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Photographers and Artists' Books

Sept 22nd - December 31st, 2022

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©Libro Fotoquimico / Photochemical Book

I love books - picture books, art bios, literature, trashy summer reads (it’s always summer for me), graphic novels, cookbooks, self-help (total sucker for anything related to the mind/body connection) - from the giant The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman to the slim Gratitude by Oliver Sacks, I love them all. So it's probably no big surprise that my all time favorites are artist's books - especially those of the handmade persuasion.

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McManus & Morgan Fine Art Paper

Artist's books allow art to jump from the wall to the hand, from public to personal and intimate. And while art mostly hangs on a generic wall (usually not one of its own choosing) and words sit on plain stock - in an artist's book the surface is incorporated in a collaborative way that becomes a wild marriage of form and function.

 

Each element is its own rabbit hole that goes way beyond the design concept with papers, threads and ribbons. Here in Southern California we are blessed in the form of McManus & Morgan Fine Art Paper, which I believe is one of the oldest paper companies in L.A.  I adore this place. It's an amazing resource where you'll find hand-marbled papers, papyrus and bark papers. In fact, I was so inspired by their handmade Nepalese paper I did an entire series on it. Plus, it's  located next to another L.A. gem, Aardvark Letterpress. Let's not forget Hiromi Paper specializing in papers from Japan and around the world.  We are truly blessed with an abundance of riches here.

The best thing about running this showcase is the experience of meeting new artists and seeing what's happening around the world - which is how I learned about Taller Emulsiones Fotograficas. Looking at the top image on this essay, I think you can see why I was so entranced by the work they do. Founded and run by Catalina de la Cruz, a photographer and bookmaker, this organization hosts a wide range of creative experiences, related to the photochemical image, including a book-making workshop series started in 2016 which has published 127 books. Her workshops specialize in “photochemical books” which differ from straight artist’s books in that they are unique, one-of books which utilize 19th century alternative process photographic methods such as Cyanotype, Van Dyke and Salted paper. Embracing experimentation, chance plays its role in the production of the imagery which is then bound together to create a single piece of work.

In her own work she has been drawn to the artist book format because she feels there are photographic works that require more than one image in order to be displayed. The book format, with its sequential style, builds a visual narrative that unfolds page after page, with the images chained and connected, creating a unique visual and tactile experience. "As the reader journeys through the book, the anteceding page leaves a footprint in the eye and the sequential possibilities allows one to build a work with higher complexities, layers of information, poetics that are not reduced to a meaning, and a visual support in dialogue with the immersive experience of the book." Please take a moment after the showcase and check out this wonderful Photochemical Book project located in Chile's capital city Santiago.

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As you journey through this showcase you will find that each artist has taken a unique path through the process. For some, the subject is very personal and the book becomes an attempt to make their experiences tangible with their use of content, sequence, materials and format. Others explore the sculptural aspects of the medium by creating dynamic forms through the exploration of binding and found objects. Marvelous work throughout and my only regret is not being able to hold these wonderful projects in person!  Once again, thank you to PhotoBook Journal for curating another set of engaging photobooks.

Diana Bloomfield
www.dhbloomfield.com

Books as Sculpture
I love the whole idea— the tactility, the 3-dimensionality, and the intimacy of them.

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I have always said that the one problem I find with still photography is that it is, in fact, so still. Short of going into film-making, I feel that these books are just one more way to exploit movement and fluidity in an otherwise static art form, inviting both curiosity and interaction.

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I started creating these one-of-a-kind handmade artist books in 2019, towards the end of my mission to create a piece of handmade art every day for a year, and I continued long after that mission was completed. I find the creative possibilities limitless.

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So many of these books began from images I made in my backyard garden. Printed by hand in 19th century photographic printing techniques, those images seem to mesh well with the hand-made tactile quality of these books. Perfectly imperfect and all made by hand— from the garden to the print to the bound book— just seemed right. I also appreciate the liberation that stems from literally deconstructing my own handmade prints to build a totally different art form— one that creates new meanings and new ways of seeing.

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And now, when I create a handmade print, it somehow seems lacking. I look forward to folding, sewing, and binding that print into yet another fantastic, and often sculptural, art form— one where the details create the whole.

© Diana Bloomfield, all rights reserved

Alex Castro Ferreira

www.alexcastroferreira.com

My process is loving what is old, discarded, what was throw away.  I love giving new life to what has been forgotten, not taken care of, like old passports, old books and old documents that I am lucky enough to find in Feira da Ladra, the oldest flea market in Lisbon.

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It’s one of my favorite moments when I start digging, searching, not knowing what objects or ephemera I am going to find. Usually I start my artist books with the cover, then all unfolds. There is always part of my story within the books I sell, like the photo of my grandma, she follows me everywhere.  Rusty objects, papers, ecodyeing, stiching, gathering, organic elements are mixed in one book.

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It all started in Barnes and Noble in Los Angeles with Bev Brazelton’s Altered Books.  I was completely hooked and never stopped creating books since then, adding new techniques, new colors and at the same time it’s always the book about memories, about knowing where I came from and where I want to go.

