Tag: photobooks

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EVENTS EXHIBITION

Scopio Photobook Contest + Riga Workshop

The folks at Scopio have initiated a photobook contest with a theme that both sets a guide and gives freedom for exploration and perhaps destruction. You can find all the relevant details by clicking on the image below.

In other news there is a great workshop in Riga as part of Riga Photomonth – it is an artist’s book workshop and is run over 5 days, led by photobook designer Nico Baumgarten. A similar workshop was run last year, you can check out some of the results here. You can find all the details by hiting the image or see the direct message from the ISSP below it…

SSP and Riga Photomonth 2014 invite applications to ARTIST’S BOOK WORKSHOP with photographer and bookmaker Nico Baumgarten (DE)! The workshop will take place on 3-7 May 2014 as part of Riga Photomonth programme.

This time, we invite photographers as well as illustrators, graphic artists and other creatives with projects ready for presentation in form of a book to apply!
The dummies produced during the workshop shall be featured as part of SELF PUBLISH RIGA exhibition in May 2013.

Nico has lead a bookmaking workshop in Riga last spring and proved to be an amazing teacher. The results can be seen here: http://www.isspskola.lv/.

The workshop will host 12 participants, selected based on applications.  Application deadline: 1 April.

The workshop is supported by Riga 2014, State Culture Capital foundation, Goethe Institut in Riga, AS Antalis and Hewlett-Packard. Information support: FK Magazine, FOLD, kim? Contemporary Arts Centre, Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art.

More information and applications: http://www.selfpublishriga.com/?section=workshop

NB! We’d like to remind that your existing dummies and self-published trial editions (up to 50 copies) can be submitted to SELF PUBLISH RIGA contest and exhibition till 20 April! Info – www.selfpublishriga.com.

Should you have any questions, please write to ieva@issp.lv or selfpublish@issp.lv.

Yours with spring greetings,

ISSP

Categories
BOOKS NEWS THOUGHTS ON BOOKS

The Natural Collection

There are some fantastic photobook collections the world over – collections that focus on indie or handmade books, collections that are driven by rarity and monetary value, collections based on location and many based on specific events or happenings. The Photobook Club has never been and never had a collection, occasionally kind folks have sent books through to me and I have sought wherever possible to take them with me to Photobook Club events and talks but no more.

Paul Gaffney – We Make the Path by Walking

Now, I find more and more I have been asked to bring collections of books to events, Universities and so on – I respond by bringing my own collection but it is a young and sparse collection lacking curation and coherence. At the same time I have been thinking a great deal recently about a thematic collection, a collection that, while not seeking to be exhaustive, does seek to provide both broad and deep reading. A collection that can be visited in my home, a collection that will be viewable online and a collection that can travel in whole, or in parts, to different locations.

Lucas Foglia – A Natural Order

I figured such a theme would need to be narrow enough that it could near a completion of sorts but in reality this will never happen. I have chosen instead to openly begin a collection with a broad headline, which can then be shaped both by works submitted and interest in it’s contents. The theme chosen I believe speaks not only about photography and it’s history but also relates to the indie photobook movement, the interest in the generative artefact and a quest for a less hectic way of life.

The Natural Collection
– Photobooks, zines and papers that explore our relationship with nature and the natural landscape.

As mentioned above, this is broad, but will be shaped in time. As a set of books to offer a well known guide, I would consider the likes of John Gossage’s ‘The Pond‘, Lucas Foglia’s ‘A Natural Order‘, Ricardo Cases ‘Palomo al Aire‘, Ron Jude’s ‘Lick Creek line‘ and Oscar Tuazon’s ‘Leave me be‘.

The call

I would be grateful to anyone, established or otherwise (incl publishers) who would be willing to send works through to the collection, these works will be featured on the Photobook Club website, will be taken to various book club events and will be open to anyone willing to pop by for a cupa! The condition of the works is not of paramount importance so any misprints at publishing would be welcomed with open arms!

The Natural Collection
The Photobook Club
10 Granby Avenue
Harpenden
Hertfordshire
AL5 5QR
ENGLAND

Matt
matt@photobookclub.org

 

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EVENTS EXHIBITION NEWS

Self Publish Riga Launches!

