Luigi Ghirri

NoteWorthy PhotoBooks, 2020

Written & Photographed by Kenn Sava

As it has been in all realms of life, 2020 has been an extraordinarily challenging year to be a book publisher, particularly a smaller one. Working with anyone- from your team, to the subject Artist, right through to the printers and binderies- all had to be done remotely for almost the whole year. Shipping between many countries has been off and on, and off again. (As I write this, shipping between Japan and the USA is still down.) Finally, bookstores around the world have been closed for much of the year. Somehow, a good number of books were published in 2020, though a good many previously announced titles have been pushed back. Under the best of circumstances, it’s not easy to get a PhotoBook published. So, I congratulate any and everyone who has published one this year. Bravo!

Antoine d’Agata, 17.03.2020 – 11.05.2020, page 158 from Virus, taken during the pandemic in Paris from March to May.

Since there’s no such thing as “best” in the Arts, I’ve opted to do a list of recommended “NoteWorthy” PhotoBooks the past 3 years. This year, due to the pandemic, I’ve seen fewer books than I had the past few years. Nonetheless, these books stood out for me among those I have seen, and I decided to do a list this year because I believe they would have been on it no matter how many more I had seen.

Josh Kern’s second PhotoBook, Love me, was released in 2020 and promptly sold out. In this spread from it the Photographer shows us his working notes. Along the top, it reads “There’s nothing that holds it together.” On the side, “Took a thousand pictures of this moment and not a single one is good.” This reminds me that as incredibly hard as it was to publish a book this year, the hardest parts of making a great PhotoBook happen long before it gets to be printed.

Most Photographers don’t have gallery representation, so, PhotoBooks are a primary means of reaching an audience for them. Without a dealer, they’ve taken on the job of building their own followings. Through diligence, a few of them even have upwards of 1 million followers on social media. For me, the accomplishments of these independent Artists is yet another indication that the gallery model is being bypassed by people who are not only creative Artistically. One example of how things are changing is young German Photographer Josh Kern, who I was among the very first in the US to discover last year. Josh did a Q&A with me as his first PhotoBook, Fuck me, was about to sell out of 1,100 copies. He has now sold out of 1,200 and 1,100 copies of his first two PhotoBooks respectively without help from Amazon, a gallery, or even a US book distributor. Remarkable for someone who was a 22 year old college student when he started, and another sign of where things are heading. 

As I’ve mentioned in the previous years I’ve done this list (2018 and 2019), reconciling publishing dates with the date books actually appear is a bit problematic. Some books published in 2019, even 2018, only reached stores here in 2020. I’ve seen a number of books listed as being scheduled to be published in 2020 that have not made an appearance in stores here yet. So, once again, I’m sticking to books I’ve actually seen become available in stores, or to purchase, this year.

NoteWorthy PhotoBooks, 2020
The All-Magnum Photos Edition

That’s right. Coincidentally, each of these books was created by a Member of Magnum Photos, the legendary world’s leading Photographer’s co-operative. If I were to recommend one book this year of all the books I saw, I’d be torn between these two-

Paolo Pellegrin: Un’antologia, Silvana Editoriale. Ok. It says “2018” on the colophon, but how many people here have seen this? D.A.P. listed it as being available in the USA in Fall, 2019. I didn’t see it until late January, 2020. Un’antologia may be the most well-done retrospective I have ever seen. Perhaps, I shouldn’t be surprised. It was designed by a team headed by Yolanda Cuomo, who has designed countless wonderful books, including Diane Arbus, Revelations, the finest book on Ms. Arbus I have seen. Gorgeously produced and extremely thorough, this 6 1/4 pound, 742 page hardcover with over 1,000 illustrations accompanied the show of the same name at the Deichtorhallen, Hamburg, from October, 2019 to March, 2020, and as a career Retrospective- so far (c. 1960 to date). Yes, it ran to March, 2020, so I’m also using that to qualify if for listing here. Page after page is nothing short of stunning to the point that it becomes necessary to remind yourself that you’re looking at the work of one man- and Mr. Pellegrin, 56, is still a relatively young man, with hopefully, decades of work ahead, not someone looking back on a career that’s winding down. Nonetheless, it makes an open and shut case for Mr. Pellegrin as one of the world’s most important Photographers, just in case you didn’t already know that, with a legacy that’s already monumental. There’s an English edition in 1,000 numbered copies, and an Italian edition also numbered to 1,000 copies. That’s all! Un’antologia is also a fitting testament to curator Germano Celant, who passed away this year. Early on, he said to Yolanda Cuomo, “This is not a book by Paolo. It is a book about Paolo,” Don’t wait much longer. 