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I created my first online course Keeper of Memories in March that was a major success and everyday still feel grateful for it.

© Alex Castro Ferreira, all rights reserved

Martin Lesinski

www.martinlesinski.com

© Martin Lesinski, all rights reserved

Beyond the Reach of Reason grew out of an inquiry back in the 1970’s when I first began experimenting with combining my photographs not only with original prose, but also with different materials and information formats such as documents and government forms. My goal was to generate a richer and more personal experience for the viewer. This history was in mind when I set out to make a book of my military poems which was as conceptually tight as possible.

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This artist's book, Beyond the Reach of Reason, is a book of the hand. It’s made to be touched, to be handled, and to open the reader not just to the experiences and insights conveyed in the poems, but also to the voices of the veterans latent in the combat paper and the very veteran who wore the BDU jacket comprising the covers. It’s designed to lead the reader deeply, personally into the veteran experience. Touch it, hold it, take each page between your fingers, and open your heart.

Such are the possibilities the artist book format enables.

Amandine Nabarra

anpfotos.com

© Amandine Nabarra, all rights reserved

Tempus Fugit:

I needed to create a new binding

A few years ago, we decided to take a sabbatical in Genoa, Italy. The truth is, we fell in love with the city and its inhabitants so much so that my daughter asked us, I should say begged us, to stay four more years so she could graduate from high school in Italy.

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When we arrived I was in awe of the weather and the change of seasons. I forgot how different it felt from the year-round sunshine and, blue skies of Southern California. I was fascinated with the energy of the storms coming in and out of the port. The rain, the heavy rain, the rain that soaked us in 3 minutes and would turn the streets into small rivulets. The wind, so powerful, so furious that it would smash any umbrella and send our rain hats in the air. And the clouds, endlessly stretching themselves, reforming rapidly alone or with others.

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Could it be possible to make an artist’s book that would turn and dwindle and stretch like the clouds?

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What I didn’t know is that two months before moving back, my life would be altered forever. The day I discovered that my marriage was over I felt like an earthquake had hit me. I don’t remember what happened the next 3 days but the fourth day, while the clouds were swirling in preparation for a major storm, it became clear that my life was following their choreography. Faced with so much uncertainty, I knew I needed to find the energy to re- invent myself and re-build my life.

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This tumultuous time had to be part of the book, as the clouds became a metaphor for my life.

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So how could I incorporate the energy of the clouds to this systemic life change? I had to invent a new binding. I divided my book into 12 months. Each month has a photo of clouds corresponding to the season. As I was trying to recover my balance, I started reading my horoscope for entertainment and encouragement. I picked one sentence for each month that would express my challenge or mindset. For the month of January: This year will be the realization that though perfection is never fully attainable, learning to coexist gracefully with imperfection can feel nearly perfect. And it ends with the month of December: It doesn’t make sense. It can’t make sense. There is nothing sensible on this crazy planet.

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Life does feel crazy at times but like the clouds, we adapt and move through the storm.

Douglas Stockdale

www.douglasstockdale.com

© Douglas Stockdale, all rights reserved

The Flow of Light Brushes the Shadow

Travel, whether for pleasure or business, can create a sense of adventure or become a source of anxiety. I am impacted by the latter. Anxiety is considered one of the most prevalent health conditions globally. It is an elusive and silent condition that affects an estimated 40 million adults in the U.S. and 284 million adults worldwide. There are many forms and varieties of anxiety, and this project is my way to visualize and come to grips with how anxiety affects me.

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I initiated the project at a time when I did not understand the underlying reasons for the nervous tension I felt while traveling extensively for my professional career. I struggled to comprehend my feelings of alienation, apprehension, melancholy and isolation.

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I felt as though my presence created only the faintest impression on anyone I encountered. I felt like an apparition, a ghostly soul who existed only temporarily, a fleeting and momentary presence, like the flow of light brushing a shadow.

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My resulting artist book is in part cathartic while attempting to increase anxiety awareness, as anxiety is the number one mental health condition worldwide. It is also known as the 'silent killer' due to the difficulty in its diagnosis, frequently going undetected for an individual's entire life.

 

As a book designer, I attempt to incorporate many subtle elements related to my underlying concept into the layout, sequencing and subsequent hand-binding. Such as not trimming the remaining waxed binding thread after pamphlet stitching the artist book as a physical metaphor that the visual narrative found within has some loose ends. Likewise the book's cover is composed of two sheets; a printed text lies underneath a layer of translucent vellum, and depending on how the book is held, the text will appear to go and out of focus, much like how one deals with anxiety on a daily basis. Some days are better than others.

PhotoBook Journal

photobookjournal.com

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As always, many thanks to PhotoBook Journal for curating a set of reviews on handmade/self published artist's books. Please make sure to use the link at the end of each segment to see the full set of imagery from the books...obviously I could only include a few images...but it was a hard choice!

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The reviews are on a separate page, use this link.

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Place Showcase                 Collage Showcase

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