Archive for the ‘Artist Books’ Category

Dec

2011

What’s Ahead for 2012…

I want to take a moment, before talking about 2012, to thank those of you that have made 2011 inspiring, educational, and memorable. It’s been a great year filled with images, books, shows, decks of cards and new challenges. I am so grateful to all of you who have supported my work and me…

I have big plans for 2012 and hope you all can share in them in some way:

Teaching
I’m thrilled to be teaching two upcoming workshops, “Turning Toward Books” on bookmaking and self-publishing. Lúz Gallery in Victoria, BC will be hosting a two-day version of this workshop on April 21st and 22nd and I will be teaching a full week workshop starting on July 8th at the Maine Media Workshops.

Topics will include:
Why self publish?
Benefits and challenges of self publishing
How to publish
How to market & distribute
Case studies
Resources and Tools

We’ll be looking at lots of sample books and case studies, evaluating your own work, and I will be providing in-depth presentations of the steps required to complete a book. My hope is that you will leave with the inspiration, tools, and resources to finish your book project. All of the following material will be presented within the context of my own experiences in publishing.

I will also be teaching a workshop at Newspace Center for Photography on ‘Building a Portfolio.’ I have wanted to teach this kind of intensive workshop for a long time, so I’m really happy that it’s finally happening. I believe, right now, there is only 1 slot left, so if you’re interested, please don’t wait. For more information, click here.

Books
I am now working on my next handmade book of my series, Still Standing, Standing Still. This portfolio contains 14 images of a single tree in Oregon. I’ll be working with binder Rory Sparks on what is going to be a very unique book. I’m working on a second handmade book as well, which I hope to release this Fall.

I am partnering again with Kirsten Rian on a new project, details to follow. We have met a few times to talk about this new project and I feel that this will be something completely new and challenging for us as well as viewers. Stay tuned for more details on that project which is unnamed at this point.

I’m also looking to expand Vela Noche’s published works with a handmade book of another artist’s work, as I did with Dale Schreiner. I will not be taking submissions, but will be hunting around for work that inspires me. I already have a few ideas in mind, but haven’t committed yet.

All of my completed projects are now available online at the just completed website for my imprint, Vela Noche.

Shows
I will be having my first show of books at 23 Sandy Gallery here in Portland during Portland Photo Month. Really looking forward to exploring how an exhibition of books differs from one of prints. I’ll be writing more about this as I get a little closer to the show, which I believe will be in April. Still Standing, Standing Still will be presented for the first time at that show as well as all of the other titles I’ve published including Dale Schreiner’s Thereafter.

I’ve also been busy redesigning my website which will enable me to present my work in a much more flexible and interesting format online. I hope to get the new site completed in the next month.

Travel
I will be traveling down to Los Angeles in January to attend photo LA and continue photographing for Growth. Fotofest 2012 will also be a destination for me this year. I’ve never been to Fotofest so I’m interested to see how it differs from photolucida and other portfolio review events. My aim, in going, was to meet with reviewers outside the US as my work has always been well received in international competitions. I will be writing more about my experiences and reviews when I’m there in March.

For the first time, I will be spending the whole summer in Maine. I will be staying close to the workshops in Rockport and spending a good deal of time photographing for a new series.

Writing
I’ve been really excited about expanding The Photographer’s Alternative Reading List. I’m reading another book right now that is perfect for this list and as I consider titles, I am realizing how valuable this can be for photographers. Look for the next post in that series in the coming month and please let me know if you have any suggestions!

I’m also writing my first article for PDN on handmade books which should come out in March. The article talks about the benefits and challenges of handmade books, financing issues, and marketing and distribution. While it’s difficult to squeeze all of that into only a few words, my hope is that it will get you started, or even prompt you to take one of the longer workshops to gain even more of an insight into this wonderful area of self-publishing.

I think that about covers it! As I’ve learned, there are always new surprises and challenges that I don’t anticipate. Glad to know you all will be there with me, through the good and bad, for another exciting year to come.

May the coming year be filled with open spaces…

Posted in Artist Books, Education, Exhibitions, General, Inspiration, Media, Publishing, Standing Still Still Standing, Vela Noche, Workshops | 1 Comment »

Dec

2011

Introducing ‘The Lookbook Series Volume I: Growth’

When my show at Newspace Center for Photography ended, I wrestled with how to present this new work to a broader audience. I spent a great deal of time working on the installation of the show and I felt satisfied that the consideration I gave to rhythm, spacing, sizing and craft gave the viewer the most accessible way to see the photographs for the first time. But, the question persisted, How will this work live on?