I am chuffed to be a part of this awesome celebration of printed photobookworks that will take place in Riga, latvia this May. ‘Self Publish Riga’ is part of Riga Photomonth 2014 and will be a really vibrant event running from 3rd – 11th May. Alongside a lineup of speakers and workshops there is an opportunity to submit a dummy to their competition in which first prize will be a free ISSP workshop! All the details for now can be found below so check it out and head over to the website for more info. 

Note: coming soon on the PBC will be a wee conversation about the dummy and it’s new found fame/recognition.

Dear friends and photobook lovers!

ISSP in cooperation with Riga Photo Month 2014 invite submissions for the SELF PUBLISH RIGA international book dummy and self-published photobook contest.

The contest welcomes all projects realized within the medium of photography and presented in the form of a self-published book or book dummy. 
Submission deadline: 20 April (delivery date!). Submissions are free of charge. 

 

More information: www.selfpublishriga.com  

Facebook: http://ej.uz/selfpublish   

Twitter: http://ej.uz/selfpublish_twitter   

The Jury: All entries to the contest will be judged by an international jury:

Markus Schaden (founder, Schaden publishing house, DE)
Teun van der Heijden (photobook designer, NL)
Ania Nalecka (photo book designer, PL)
Matt Johnston (founder of the Photobook Club, UK)
Juris Petraškēvics (professor, Art Academy of Latvia)
Nico Baumgarten (photographer and bookmaker, DE).

Awards and Exposure: The shortlisted books will take part in the SELF PUBLISH RIGA exhibition in May 2014. The winner of the contest will attend an ISSP 2014 workshop of their choice free of charge. The three best entries will receive individual porfolio reviews with the Jury members. Top ten books will receive a special feature promoted by the event partners.

We invite all book lovers and printed edition enthusiasts to take part! 

Please forward the information about this opportunity to your friends and colleagues! 

NB! For international partners with existing photobook collections! Apart from the dummy contest selection, the SELF PUBLISH RIGA exhibition, taking place as part of Riga Photo Month opening week on 9-11 May 2014, will also feature several existing collections from international partners- including Swedish Photo Book Prize winners, Polish Photographic Publication of the Year 2013, the UK Photobook Club collection, and a selection of publications made in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. 
We welcome other quality collections in Riga as part of the event – if you have a collection to feature, please contact us at selfpublish@issp.lv.

SELF PUBLISH RIGA is organised within Riga Photo Month 2014 and the Riga 2014 EU Culture Capital programme. Thanks to our partners and supporters: The Photobook Club (UK), Archivo (PT), Association of Swedish Professional Photographers, Lugemik (EE), FK Magazine, FOLD, KIM?, Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art, Goethe Institut Riga, British Council Latvia, Polish Embassy in Riga, State Culture Capital Foundation.

With best greetings,

ISSP 

Categories
EVENTS MEET-UPS NEWS

The Photobook Club Barcelona

News from one of the longest running Photobook Club branches via Markus Furgber…

Today we had the 12th meeting at Photobookclub Barcelona. It was the last one organized by Jon Uriarte. Thank you very much, Jon. We had a lot of fun at the 12 meetings and will have still more in the upcoming ones. Now Paco Navamuel, Carlos Pericás, Lea Tyrallová and Oscar Ciutat will be the people in charge of organizing future meetings.

Image Markus Furgber
Image Markus Furgber

They already outlined some very interesting ideas. The first one will take place February, 11. Now you can follow PCB’s activities on this website, where you can find all the books we have been talking about:http://photobookclubbarcelona.com/ Some photos of todays meeting are also available: https://picasaweb.google.com/105114524699511417613/PBC12#

Best regards, Markus

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BOOKS NEWS REFLECTION THOUGHTS ON BOOKS

B*@t of 2013 and bad choices

As has been the case for the last few years I have produced this list, I am not really bothered if the books were made in 2013 or not – I just don’t spend a great deal of time with enough books each year.

