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EVENTS EXHIBITION MEET-UPS NEWS

Updates from the Photobook Club Kuala Lumpur

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Thanks to Faisal Aziz of the Photobook Club Kuala Lumpur for some updates all the way from Malaysia…

15 June 2013
Photobook Club Kuala Lumpur soft launch, in collaboration with Buku Jalanan.

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Obscura Festival of Photography 2013

The following is a list of content partners for Obscura Festival of Photography 2013. These partners contributed photobooks and resources where we managed to put up an Asia Pacific regional collaboration for Photobook Community Library during the festival.

The partners that involved in the collaboration:

  • Reminders Photography Stronghold (Japan)
  • Asphalt Magazine (Japan)
  • Asia Pacific Photobook Archive (Australia)
  • T&G Publishing (Australia)
  • Buku Foto (Malaysia)
  • Pablo Bartholomew (India)
  • Nozomi Ijima (Japan)
  • Yumi Goto (Japan)
  • Wei Leng Tay (Singapore)
  • Vignes Balasingam (Malaysia)
  • Andri Tambunan (Indonesia)
  • Rony Zakaria (Indonesia)
  • Louis Lim (Australia)
  • Atsushi Fujiwara (Japan)
  • Halim Berbar (Malaysia)
  • Ian Teh (Malaysia)

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That’s all for now…

Categories
EVENTS MEET-UPS NEWS

Bangalore Weekend of Photobooks and Box of Books draws plenty of attention…

The Bangalore ‘Weekend of Photobooks‘ run by photographer Mahesh Shantaram and book designer Vidya Rao, which featured the Photobook Club’s ‘Box of Books‘, has been a huge success.

Not only did the event attract a great number of people to the event, and to discussions of the works on show, but it also received a fair few column inches in the Bangalore Mirror, Indian Express and DNA India. A huge congratulations to Mahesh, Vidya, and all who made the event possible!

the Indian Express
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COMMENTS EVENTS MEET-UPS NEWS

A report from the Photobook Club Amsterdam

I was very fortunate to be invited by the organizers of the Photobook Club AmsterdamShirley Agudo and Taco Hidde Bakker to attend their second meetup last month. Already there is a great deal of interest in this branch but it was great to see the group meet in an intimate studio space courtesy of Rein Jelle Terpstra which allowed a very relaxed and fluid event to take place.

I had been invited to present a book on the day and had decided to present John Gossage’s ‘The Pond‘, in part because it is symptomatic of some of the reasons I founded the Photobook Club, and in part as I am always curious to see how the book is received. The discussion went in directions I never would have anticipated from the layout and design to the sequencing, title, cult status and a whole bunch more.

Interestingly I presented the book in a questioning and critical manner but found that when others also leveled any criticism at it, I found I became defensive about it and perhaps had a truer understanding of my own reading of this book. One thing that was decided on the night is that my copy of the book should be left in the hands of Taco Hidde Bakker who was keen to deconstruct the pages and collaborate in a re-editing and re-versioning of this classic (so keep a look out for this).

After my warm up act it was a privilege to have Hans Gremmen present to talk about his role as designer on Rinko Kawauchi’s latest Aperture book ‘Ametsuchi‘. Having this unique perspective reminded me of the very first Photobook Club event in London where Maxwell Anderson introduced me to a world of design choices in Kenji Hirosawa’s ‘Celebrity‘ that I had previously given little thought to. I think it fair to say that all who attended took a great deal from Hans’ candid take on the design process and having a variety of dummies from different stages of the project enabled us to better understand the process involved in designing a photobook as well as the relationships between photographers, designers and publishers.

It is a huge testament to the Photobook Club Amsterdam that despite the event starting at a very reasonable 7.45pm, I only just made the last tram back to town after midnight and took a whole bunch of questions and thoughts back with me. A huge thanks for the invite go to Shirley and Taco.

Matt

Categories
BOOKS THOUGHTS ON BOOKS VIDEO

Midwest Dirt by Nathan Pearce, ed by Matt Johnston – looking for support

I mentioned briefly when it was launched that I have been working with a talented Midwest photographer Nathan Pearce to bring his story and vision of the Midwest to more people in the form of a beautiful photobook.

If you want to help fund the project or find out more, you can do so on the indiegogo page but what I would really love is for you to listen to Nathan…

It was not lightly that I took on this project and there have been a number before and since that have simply not been a good fit but I am very interested to hear from anyone who may be interested in working alongside me on book projects or photography or any other medium provided it provokes memory or emotion.

