Thinking about the future of the Photobook.

Paul Graham's 12 book called "a shimmer of possibility"

I've been thinking a lot about the future of the photobook lately. Tonight there is going to be a online chat through Twitter. More info on that here: http://www.harlanerskine.com/blog/2009/12/first-art-photography-tweetchat-future.html

There is also an interesting experiment in blogging on the subject on the Livebooks blog, RESOLVE. Their crowd sourced blog collects all the recent posts into one big page. Lots to check out and think over.

All these discussions are an interesting contrast to the Aperture Foundation hosted talk I attended few months ago. The talk featured many different voices. Some of the names on the panel included:

Charlotte Cotton, curator and Head of the Wallis Annenberg Photography Department, LACMA, will moderate a discussion with panelists Alex Klein, artist and Curatorial Fellow in the Wallis Annenberg Photography Department, LACMA; Matt Keegan, artist and editor of North Drive Press; David Reinfurt, graphic designer and co-founder of Dexter Sinister; and Denise Wolff, Aperture Editor. Other special guests include special guests Paul Graham, Darius Himes, and Laurel Ptak.

Sadly, the panel never quite got to the meat of a real discussion. After each panelist gave an introduction there wasn't much time left. Maybe this is where a Twitter based chat can work better? We'll see.


NDP #4 (ed. 1000)

I did manage to learn about some interesting work from the panelists - especially, artist and publisher Matt Keegan's North Drive Press. Their hybrid publishing of magazine / book / art object in limited edition batches is an example of where creative art books are headed. As production gets cheaper, artists are more easily able to produce their own larger edition artworks.

In preparation for tonight's first art photo chat, Todd Walker reminded me of this Words Without Pictures piece by Darius Himes and it's a great starting point for thinking about the photobook going forward from 2010. Darius Himes also wrote a post contribution that's worth checking out.

There are two parts to the future of the photobook; one part is technical and the other is creative. New technologies in printing and reading are emerging. How will they change the way we consume photography? What new creative trends will emerge through these technologies developments as well those through developments in art production? These two areas are interdependent and will change as the other does.

Photobooks, and particularly art photobooks, are unlike their book cousin the novel which may suffer massive declines in paperback book sales because of reading devices like Amazon's Kindle. The enjoyment of the novel, and especially a paperback doesn't greatly diminish when consumed on such a device. Many readers swear by them. I have to agree with Darius Himes when he writes in his essay, "Who Cares About Books?":

And while the sensual experience of receiving and holding a Mac AirBook borders on the rapturous (I almost feel like I'm dissimulating when I enter the Apple shrines scattered around the country), it is still not something I want to read a book on-even if it is something I want to use to send an email about a book I just read.

Books are so archetypal for the modern wo/man that we form nearly permanent bonds with them as teenagers and adults. They are the security blankets and teddy bears of the adult world. Most of us cart our books from state to state, from college dorm to rented apartment to newly purchased home, and lovingly set them up on our shelves as reminders of knowledge acquired and courses and degrees completed, and as familiar companions.

I enjoy books for many reasons and the little subjective memories they pick up along the way is certainly one of them. There are two recent books that might be interesting to discuss.

While the consumption of an artistically produced book would lose much of its presence on a downloaded format, there probably will be rare cases where the end design is for electronic consumption. One particular piece I recently came across is made by Eve Susman and the Rufus Cooperation. It's produced by a new publisher started by Schroeder Romero and Winkleman Gallery called Compound Editions called White on White. The edition is sold as a 6-minute video installed on ARCHOS 5 media tablet.


Eve Sussman & Rufus Corporation
A COUNTRY ROAD. A TREE. EVENING. 2009
Original music by Lumendog
Geoff Gersh - guitar and electronics
Adam Kendall - keyboards & electronics
Christof Knoche - bass clarinet & electronics
Bradford Reed - pencilina
6-minute video installed on ARCHOS 5 media tablet
5" x 0.5" x 3.1"
Edition of 100, plus 10 APs
$450.00 for numbers 1-50; SOLD OUT
$600 for numbers 51-100.