This years list is made up of books that in one way or another have moved me; created or recalled an emotional reaction. For that reason, ‘The Pigs’, ‘Various Small Books’, ‘The Looking Game’ and ‘Control Order House’ are not included – although they are some of my favorite books of the year…

Paul Gaffney
We Make the Path by Walking

Rein Jelle Terpstra
Retracing

Kadir van Lohuizen
Via PanAm

Joshua Lutz
Hesitating Beauty

Will Steacey
Down These Mean Streets

Vanessa Winship
She Dances on Jackson

There are a wee stack of books that I either regret not buying or simply can’t afford right now. I hope that in time I either realise I have little interest in these books, or that they are such a failure I can pick them up for peanuts in a few years*.

(These books have also been selected in relation to the reaction they have caused rather than their merit as an exemplary unit of the medium)

Bryan Schutmat
Grays the Mountain Sends

Verena Blok
I Smell Like Rain

/\ Damn this is great image making and emotionally engaged storytelling. Blok creates something here which taps into a popular aesthetic but brings genuine weight and the ability to move an audience. I wait on the sec on edition to get a hold of this.

Dagmar Keller and Martin Wittwer
Passengers

 

– Matt

*This already seems laughable as many have made the ‘best of’ and I wish no ill fortune to any hard working photographer or publisher

Categories
EVENTS MEET-UPS NEWS

The Box of Books – Tokyo – Canberra – Melbourne

The box of books has been spending time in Tokyo, Canberra and Melbourne recently, the 13th, 14th and 15th stops on it’s world tour. If you haven’t yet gotten to the box, there might still be time – check out the route here or email to see if the box can detour to you.

Tokyo:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Canberra:

Big thanks to Sean Davey, organizer of the Photobook Club in Canberra who has this report on the event and has also sent images…

On the 24th of November 2013, we at the Canberra Photobook Club in Australia took our turn in receiving the Photobook Club’s Box of Books at the Huw Davies Gallery at PhotoAccess. We usually only have small gatherings here in Canberra and this meeting was no exception, with an intimate group of five photobook lovers coming together to do some photography reading and to share ideas and reactions about the books.

As well as the Box of Books, the meeting hosted a few books that I brought back from a recent trip to Paris, including Minutes to Midnight and Christmas Tree Bucket by Trent Parke, Americolor by Dennis Church, Hot Days In Okinawa by Mao Ishikawa and Mandy & Eva by Willeke Duijvekam.

It was a real treat to open the box, not only for the books inside, but for the engaging material and hand written notes that accompanied them from other Photobook Club members who had already received the Box of Books. These tactile notes and fragments from other countries really held our attention and before we even go to the books, we read and passed around the notebook and included cards and photos.

It is always interesting to compare photo books when read in the company of others to when they are read alone in private, as one is compelled to communicate immediate feelings and thoughts about material that has only just been ingested, without the time for proper digestion. Like any appreciation, whether critical or acclaimed, time is of the essence when looking at, and absorbing visual art and communication. With two hours set aside for the meeting, it was always going to be rushed trying to read the books, let alone get a grasp of them all, as well as to have conversations about them.

Of the books that were included in the Box of Books,the one that received most attention and generated the most discussion was Interrogations by Donald Webber. The book is bleak, which ever way you look at it, from the harsh, night time landscapes to the frightening and severe images of people in police cells being threatened and interrogated. Along with the images, the group broadly agreed that the text presented in this book adds to the feeling of distress and hopelessness that Webber shows. At the end of the book, I for one felt spent at the experience of going through it, and then I imagined what life is like for the people who get caught up in such a system of threats and violence, all set amongst the unforgivable winter landscape of Russia and the Ukraine.

When our meeting ended, we had indeed discussed most of the books in the box as well as talked about the book making process and some of our own projects. Before we sealed the box, we were all delighted to sign the notebook and include a few cards and momentos from Canberra for the Photobook Clubs that were to receive the box after us.

Thank you to Matt Johnston and the publishers and artists who donated books for this project. We are a comparatively small club here in Canberra, but we are very happy to be part of the wider photobook club community.

Sean Davey

Melbourne:

Thanks to Stephanie Richter of the Monash Gallery of Art for holding the latest meetup in Australia, she will be writing a roundup of their activities soon but in the meantime…

The Box of Books was so great, there were about 12 of us and they all had a great time chatting about the different styles and bindings and most of all the ideas and narratives. I think the one I found most intriguing was Mrs. Merryman’s Collection by Anne Sophie Merryman.