What I’ve decided to do is publish a series of small soft-bound catalogs, The Lookbook Series. A Lookbook will be published for each portfolio of images. The first has been printed for my new series, Growth. These Lookbooks will be the only way, at least for now, to view this series. I may decide to publish the images online at some point, but I feel, as I did for the exhibition, that presenting the work in print, is the best initial presentation for my work.

Growth was offset-printed and measures 6″ x 7.3″ in size with 40 pages, 33 images from the portfolio and the project statement.

© Lauren Henkin. The Lookbook Series Volume I: Growth

I am offering the first in the series at $18.

If you are interested in starting your Lookbook collection, please either click on the purchase button below and you will be taken to my imprint, Vela Noche.

Thank you all, as always, for your continued support.

Posted in Artist Books, Exhibitions, General, Growth, Marketing, Publishing, The Lookbook Series, Vela Noche | 2 Comments »

Nov

2011

Introducing Thereafter and Vela Noche

I am so pleased to introduce my latest foray in publishing… Thereafter is a new book of photographs by artist Dale Schreiner published by my imprint, Vela Noche.

This is the first time I’ve published someone else’s work so I feel the process is worthy of some explanation. I met Dale in early 2009. He was attending the critique group I led at Newspace Center for Photography here in Portland. In 2010 I taught an intensive portfolio building workshop. The class had three students which meant there was time in each session to deeply delve into what they had made and discuss where to go next with the work. The goal of the workshop, which lasted over 4 months, was to complete a body of work between fifteen and twenty images. Dale was one of my students in the class and up until the class, all I had seen from him were singular images.

It wasn’t until the end of the workshop that he started to bring in images that would begin to have focus. He began photographing a local park as frequently as he could, and although unsure about what the draw was to it, he persisted and slowly, a series emerged. We didn’t quite know what to make of it at first. There were classical landscape images but also ones that suggested a hard beauty—images that subtly referenced crime scenes.

When he fully committed to this series, the workshop ended and because it had taken him a while to find something worthy of a series, we continued to meet about the work. I wanted him to finish it, he was on to something, although we both still weren’t sure what yet. By then, I had known Dale for a couple of years and had the luxury of knowing what was happening in his personal life. During the months in which he made these images, he had suffered a tragic loss. His father had been shot to death in the middle of the night in his home. There weren’t many details to be had, acceptance was the only option. There was an ambiguity to the crime that haunted him. I started to see that come through in the images—references to crime scenes, hardscapes within the natural, and general uncertainty.

I’m not sure Dale saw these references at first, or if he even wanted to see them. He didn’t talk about what happened to his father very much. It was my belief, that instead, he spoke of it through the images. We started to feel this project could come together as a book, a short tale of loss and forced acceptance. After about eight months of photographing and meeting, we started to pair images together. Everything started to make sense. Where individual images presented a singular perspective of what happened, the pairs presented the full story. With some spreads, we purposely paired one hardscape image with a softer one; with others, we instinctually matched images that felt like partners to communicate ambiguity, loss, and evidence.

I had never followed the development of a series like this in someone else’s work. Of course I knew what it was to build one, but what I didn’t have in trying to guide Dale, was the context of the images taken. I didn’t know what he had left out of the frame, what it was like to walk through these areas, or his perspective on what were the strongest images, which were the weakest and which he had an emotional connection to. I could merely see them multiply from an outsider’s view and hope that my eyes would accurately lead him to a place that made sense, both conceptually and visually.

At this point, we still hadn’t talked about how this book would be published. We agreed it should be a handmade book. The thought of creating new life from our own hands (in the form of a book) from death, felt like the right and only path here. I didn’t know, moving forward, that I would be the one to publish the book. I had been publishing my own books for a few years, and I was in the process of building a website for my imprint, Vela Noche. But at that time, I hadn’t planned on publishing the work of others—it was simply to be a site to sell my own books. But, as this project grew stronger and stronger, and as I became as equally embedded in it as he was, I felt compelled to move forward as both editor and publisher.

Here are images of the spreads:

© Dale Schreiner. Spread 10, Thereafter.

© Dale Schreiner. Spread 11, Thereafter.

© Dale Schreiner. Spread 12, Thereafter.

© Dale Schreiner. Spread 13, Thereafter.

© Dale Schreiner. Spread 14, Thereafter.

© Dale Schreiner. Spread 15, Thereafter.

© Dale Schreiner. Spread 16, Thereafter.