Virus, rear cover.

Antoine d’Agata, Virus, Studio Vortex. I thought I was a bit prepared to see this from seeing a number of these images on Mr. d’Agata’s social media pages, but no. I was staggered when I first paged through this massive tome. Mr. d’Agata who lives with no fixed address, lived and worked out of the Magnum Paris offices while producing this work (while Paris was shutdown). He also spent “countless” days and nights staying over in treatment centers. Wait. HOW many people are going to accept an offer to go and watch a covid19 patient being treated? Umm. No, thanks. Antoine d’Agata, as you can see above, said “Yes.” “My object is to get photography back to requiring true commitment, to being a language that is unique by its potential subtlety and rawness,” he said1. “True commitment,” in spades. The work he created, which number 13,000 images in the two months, ranges from “normal” Photographs to many taken with a thermal camera, like the image above, which produces shots that reveal things a normal camera wouldn’t. The results are often “painterly,” but unlike any Paintings I have yet seen. Going in to 2020, Francis Bacon was the Painter Antoine d’Agata’s work most reminded me of. With Virus, he’s created his own world, a world we’ve all lived in, alone together. The only other PhotoBook that came to my mind when thinking about Virus is Aftermath, Joel Meyerowitz’ equally massive look at Ground Zero after 9/11. Both Photographers had unique access. Both have succeeded in creating the most remarkable, historic and valuable documents of these horrific events. In the midst of the horrors the world has seen and continues to see during the pandemic, if I may say this, Virus also strikes me as also being a work of Art. There are images of medical professionals treating patients that have no less than a Pieta like feel to them. Just unforgettable. I look forward to the day when I can look through Virus and focus on its Painterly aspects and its qualities as a work of Art, and hope I get to see it. Virus’ 825 pages includes text by Mathilde Girard I admire quite a bit. There are just 325 copies of the English edition. As my co-most highly recommended PhotoBook of 2020, Virus is a staggering accomplishment.

There are two other books by Magnum Photos Photographers that especially stood out for me this year-

Gregory Halpern, Let the Sun Beheaded Be, Aperture. Ho hum…another year, another terrific Gregory Halpern book on this list. Let the Sun joins Confederate Moons and Omaha Sketchbook on this list in the three years I’ve been making one. I find all of his books have remarkable staying power. Meaning that the images linger in my mind long after I’ve closed the cover. That’s every bit the case with Let the Sun, which has more layers to it than it has pages (120), meaning different things are going to jump out to you with each perusing. Then there’s the remarkably intimate Conversation between Mr. Halpern and Stanley Wolokau-Wanambwa. Any place outside of NYC is foreign to me, but Guadeloupe is exceedingly hard for me to imagine. Yet, the shared history with slavery makes Guadeloupe not all THAT foreign and its unique experience with it makes it even more haunting. Somewhat quietly, Mr. Halpern continues to build a remarkably strong body of portraits, more of which lie at the heart of Let the Sun Beheaded Be. Remarkable when you consider the Photographer is not fluent in French and he communicates with his subjects before Photographing them.

Yael Martinez, La Casa sue Sangra (The House that Bleeds), KWY Ediciones. A 2020 Magnum Nominee, his work looks like no one else’s. He seems to have a unique way of getting inside the skin of those he portrays, his Photographs are so intimate. Of La Casa, Mr. Martinez says, “‘A people without memory is condemned to repeat their mistakes.’ Guerrero is one of the Mexican States that have been most affected by organized crime; It is the second poorest and most violent state in the country. I am thus trying to depict the situation which many families in this region face, which they live through daily, and which is one of the causes of the unraveling of Mexico’s social fabric.” La Casa focuses on the forced absence of beloved family members, each image with an overriding darkness and use of color that are both intimate and epic. His Photos bring you right there, capturing moments that often border on the magical. A house that bleeds could be a family or a community, he has said. He began with his family, before eventually expanding the project to include other family around Guerrero. The classic work of the Farm Security Administration Photographers, including Dorothea Lange (see below), came to my mind as a possible influence (though Mr. Martinez shoots in color). Printed in an edition of 1,000 copies, and still in print as far as I can tell, I spent most of 2020 seeking a copy of La Casa. Another marvelously unique Artist and powerful voice for Magnum Photos.