While we can't say for certain what the future is of the photobook will be, it's exciting to see artists stretching the boundaries.

SELF PROMO ALERT: While you're thinking about photobooks be sure to check out my artist published photobook:

ten convenient stores
I made the 7 x 7 inch booklet with laser paper on a high end xerox laser printer. It is packaged in various convenient store bags. Produced in an artist edition of 20 in 2005 and a bigger edition of 100 in 2005.

Looking forward to tonight's experiment.

Wow We Have Come This Far / BFI 5year Anniversary

'Worlds Without End Part I,' 20 x 37 inches, ©2009 Harlan Erskine

I'm happy to announce that I will have the above print included in the BFI Portfolio. If you are in Miami please stop by the benefit this Thursday November 12th. Hope to see you there!



THE BAS FISHER INVITATIONAL CELEBRATES ITS 5-YEAR ANNIVERSARY WITH A BENEFIT AND PREMIERE OF THE PORTFOLIO "WOW WE HAVE COME THIS FAR"

Date: Thursday, November 12, 2009
Time: 7 - 10 p.m.
Tickets: $50 per person (cash or check only)

Location: The Bas Fisher Invitational
180 NE 39th Street, Suite 210
(inside the Buena Vista Building in Miami’s Design District)


Featured artists in portfolio "Wow We Have Come This Far":

Kevin Arrow | Alex Cardenas | Clifton Childree | Jessica Dickinson | Harlan Erskine | "Freegums" aka Alvaro Ilizarbe | Frederico Nessi | Rebecca Schiffman | Francine Spiegel | Jen Stark | Mike Taylor | Jonathan Thomas

The Bas Fisher Invitational (BFI), an artist-run, alternative arts space in Miami's Design District, is throwing a cupcakes and cocktails soiree to mark its 5-year anniversary and portfolio premiere on November 12, from 7-10 p.m. “Wow We Have Come This Far” features exclusive, limited-edition prints exploring silk-screen, giclée, photography and etching, among other mediums, by 12 BFI alumni artists.

Attendees will be treated to deejayed tunes by BFI organizers Naomi Fisher, Jim Drain and Kathryn Marks, with the added pleasure of knowing their $50 ticket goes toward future programming and events.

Founded in Summer 2004, the BFI has hosted 30 exhibitions, many of which have launched the careers of emerging artists: Francine Speigel went on to show with Deitch Projects in New York; Jessica Dickinson and Alejandro Cardenas are represented by James Fuentes, an edgy, downtown New York gallery; and Jen Stark, Alvaro Ilizarbe and Clifton Childree are among Miami's most respected talent.

In gratitude for their success, these portfolio artists contributed to raise funds and ensure support for the next generation. All ticket and print sales go toward matching the Knight Arts Challenge grant awarded to the BFI from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. This matching grant provides funds to maintain year-round programming including exhibitions, lectures, community outreach and artist residencies in association with the Fountainhead Residency, as a nonprofit, non-commercial venue under the umbrella of the Dade Community Foundation, a 501c3. The Knight Arts Challenge is a $40 million initiative to bring the South Florida community together through the arts.


About the Bas Fisher Invitational

For over five years, the Bas Fisher Invitational (BFI) has consistently maintained a presence in Miami as a thought-provoking artist-run gallery space. As a zero-profit, alternative venue for unrepresented artists the BFI has allowed artists to receive full benefit of their hard work and to make great professional connections. The BFI was created by Naomi Fisher and Hernan Bas (now managed by Fisher, Jim Drain, Agatha Wara and Kathryn Marks). Since 2009 the BFI has been under the umbrella of the Dade Community Foundation, a 501c3.

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation advances journalism in the digital age and invests in the vitality of communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Knight Foundation focuses on projects that promote community engagement and lead to transformational change. For more, visit www.knightfoundation.org.