We started to work out the details, from sizing of both of the book itself as well as the images on the pages, along with quantity for the edition, image tone, book cloth, end sheets, and the ultimate struggle, the title. We eventually, painfully, concluded that Thereafter was the best title. It would allude to the conclusion of one’s life and Dale’s ongoing struggle to cope with the aftermath of the events. The design started to take shape. We settled on book cloth that had a distinct texture resembling tree bark and chose to vertically align the grooves to make the reference more obvious. And once all of these decisions were made, I got to printing the edition of 20. We went together to meet with Sandy Tilcock (lone goose press), the binder I worked with on my last book, to decide the final binding method, solve out how the title would be embedded into the textured cover, and other final details.

Here are images of the completed book:

© Dale Schreiner. Photo by Stephen Funk.

We received the first copy of the final book on Dale’s birthday last month. I know it was important to him, to see it, hold it, and realize this achievement on the marker of a passing decade. Maybe it will help him resolve this ugly chapter in his life, maybe it will redeem a part of this difficult year, maybe it will simply validate that he can build a cohesive series of images. Whatever the result, it is a huge accomplishment for me. In one act, handing over the first copy of his first book, I experienced a level of pride and satisfaction I’d never had before, as an educator, fellow artist, and now, publisher.

I don’t know if I will publish other artists’ work. Maybe this was a one-time deal. For now, I will simply make introductions to both Thereafter and Vela Noche, and thank you all, as always, for your continued support.

To visit Vela Noche, or to purchase Dale’s book, please go to www.velanoche.com.

Posted in Artist Books, Education, General, Inspiration, Publishing, Vela Noche, Workshops | 3 Comments »

Oct

2011

Introducing: Deck of Chords

I am so excited to offer Deck of Chords, with my ongoing collaborator, writer Kirsten Rian.

We are self-publishing a full deck of offset-printed playing cards. Each card front features an image of mine from an unpublished portfolio titled The Lines Between Us, and on the back, a poem by Kirsten. There are 52 cards in total plus a signed cover card.

This design is completed, prototype printed, and we are expecting to receive the final pieces in a few weeks. Until then, we’ve decided to offer a pre-sale price of $14 which includes shipping to anywhere in the US. After November 1st, the price will go up to $19. Please email me if you are outside of the US and I will give you an estimate for shipping.

To purchase, please click here and you will be taken to my imprint, Vela Noche.

Thank you all for your support.

Posted in Artist Books, General, Inspiration, Publishing, The Lines Between Us, Vela Noche | 8 Comments »

Feb

2011

Codex 2011: Entering the World of Book Arts

When I began the process of publishing Displaced, nearly 2 years ago, I learned of a world that I never knew existed, that of fine press and handmade artist books. Inge Bruggeman, who did the letterpress printing for that book, had shown me other projects that she completed herself or worked on for others. I was immediately engaged and inspired by what I saw—the most beautiful books I had ever seen, all made by hand.

I knew then that I wanted to explore that world, to delve and challenge myself to make something that was equally indicative of what fine craft could be. There weren’t many examples to see in the photography world. I knew of Ray Meeks’ beautiful handmade books, I also saw what Vicki Topaz had been able to accomplish with her book, Silent Nests, which started as a handmade publication which eventually led to a book deal with a European publisher.

I produced Displaced with the help of a grant, and without much planning, became more and more immersed in the fine press world.

This past week, I exhibited Displaced and Silence is an Orchard at the international Codex Book Fair, held in Berkeley, CA. It was a convention with about 125+ exhibitors from around the world. There were many artists from the United States, but also represented were Russia, France, Mexico, Germany, England, and other countries. I was truly blown away by what I saw—works made to look and act like books, but crafted to levels I never imagined.

It was a grueling event, a 10-12 hour investment everyday, standing, talking to people, networking, and learning. I had never been in a position of showing my work in that kind of setting before, a trade show for for printmakers. I was sharing a table and trying, in the 30 seconds or so that you have with buyers, to communicate who I was, why I do what I do, and why they should care. We should all have to go through that exercise.

I wanted to show you in some of the images below what I discovered there (please forgive the poor imagery) as well as my thoughts on what I ascertained, in case any of you would like to join me in trying to infiltrate this market. What I learned was vast, some of which left me optimistic, some of which didn’t.

I went to Codex for a few reasons: to learn from other artists, sell some books, expose my work to a completely new audience, and leave with some sense of how to move forward.

Who Exhibited
It seemed that the vast majority of artists exhibiting would classify themselves as ‘printmakers’ in some fashion. It felt mostly like traditional printmakers, artists producing etchings or woodcuts or simply working with typography. From what I could tell, there was only 1 other photographer there like myself, showing their own book of photographs. There were others using photography, but not as their primary medium.

