand numbered book series that is released quarterly. Book quantities are limited to 750 unsigned subscriptions and 50 signed subscriptions.

Recent artists who have participated in the Subscription Series include: Mark Steinmetz, Dru Donovan, Elaine Stocki, Katy Grannan, Todd Hido, Abner Nolan, Marianne Mueller, and Alec Soth... just to name a few.

Next up: The Thing Image of Dave Eggers Issue #16.

THE THING QUARTERLY is an object based publication produced by visual artists Jonn Herscend and Will Rogan. Each issue is conceived of by a different contributor. The object is reproduced, wrapped, and shipped to the subscribers. THE THING projects is an off-shoot that encompasses a wide range of artworks and events.

Artists who have been invited to produced a THING have included: Chris Johanson, Jonathon Lethem, James Franco, Lucy Pullen, Tucker Nichols and Miranda July... to name a few. Issue 16 is by American writer Dave Eggers. Published on a shower curtain, with the idea that one would read it while showering, this issue is a monologue told to Dave Eggers by his shower curtain. It was produced in collaboration with Izola and is printed on a 72x72 inch PEVA (PVC Free) shower curtain.

Next up: Decode Books
In 2010, American photographers Amy Stein and Stacy Arezou Mehrfar embarked on a month-long road trip throughout New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state. They were interested in investigating the Australian social phenomenon of tall poppy syndrome, in which successful people, or the “tall poppies,” get “cut down to size” and are resented or ridiculed because their talents or achievements distinguish them from their peers.
Is the syndrome real? Can it be documented or observed? Stein and Mehrfar set out to explore quintessential Australian life and find what evidence they could of the existence of this phenomenon. They spent their days meeting and photographing everyday Australians—from schoolchildren in their plaid uniforms to young surfers playing at the beach to grandmothers meeting at their social clubs—all the while learning about the relationship between the group and the individual within Australian society. The resulting photographs in Tall Poppy Syndrome present their investigation into and observations of daily Australian life.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS:
Via Kelli Connell (via Matthew Gamber on FB... gotta love the internet) I just read about a viewing party for Justin James Reed's book "2013" which is only able to be viewed in the dark under black lights. AMAZING!
Book as Performance
Viewing party for "2013," by Justin James Reed, released earlier this year. The book utilizes ink that can only be viewed under ultra violet light and was created with performative experience and communal viewings in mind. This program will include a video performance of the book by Anouk Kruitof and a live group viewing of the book in complete darkness. Presented by Horses Think Press.

Saturday, September 29th 7:00 pm, The Classroom @ MoMA PS1

library research

Today I decided to take the day off from scanning film and went to MassArt's library to do research on my book. It was a welcome break from my usual routine and very refreshing to take notes and browse various books looking at style and content. One of the gems of the day was finding "Portrait of a Period: A Collection of Notman Photographs, 1856 to 1915."

Via the McCord Museum's website: "William Notman's career as a photographer in Montreal spanned thirty-five years. During that time he built up the largest photographic business in North America, establishing at one time or another seven studios in Canada and, counting seasonal studios at several colleges, nineteen in the north-eastern United States."

He constructed some incredible scenes in his studio, like the image above of a typical campsite scene.

"Notman did a lot of his experimental work [in the studio]. He would have stones brought in, trees planted, wooden fences set up and dirt or sand scattered around. In season he would create a winter scene of tobogganers on Mount Royal or snowshoers in the Laurentian Mountains. Sheep's fleece was used to simulate deep snow and rough salt for snow on coats and trees. A sheet of polished zinc magically became a skating rink or a setting for a group of curlers." (Text from McCord Museum)

autumnal equinox

This weekend marked the autumnal/fall equinox, where night and day are nearly exactly the same length – 12 hours – all over the world. As I was celebrating a friend's wedding I was also thinking what the light and weather conditions were like up in Kangiqsualujjuaq. Were they similar to Boston's? On a day when light conditions are equal how similar are our weather temperatures?