Lots of debate about the truth behind the story and images, whether the fronts and backs correspond etc… wonderful.

– Stephanie Richter

(more images here)

Gibraltar bonus:

A few images from the Photobook Club Campo de Gibraltar via it’s organizer, Angel Luis Duarte Sastre…

 

Categories
EVENTS

The Photobook Club Belfast

Great news for photobook enthusiasts in Belfast as the Photobook Club run at Belfast Exposed by Hannah Watson has two events coming up, the first of which is tomorrow!

For more information, contact Hannah on this email address

Thursday 7th November 6pm

Fergus Jordan & Alex McCooke discuss Garden Estate

This edition of the Belfast Photobook Club will be taking a slightly different format. Graphic designer Alex McCooke and artist Fergus Jordan will open up their collaborative production process for Garden Estate, published by The Velvet Cell. They will also discuss some of the practical aspects of photographic book publishing for the emerging artist.

Garden Estate – Fergus Jordan

Thursday 12th December 6pm

Hosted by Belfast School of Art Photography Artists in Residence, Jan McCullough & Lewis Rankin

Returning to our regular format, this month Jan McCullough and Lewis Rankin will be presenting a selection of photobooks from their personal collections. Both avid collectors, we are excited to see what surprises they have in store! There will be a festive twist for our last event of the year, with mince pies and mulled wine for all attendees.

Categories
EVENTS MEET-UPS NEWS THOUGHTS ON BOOKS

World Photobook Day – A quick Roundup

The inaugural World Photobook Day was instigated by the Photobook Club Madrid but quickly became a collaboration between many Photobook Club branches, publishers, bloggers, writers and photographers. The love shown by photobook enthusiasts was quite incredible and bodes well for a bigger and better event next year (mark your calendars).

Toowoomba Celebrates World Photobook Day

To see what went on during the day, head over to www.photobookday.org or have a look at just a few highlights here:

The Photographers Gallery celebrate with a great interview featuring Aaron Mörel as well as offering money off in the Gallery bookshop.

The Photobook Club Alicante launches during Photobook Day

Thirty attend Photobook Day celebrations in Toowoomba, Australia run by Victoria Cooper and Doug Spowart.

Perhaps the best gauge of discussion on the day is via the twitter hashtag – #PhotobookDay which reached over 65,000 folks in 600+ tweets. A few featured below:


Categories
EVENTS NEWS

Rock Your Dummy! Call for submissions

” Rock Your Dummy! ”  

Exhibition 15-17 November 2013

Deadline Thursday 5 November 2O13

The Photobook Club network and Food For Your Eyes invite you to submit your photobook dummy to feature in ” Rock Your Dummy! “, an exhibition presented within Le PhotobookFest programme hosted at L’Ancienne Imprimerie/Picture Tank, 11 rue Bisson 75020 Paris.

Le PhotobookFest is a three days event focused on the photobook, from Friday 15 to Sunday 17 November 2013. Launched by the Paris Photobook Club, this first edition mainly supports the young publishing scene with independent publishing houses as well as self-published and DIY books.

More Infos about Le PhotobookFest :  www.parisphotobookclub.wordpress.com  / The Photobook Club Network:  www.photobookclub.org

 

We are particularly keen to receive, showcase and support mock-up, hand-crafted, self-published, limited edition photobook, DIY, photozine, from all over the world !

Deadline for submissions is Tuesday 5 November 2013

 

Fill in the  Submission Form  here  and send us your dummy for the exhibition.

“The dummy is a work in progress but also a significant waymark on the route to publication in one form or another. It seemed appropriate that while we look to celebrate the beauty of the dummy as an artefact in it’s own right, we should also acknowledge it as a work yet to be fully realised and so seek to support it’s author in that realisation.” – Matt Johnson, Founder ,The Photobook Club 

 

 

Le PhotobookFest with “Rock Your Dummy!” Open Call and Exhibition aims to support authors with a photobook project in the making in offering them feedback and advice from an assembled team of photobook enthusiasts and experts  ( photographers, publishers, writers, critics, designers) * – The list of our  team of experts is bellow  

 

 

  • “Rock Your Dummy Prize” :

    All selected photobook dummies in the exhibition will run for the “Rock Your Dummy Prize”. One winner will be selected by the main jury (to be announced soon) at Le PhotobookFest awards presentation on Sunday 17 november. The winner of the “Rock Your Dummy Prize” gets the opportunity to be accompanied and received support from the team of photobook experts. The one-to-one meetings with each photobook expert would be arranged through Skype or in person.