The Bas Fisher Invitational is generously supported, in part, by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Another Harlan Speaks the truth

New images of the aftermath of assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr found.

Photo: Henry Groskinsky./Time & Life Pictures, Apr 04, 1968
Caption: Bill Campbell, alone on the motel balcony, gazing out into the night. "This photograph was probably made almost as soon as we got there, because there were a lot of people milling about in the dark, and then all of a sudden it cleared up. When I saw him standing there, alone, I thought to myself, 'Wow.' This isn't a posed picture. He's in deep pain, standing there by himself, as if asking, 'My God, what has happened here?'"

In an astonishing find, newly discovered historical photographs of the aftermath of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr have recently resurfaced and published on Life magazine's new online archive.

The iconic image below is all that used to represent the history of that day. Now there is a little more of what happened from another LIFE photographer. I'm taken with the mood of Groskinsky's night images, the solemn images of the Lorraine Motel a quiet meeting taking place inside while a lone motel worker does the dirty work and cleans up the blood of the fallen hero.

Dr. Martin Luther King assassination, Memphis,Tenn., April 4, 1968; Photograph by Joseph Louw

This revealing of history through photography is discussed in one of that many essays on the new The Smithsonian Photography Initiative website: click! Photography Changes Everything, which is amassing quite a strong collection of thought on photography. This particular essay, PHOTOGRAPHY CHANGES OUR PERSPECTIVE ON HISTORICAL EVENTS was written about the 1925 Tennessee v. John T. Scopes Trial.

Thomas Demand for The New York Times Sunday Magazine

Thomas Demand for The New York Times

In tomorrow's story in The New York Times MagazineAfter the Imperial Presidency by By JONATHAN MAHLER, the times commissioned Thomas Demand. The model sets he makes this time are surprisingly realistic when seen int he smaller magazine for as opposed to the large scale gallery wall or the fine are photography book. I enjoyed his execution very much and the article, which I will not get into, is worth the read as well.


Thomas Demand for The New York Times


Thomas Demand for The New York Times


Thomas Demand for The New York Times

Artist a Day

So, last Thursday I get an email from the publisher of the blog Artist A Day asking me for permission to be featured on his website. I was in the middle of a freelance job and I quickly looked at the blog. If you're not familiar with the blog, everyday the blog posts a new artist with two images from that artist followed by their bio and or statement and a link back to their website. And they allow their readers to rate each artist on a scale of one to five stars and post comments below the post. After seeing that few days before he contacted me, my friend Jen Stark was posted and was doing nicely in the site's ratings I gave them my blessing to post me (link). (maybe they got to my work from a link from her?)

Right after I gave them permission I got a little freaked out thinking back to my old rating/commenting experiences with someone posting me on metafilter and I was also thinking of Alec Soth's experiences with the dpreview lighting forums. But I didn't have much time to really think it over I had to get back to what I was working on so, I was hopeful this wouldn't lead down a bad road.

So, first of all I have to thank everyone for all the lovely comments. Its seems like their audience was the right one for this kind of thing. I have heard Metafilter and forums like dpreview have a different critical (?) audience.

Its also been fun to watch as the site seemingly goes through and posts new artist from my link section. First came Emiliano Granado then Amy Stein and then today Alec Soth!

So all this raises some questions for me that I haven't adequately answered. What does looking at artwork in the small format of the internet and then rating it to to art? it this progress? how does or doesn't this encourage critical discourse to allow for instant knee jerk ratings? What would happen if we were to give viewers rating meters when they browsed the MET or MoMA? Does art need a high popular rating to be critically good? In regard to this last question I am thinking no high popular ratings might kill good art. But then again I feel like lots of art would be considered good it its audience spent more time with it to understand it better.

Drunken Boat Finalist

I have been meaning to post this for a few weeks now. Dunken Boat is a Panliterary Awards web publication. They graciously included me in their last issue, issue #9. This Issue's Photo and Video categories were Judged by British artist David Hall.