I don’t know how they do it, but year after year Magnum continues to find extraordinary Photographers to add to a roster that makes me ask the impossible to answer question- Is this THE greatest Magnum Photos Roster ever? Until I ask the same question, again the very next year. 

Other NoteWorthy PhotoBooks of the Year, 2020

Gordon Parks: The Atmosphere of Crime, 1957, and Gordon Parks X Muhammad Ali, both Steidl. Sadly, Gordon Parks left us in 2006, but his Foundation has been doing a strong job of keeping his legacy alive with shows (here in NYC at Jack Shainman Gallery), and a superb series of books published by Steidl. On the heels of the essential Gordon Parks Collected Works, (Steidl’s site says it’s Out of Print- you can still find it if you hurry), 2020 brought us The Atmosphere of Crime, 1957, and Gordon Parks X Muhammad Ali. Atmosphere seemed to strike a nerve with buyers when it came out, and garnered more attention, while GP X Ali benefits to no end of the close connection the two shared.

Atmosphere includes the original LIFE articles, like this one from September 9, 1957, and images never before seen.

Atmosphere of Crime is a brilliant look at the true complex nature of crime flying in the face of the mainstream media’s stereotypes, showing completely other sides to the American public with frankness and empathy. Unlike the work of Weegee, or even most of Gordon Parks’ prior Photographs, these are in color, which adds another dimension to both the you-are-there realism and the Artfulness of his timeless work. Powerful, raw, cinematic, Atmosphere paints a remarkably broad picture of the realities of crime in 90 images over 120 pages. It’s gives me the feeling of seeing a 1950s film noire in color. Of course, Mr. Parks later directed the classic Shaft in 1971- only 15 years later. It’s revealing to compare the two. Not to be missed.

One of the most important historical, and creative, records of The Greatest of All Time, Gordon Parks X Muhammad Ali, is centered around 2 assignments Mr. Parks was on to shoot The Champ in 1966 and 1970 for LIFE Magazine. The book is characterized by an intimacy that shows Ali in unguarded moments that are often incredibly poignant. While others, including Thomas Hoepker, have given us classic images of Muhammad Ali, Godon Parks’ stand out for me because they cut right to the heart of the man, which remains here, larger than life for all time.

Reproduction of the original opening spread of the 1966 LIFE article, with text also by Gordon Parks. The full articles are reproduced in both of these Gordon Parks books.

Gordon Parks Photographed The Champ at 2 key points in his life. First, in 1966, amid intense controversy over his becoming a Black Muslim, changing his name to Muhammad Ali, and being a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War. The resulting landmark LIFE Magazine article “The Redemption of the Champion,” also written by Gordon Parks, helped the public see the truth. I remember seeing it in a barbershop waiting for a haircut as a kid. The oversized magazine created a larger than life effect that cut right through all the noise. I believe the article helped start Muhammad Ali on the road to being the icon he remained for the rest of his life. 

Both are the multi-talented Gordon Parks near his considerable Photographic peak. Both speak for themself. Both will live on in your mind, indelibly. A show titled Gordon Parks X Muhammad Ali is scheduled to open at the Nelson-Atkins Museum in 2021. In 2020, I found it impossible to choose one between Atmosphere of Crime and Gordon Parks X Muhammad Ali. Good luck if you try to.