– Matt

Categories
EXHIBITION

Cosecha 2013 – Bring/send your dummies!

News from Juan Cires of the Photobook Club Madrid that they will be holding a meeting on July 23rd inviting artists to present their photobook dummies – and if you cant make it, you can send via post – think I will get onto this myself! More…

Hi from the Photobook Club Madrid. We are organizing a new activity called Cosecha 2013 (Harvest 2013) with the Ivorypress bookstore. We will have a meeting of photobook artists on July 23rd to show bookdummies created this year. We will also have an exhibition at Ivorypress in September of the participating dummies. The event is open.

Ideally, the dummies should be presented in person by the author, but if anyone wants to participate but can’t make it to Madrid on July 23rd, it is possible to submit book dummies by post. Please e-mail info@photobookclubmadrid.com for instructions.

Thanks,

Juan.

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EVENTS EXHIBITION MEET-UPS

Bangalore Weekend of Photobooks July 20-21, 2013 (incl the Box of Books)

Excuse my lifting text directly from the event itself but it perfectly sums up what this event, and Mahesh and Vidya’s open house project in it’s wider context, seeks to do.

For about a year now, photographer Mahesh Shantaram and book designer Vidya Rao have promoted appreciation for photobooks through their Open House library sessions.
On one or two Sundays a month, members are invited spend a few relaxed hours in the residential library.

The Bangalore Weekend of Photobooks will open that collection to a larger audience of photography and book lovers in the city. Come and get immersed in a weekend full of activities centered around the magnificent world of photobooks.

The event will also include the unboxing of the Photobook Club’s ‘Box of Books’ which will be heading next for Kuala Lumpur! You can find out more about the event by clicking the banner above.

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BOOKS EVENTS THOUGHTS ON BOOKS

Fifteen Ruscha Readers and a Pint of Bitter (please)

I stumbled across a great collection of Ed Ruscha’s books at Coventry University earlier this week and considered it an opportunity for a whole ‘Evening with Ed‘ with the Photobook Club Coventry. This in turn seemed a good opportunity for a cheeky homage to the great man, and so here is the Phtoobook Club’s ‘Fifteen Ruscha Readers and a Pint of Bitter (please)‘ as a free downloadable PDF…

…and if you would like to see these books or have them visit you, let me know (more info inside)

Fifteen Ruscha Readers…
Fifteen Ruscha Readers…
Fifteen Ruscha Readers…
Categories
EVENTS NEWS

PBC Paris – a report

Thanks to Pablo Porlan of the Photobook Club Paris for sending through the following:

Hello!

Here you can have a look to the chronicles (in French) from the third reunion of Le Paris Photobook Club. The theme for this 3rd meet up was “China” and our guest participant was Pierre Bessard; a photographer and editor.
 
For a full reading and if you want to see some pictures: http://parisphotobookclub.wordpress.com/2013/07/10/chronique-du-pbc-3-chine/

Categories
BOOKS NEWS

Midwest Dirt, A Photobook by Nathan Pearce, edited by Matt Johnston

Dear all,

For a while now I have been working with photographer Nathan Pearce to edit his ‘Midwest Dirt‘ project into what will be a photobook towards the Autumn of this year. Nathan is seeking a modest amount of funding to realise the work as a physical artifact in exchange for some awesome Midwest rewards and I would love anyone interested to check out the project in more detail below.

I will have more on the work, and the process soon but for now, enjoy having a look

Matt

When I was 18 years old I packed my bags and left rural Illinois. It had been my home my entire life, but I thought in leaving I would find the perfect place for myself elsewhere. In the city everything and everyone I knew was very different from what I knew back home and yet at the same time familiar. The wild and restless days of my youth were in full swing. But when I awoke those mornings I still expected to see my old midwestern life.

Where I was living wasn’t exactly the wrong place for me, and at its core my life wasn’t drastically different, but it wasn’t home.
I came back home to live almost a decade later. I still have no idea if this time I will stay for good, I don’t know if that will ever happen.
The wild restless days and nights haven’t ceased.

Some nights when I lay down in my bed and close my eyes I fantasize that I didn’t ever return. I dream that I could get right back up and go over to my corner bar in the city and have a drink looking out on the crowded street.

But I’m not there. I’m here. In the country.

Now it’s just after harvest time, my favorite time of year. The fields are almost cleared and I’m barefoot on my porch with a beer in my hands. I can see for miles.

This project is about a time in my mid twenties when I can feel the tension between home and away.

– Nathan Pearce