  • Box of Dummies :

    As a result of the public vote and the jury vote,  Photobook dummies (maximum 10) will be selected to be included in the “Box of Dummies”, a traveling showcase through the branches of the Photobook Club network all over the world –

    More info about the Box Of Books project www.photobookclub.org/index.php/box-of-books 

Contact:   

Nathalie Belayche:  nb@foodforyoureyes.com  

 Emilie Hallard/Pablo Porlan: parisphotobookclub@gmail.com

 

*Advisory board members of “Rock Your Dummy Prize” :

Elinor Carucci     Carucci is a photographer living and working in New York. Her intimate work focusing on her family and relationships has been the subject of numerous group and solo exhibitions as well as three photobooks. Her latest book ‘Mother’ has just been published by Prestel and is likely to become as well­known and loved as the precious ‘Diary of a Dance’ and ‘Closer’.

Wayne Ford    A designer and creative director, Ford comments that he has both a professional and personal interest in photography. His interest in photography and photobooks is perhaps best known by his writing found at wayneford.tumblr.com. Ford played a vital role in the editing and sequencing of Bertil Nilsson’s critically acclaimed ‘Undisclosed: Images of the Contemporary Circus’.

Hans Gremmen    A highly sought­after designer, Gremmen’s work with the photobook can likely be found in your nearest Photobook store, if not on your own bookshelf. Recent works include 2 shortlisted Aperture first book awards (Singular Beauty and Cette Montagne C’est Moi) and Rinko Kawauchi’s latest publication ­ Ametsuchi.

Taco Hidde Bakker    Bakker works as a writer, translator and researcher based in Amsterdam, NL. His written work can be found in the likes of Foam magazine and Camera Austria International among others. Between 2007­10 Bakker worked extensively on the photobook, web documentary and exhibition that was ‘The Last Days of Shishmaref’.

Larissa Leclair    A curator, collector and writer,  Leclair is responsible for the hugely successful ‘Indie Photobook library’ which seeks to champion the spirit of the 21st century indie publishing scene. As a writer, Leclair has written numerous reviews for the Photo­eye booklist and as a curator a co­authored event with Andy Adams of Flakphoto saw the exhibition ‘100 Portraits’ projected onto the side of the Corcoran Gallery of Art as part of FotoWeek DC.

Lesley A. Martin    Martin is publisher of the Aperture book program and of The PhotoBook Review, a newsprint journal dedicated to the evolving conversation surrounding the photobook. Martin has edited over 70 books including Joan Fontcuberta’s ‘Landscapes Without Memory’ and has been voted one of the fifteen most influential people in photobook publishing by the Photo District News.

Iris Sikking    Sikking is a curator, editor and project manager currently working at Paradox and the self founded ICON Foundation (Images in Context). In 2011 she curated and produced the thematic project ANGRY: Young and Radical and in 2012 the book and audiovisual installation Poppy­Trails of Afghan Heroin by Robert Knoth and Antoinette de Jong.

Douglas Stockdale     Stockdale will be familiar to many as the founding publisher and editor of ‘The PhotoBook’, a highly regarded space for photobook reviews and critique. Stockdale also acts as an independent curator and has published 4 books of his own. Stockdale has just released his latest work, ‘Pine Lake’ ­ a hand­made artist book ‘sequenced as a semi­fictional story about an American multi­generational summer rite, the fishing trip’.

Categories
EVENTS MEET-UPS NEWS THOUGHTS ON BOOKS VIDEO

The PBC presented at the European League of Institutes of the Arts (VIDEO)

In June of 2013 I was invited to present the Photobook Club at the ELIA ‘Preparing the Artist of Tomorrow’ conference held in Utrecht and Amsterdam. I spoke about the projects birth, how it has enhanced my students learning and how, through the removal of my own authorship, the project has taken off all over the world.

Matt Johnston presents The Photobook Club at ELIA Confeence from Photobook Club on Vimeo.

More on ELIA – elia-artschools.org/