hasselblad imacon scanner

I wanted to make a post that illustrates how I am scanning my film via Hasselblad's Imacon Flextight X1 scanner. This is by no means a scanning tutorial. The equipment and software I am using requires a fair amount of knowledge and experience to operate... however, I wanted to share my digital work flow. I hope this is helpful to those wondering how I continue to work with color film and why it takes as long as it does to make scans. I'm not sure I can communicate via images online why I choose to scan my film this way as everything online is seen at 72 dpi, rather than 300 dpi. That being said, you will just have to buy a copy of the book (if you haven't already) and/or come to my upcoming show at Aviary Gallery in 2013.
In total I shot about 50 rolls of medium format color film. All of my film was processed at Citizens Photo in Portland, OR. Why Citizens? The cost, even with shipping, is about half of other color labs. Very few places still handle large volumes of film. Citizens does, so the chemistry is excellent which results in well exposed images. When processed, the film is placed into clear plastic sleeves and rolled into small boxes to avoid dust and damage.
I untangle my film and then lay it out on a small light table to preview images.
Then starting at either end of the roll of film I cut between frames. Due to the size of the magnetic film holder I make cuts between every two frames.
The film is then loaded into a magnetic film holder. Various film types have various holders; ie. 35mm, 6x7-6x9, 4x5. The holders magneticly attach into Hasselblad's Imacon Flextight machine which slowly moves the negative across the machine's optic lens thus scanning the film frame.
I then use FlexColor, the software associated with the Imacon scanner to preview my film. Selecting within the image I then adjust color, preserve highlight and shadow detail and eventually save my photo as a TIFF file. For those interested in the technical size of these files, I am scanning my images at about 65% of their output capability: so they are 16x24" at 300 dpi, 190MB file. Above you will see the file in its raw form, ie with dust, scratches and no color adjustment. I will then open the file in Photoshop and using various layers make adjustments to correct the image. In this particular image it looks like there is a fair amount of dust in the water around the canoes. I will look at my negative so see if this dust somehow was in the image before it was processed or if it just needs to be hit with more air or a cloth and re-scanned to avoid having to clean the digital file.

It is my hope that you have a better understanding of my digital work flow and the effort that goes into processing these negatives. Sure, it's not as easy as taking a digital image and uploading it... but to me the advantage of shooting with film and scanning in this manner are well worth it. Over and out.

ny art book fair

I've made a last minute decision to attend the NY Art Book Fair next Friday in NYC. Although I have a wedding to attend in Upstate NY the following day I've decided I can't miss this event and the opportunity to meet all the publishers, printers, book designers and artists it attracts. If you are in the NYC area I strongly encourage you to check it out.

Photo credits: NY Art Book Fair (2010), Charles Lane Press (2011), Lubok Verlag (2011), Badlands Unlimited (2011), "Artist Photography Books" exhibition (2011)

Here is some info about the book fair via their website: Printed Matter presents the seventh annual NY Art Book Fair, from September 28 to 30, at MoMA PS1, Long Island City, Queens. A preview will be held on the evening of Thursday, September 27.

Free and open to the public, the NY Art Book Fair is the world's premier event for artists’ books, catalogs, monographs, periodicals, and zines presented by 283 international presses, booksellers, antiquarians, artists, and independent publishers from twenty-six countries.

scanning film

For the past month I am been spending most of my days (any most of my nights) scanning my film from the George River at Aviary Gallery here in Jamaica Plain, MA. Scanning 50+ rolls of film, one frame at a time, is a slow process but I'm making huge progress and hoping to be done scanning in the next week. At that point I will be preparing all of my images (800-1,000) to print contact sheets to start editing. It is my hope to detail this process as I work this week to show you (my loyal readers) how I am making my book. Stay tuned as I begin the next phase of my project.

the long road home

PLEASE READ: A note about the posts and photos below- these digital images were taken by members of Team Lure of Labrador (Henry, Brent, Zach & Charlie) but not Ryan. Ryan's film photos are currently being scanned in preparation of his upcoming book. Ryan did however edit and arrange the photos in the posts. I just wanted to repeat this statement to avoid confusion.

kuujjuaq to labrador city