Ernst Haas: New York In Color, 1952-62, Prestel. During my now 4 year deep dive into post-Robert Frank’s The Americans Photography and PhotoBooks, I focused on exploring the history of early color Photography. I soon discovered that William Eggleston was NOT the first Photographer to have a solo show at MoMA. It was Ernst Haas, who’s Ernst Haas: Color Photography opened August 21st, 1962. FOURTEEN YEARS before Photographs by William Eggleston opened there on May 24, 1976. Mr. Haas’ estate has worked with Prestel to publish the wonderful Ernst Haas: New York In Color, 1952-62, which now serves to put Mr. Haas’ work into the same discussion with another legend of earlier color Photography- Saul Leiter, who’s color work in NYC, in the same period, has been held in unique esteem. Mr. Haas’ admirers already treasure Steidl’s classic Ernst Haas: Color Correction, which is to be reprinted.

Ernst Haas, NYC, 1952(!) Move over, Saul Leiter, and tell William Eggleston and Stephen Shore the news…

With the release of Ernst Haas: New York In Color, 1952-62, Mr. Haas goes toe to toe with Mr. Leiter on his own turf, in his own time! Lovers of Photography are the winners. NYC is plenty big enough for both of them. I recommend this book to anyone who loves Mr. Leiter’s Early Color, which I consider an essential PhotoBook of this century, as much as I do.

John Gossage: The Nicknames of Citizens, Steidl. The latest in the renowned Photographer’s “loving yet critical, generous yet ironic vision of America,” to quote the publisher, it follows Jack Wilson’s Waltz, published in 11/2019, Should Nature Change, 8/2019, and precedes I Love You So Much!!!!!!!!, forthcoming, all from Steidl. Picking up any one of these books is like taking one from a box of chocolates. Once you sample the poetry of Mr. Gossage’s images, you’re more than likely going to want to devour the others in the series. I’ve been so focused on exploring the history of color Photography these past 3 years that I was slow on the intake of this series. Nicknames is the first one I’ve gotten and I was immediately captivated by Mr. Gossage’s vision, and as Magnum Photographer Martin Parr said about another John Gossage/Steidl book he witnessed being created, Looking up Ben James- A Fable, “I am amazed that the collective vision of this volume is so familiar, but entirely alien. It restores my faith in photography to know that a mature and original photographer like John Gossage can see the things I just did not notice.” As I perused these books, another series on America came to mind- that of English Magnum Photos Photographer Mark Power’s, Good Morning, America. Mr. Power’s is in color and doesn’t include portraits per se, but the two ongoing series are fascinating to look at together, given one thing they do share- they both look at America during a similar time frame.

 

Luigi Ghirri, Cardboard Landscapes (Paesagge di cartone), Museum of Modern Art. This book was a gift from Luigi Ghirri to legendary MoMA Director of Photography, John Szarkowski, in 1975. It languished forgotten in the MoMA collection for decades until being recently rediscovered. Now reproduced faithfully for book lovers, it makes a stunning impression. Here, we get the full range of Luigi Ghirri’s considerable gifts, along with his gift of sequencing. The result is a breath of fresh air. The first half of the book is quite humorous. We sense the Artist’s personality shining through. The rest retains a bit of the feel of his recently ended career as a surveyor. In the end, it’s a book that is a serious work of Art that doesn’t take itself oppressively seriously. Still, it’s hard for me to look through it and not see a bit of the roots of Artists as diverse as Maurizio Cattelan, Stephen Shore, Richard Prince and Erik Kessels. Such is the net effect that, even though the Ghirri bibliography has exploded the past few years with some fine titles, Cardboard Landscapes gives us yet another entirely different side of this remarkable Artist.

Dorothea Lange, Words & Pictures, Museum of Modern Art. “All photographs—not only those that are so called ‘documentary’…can be fortified by words2, Dorothea Lange said. Elsewhere she said, “Am working on the captions. This is not a simple clerical matter, but a process…They are connective tissue, and in explaining the function of the captions, as I am doing now, I believe we are extending our medium,” in a note that reveals the importance of captions (and words) in seeing her work. It’s so rare to gain major insights into major Artist who passed away 55 years ago, but that’s exactly what the show this book accompanied did. “Dorothea Lange, Words & Pictures, which opened barely a month before the NYC pandemic shutdown added a completely new dimension to our appreciation of the work of Dorothea Lange by focusing on the role her words play in their understanding. It lives on in this exceptional book that is a joy to look at as well as to read. In many shows where words play a part, they’re often hard to read due to glare on the glass and the numbers of other viewers.

