A few months ago Ken Schles spoke at the SPE Northeast Conference in Syracuse, if ever there was a dream-team conference, this was it for me! Ken’s talk was posted online yesterday and I recommend anyone with even a passing interest in photobooks must take the time to view it.
Ken takes us through all four of his monographs, looking both at content and theme as well as the publication challenges and triumphs he experienced. What most interested me is just how much Ken’s books seem ultimately to form chapters in a much larger body of work, his interests and more importantly questions are never repeated, but we are reminded of them constantly.
Ken is proof that Tod Papageorge knew what he was talking about:
“If your pictures aren’t good enough, you aren’t reading enough” – Tod Papageorge
This talk is best enjoyed with a chilled beverage and note taking device
– Matt