Who Attended
Attendees were primarily other artists from printmakers to bookmakers to letterpress printers to binders to hobbyists to papermakers. Beyond that group, there were also university librarians, individual collectors, material suppliers, and educators. It was a diverse group, filled with people that I would not normally have been exposed to. I had many wonderful conversations with people interested in bookmaking and unique methods of storytelling.

What I Learned
There was an obvious lack of photography represented at this event. The people I presented my work to who were not photographers seemed to wonder what kind of prints they were, platinum? photogravure? etchings? When I explained that they were inkjet prints they seemed surprised. I don’t know if it’s because of the quality of the prints or that inkjet could live up to their expectation of what ‘fine printmaking’ was. I honestly felt, for the first time in my career, like my prints, because they were photographs were ‘less than.’ In fact at the end, someone said to me, “I heard the other photographer was ‘having a hard time too.’” Hmmm. My fear was that this was actual evidence of how a decline in our community’s commitment to the craft of printmaking will effect us in the long term—being further segregated.

I also learned that is indeed a difference between what photographers expect to see in their books compared to followers of fine press. In the photography community, I’ve made what is expected, a book with a series of images, without much text, that lulls the viewer into some other world which I’m sharing with them. In this fine press/book arts world, there was clearly an emphasis on the relationship in every spread between text and image. Simply put, I felt that I had lost a lot of interest simply because I didn’t have enough text in my book, especially poetry. It was a clear difference that I noticed. I was visited by Luis Delgado, an artist I met briefly last year in San Francisco. He looked through the book and said he thought it was great… He commented that it had just the right number of image and I could sense that the lack of text appealed to him and the other photographers I showed the book to… but in this market, it was a negative.

For those of you who might be thinking about simply inkjet printing text in your book, I would advise you against it. The letterpress printed text pages were definitely a must there, and in my own experience, it has really added to the quality of my books. The cost to add letterpress printing was about 10% of the total project, a minimal investment when you consider the number of buyers you will turn off with inkjet printed text.

I was extremely excited and inspired to see alternative printing techniques. I wished there had been more of it and that new printmaking techniques would be as accepted and embraced as the older methods. I do not feel it was the case, but still, there were examples that I felt certain would be new to the photography community. One in particular was employed by Peter Koch in a book titled The Lost Journals of Sacajewea. In this book about one of the most famous American Indian women, he employed the services of Magnolia Editions, a print shop out of Oakland, California. They chose to print using Magnolia’s UV Flatbed printer which, in the case of Koch’s book, printed beautifully onto Japanese kozo paper where the image bled through to the other side. Magnolia describes this type of printing as, “using a durable pigment/solvent ink cured with UV light, this printer prints on almost anything flat. The media is stationary, held down with a vacuum, and can be overprinted multiple times in perfect registration.” It was something I had not seen before and the bleeding through to the back of the kozo in this case was very effective.

In addition, I was finally able to see some 21st Edition publications. One of my favorite photographers, Masao Yamamoto, has just released a book with 21st along with some platinum prints. The printing was well done and while I think it’s difficult to reinterpret Yamamoto’s work in book form, I was definitely interested to see what would qualify a publication to enter the $9,000 price point. The book was housed in an elegant wood box that I really appreciated. It was delicate, like his work, and as a package, it seemed successful.

I took a number of images throughout the fair of books or presentations that I thought worthwhile to share. This is just a small sampling of what was there, truly inspiration objects.

Codex 2011

My setup at Codex.

I did not sell anything at Codex which was a disappointment. I felt, at times, that it just wasn’t the right audience. I did meet a dealer who seemed very interested in selling the book which could lead to multiple sales, so it may end up being a worthwhile investment. As I’ve said many times in the past, it is always hard to know what will come from these events, whether it’s a book fair, a portfolio review, an exhibition, or competition win. It can take years to truly know whether I will feel that attending this event had value. I know this—I was happy to come home to my community of photographers, I will continue to push ahead with my own work, and strive to learn from as many other artisans as I can. I hope seeing these images will also give you some inspiration in your journey…

Posted in Artist Books, Displaced, Education, General, Marketing, Publishing, Silence is an Orchard | 3 Comments »

Archive for the ‘Artist Books’ Category

What’s Ahead for 2012…

Introducing ‘The Lookbook Series Volume I: Growth’

Introducing Thereafter and Vela Noche

Introducing: Deck of Chords

Codex 2011: Entering the World of Book Arts

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