Dorothea Lange, Words & Pictures, Installation view, MoMA Photo.

The open book seen in the lower center wall latrine above as reproduced in Words & Pictures.

Here, you can read them clearly without distraction, glare or others looking over your shoulder, while seeing Ms. Lange’s classic images in gorgeous reproductions printed on 150gsm Arctic Volume Ivory, which makes the book better, in some ways, than seeing the actual show! Also, among the essays is one by the legendary Sally Mann. Along with whatever other books you have on Dorothea Lange, like the excellent Dorothea Lange: The Politics of Seeing, this one is essential.

Roy DeCarava: the sound i saw, David Zwirner Books. Roy DeCarava has been in eclipse since his passing in 2009, just short of his 90th birthday. Due to his estate’s new relationship with Zwirner his work has returned to view in force, both in shows and in books. The classic The Sweet Flypaper of Life (with Langston Hughes) was finally reissued in 2018, and 2019 saw the rerelease of another out of print Roy DeCarava classic- the sound i saw, this time in a luxurious oversized edition which pairs his poetry with many classic images. Growing up studying Jazz through Lps, I wasn’t familiar with Mr. DeCarava’s work as I was with, say, Alfred Lion’s for Blue Note. The difference I see between Mr. DeCarava’s Jazz images and everyone else’s is that I can tell he knew his subjects personally. These images ooze personal connection, and that’s very rare in Jazz in this period. No. It’s uneqelled. I don’t know why more of his amazing images didn’t make it on to record covers, but here many of them are over 208 pages in this 5 pound collection, in addition to others that set the mood. If you love Music, and especially if you love Jazz, this is an essential book that features exceptional, intimate images of legends Mr. DeCarava well knew, including important images of John Coltrane, and Billie Holiday (seen smiling!), Ornette Coleman and Duke Ellington, among others. It is the finest book of Jazz Photography I have ever seen.

NoteWorthy PhotoBook Publisher of the Year, 2020

From Remember the South by Frank Frances, one of the first three auspicious releases on Kris Graves’ new Monolith Edition imprint.

Kris Graves Projects & Monolith Editions. I can’t imagine how hard it was, and is, to produce and sell books in 2020. In addition to the obstacles I listed near the beginning of this piece, once you get the physical books printed and in your hands, all the bookstores were closed for much of this year. And then customers, including this one, have been slow to return to indoor shopping. Yet, through the pandemic, the lockdowns and quarantines that are still going on around the world, book publishers have tried to maintain a sense of “business as usual.” For all of them- big and small, this must have been quite challenging. I’m sure we’ve lost a good many of them already. Yet, Artist-run, Kris Graves Projects has not only carried on, they’ve released a steady string of impressive titles, 18 in 2020, including the third set of LOST, with their usual high quality, and at popular prices. Kris Graves also debuted Monolith Editions this year, dedicated to publishing the work of BIPOC Artists, with three auspicious releases. I reached out to Mr. Graves trying to gain some insight on just how he’s done ALL of it during the hardest year of almost all of our lives. He said-

“This year allowed me to be home more than any other in recent memory, so I worked on making content and working with artists. I wanted to make less books this year but I guess I can’t stop myself. Only four of the books were ideas during the covid times, everything else was in the works. Also, with my photoshoot income diminished, I had to find ways to make some profit on books. I also had more time to let people know the books exist.”

From @themaniwasnt

18 books in 2020 would have been a large output for ANY PhotoBook publisher, but he didn’t stop there. Kris Graves, himself, has created an exceptional, and exceptionally powerful, body of work in 2020, the result of incessant travels around the country, going to sites of monuments and protests, putting himself at considerable risk. It’s a body of work that captures the moment and will, I believe, be historically important. Though not yet published in PhotoBook form, some of this work may be seen on his Instagram feed, @themaniwasnt, and in National Geographic, January & February, 2021. About it, he said-

“As far as my own work, I have done about 30 days of traveling on National Geographic’s watch and dime, so that helped me make a ton of personal work. Without those trips I would not have shown much new work this year. Although, I now have four seasons of Cape Cod imagery and that is becoming a project now. I think that artists need to keep shooting until some magic occurs. If this winter is mild, I will take a bunch of bike rides around Queens to make some new images here also.”
It speaks volumes that at a time when many are stuck, stopped, or done, Kris Graves has not only maintained, he has continued to move forward- on multiple fronts, and produce important work, himself, along the way. 

Finally, this year I’m also listing some NoteWorthy Art Books for the first time. Stay tuned.

Addendum-

Two books I saw late in 2020 were subsequently added to my list, per my Instagram account, @nighthawk_nyc-

Justine Kurland, Girl Pictures, Aperture. My text reads- “Two 2020 PhotoBooks I was late in seeing must be appended to my NoteWorthy PhotoBooks piece for the year. First, is the amazing Girl Pictures by @justine4good, Justine Kurland. Fresh, exciting, challenging, unique, and endlessly mysterious, particularly for this male outsider, it’s not to be missed, especially while it’s not yet sold out and out of print.
It’s kind of amazing it took 20 years for this work to be published as a body. But, here it is and it’s a classic that’s bound to influence generations to come.”

Tyler Mitchell, I Can Make You Feel Good, Prestel. My text reads- “The second of the two 2020 PhotoBooks I was late in seeing that must be appended to my NoteWorthy PhotoBooks piece for the year, Linked in Profile, is Tyler Mitchell’s I Can Make You Feel Good. That’s exactly what his first PhotoBook does. Filled with joy, it’s also filled with remarkable, fresh Photography that runs the gamut from fashion, to documentary, and portraits all serving his vision/dream of a “Black utopia,” aided by the book’s generous 9 1/2 by 12 1/2 inch size. It’s another book, like Girl Pictures just posted, that blurs the line between real and fiction, but isn’t that what dreams do?
An auspicious and important debut PhotoBook as is ANY book that can make us feel good in times like these.” (It should be noted that this is Mr. Tyler’s first PhotoBook for a major publisher. He previously self-published a book. )

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*-Soundtrack for this Post is “Every Day Is A Miracle” by David Byrne, from American Utopia now a terrific concert film directed by Spike Lee.

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  1. Magnum Photos profile ↩
  2. The full quote reads, “All photographs- not only those that are so-called ‘documentary’, and every photograph really is documentary and belongs in some place, has a place in history- can be fortified by words.” Dorothea Lange, Words & Pictures, p. 12. ↩

At The Photography Show, 2019: The PhotoBook Publishers

Written & Photographed by Kenn Sava

PhotoBooks are a phenomenom.

The twin “holy grails” of American PhotoBooks. Signed first edition copies of Walker Evans’s American Photographs and Robert Frank’s The Americans. I knelt in silent homage for a few moments to center myself before venturing into the rest of the PhotoBook area. Seen at Harper’s Books. Many editions later? Both books are still in print.

As documented by Gerry Badger’s and Martin Parr in their The PhotoBook: A History (three volumes), or Andrew Roth in his The Book of 101 Books, a truly great PhotoBook is akin to a great album (Lp or CD), a great Film, even a great Novel. It took Walker Evans’ American Photographs, 1938, and then Robert Frank’s The Americans (published in France in 1958, the USA in 1959) to realize and reveal to many, particularly to other Photographers,  the infinite possibilities of the PhotoBook at its finest1, to turn it into a medium of expression, an Artform in itself. Echoes of their work reverberated throughout the Publishers and Organizations area of AIPAD.

Since Mr. Frank’s The Americans,  the PhotoBook has seemed to increasingly strike a chord in Photographers, book buyers, lovers of Photography and even the general public, to the point that most big bookstores now have a Photography/PhotoBook section that may even rival their Art section. There are stores that carry nothing but PhotoBooks here and dotted all over the world (I have bought from many of them). In an age when digital media seems to be usurping and replacing everything that’s come before, not one major PhotoBook publisher has abandoned physical books (and only a few also release eBooks)!

I love the smell of freshly printed PhotoBooks in the late afternoon. A view of the popular Publishers and Photo Organizations section of AIPAD, in its new location. Renowned indie TBW Books’ table is closest to my camera.

There’s some debate about whether Photographs are seen better on the walls of galleries and museums or in a PhotoBook. Interestingly, during his conversation at Sean Kelly on April 4th (while AIPAD was going on), Alec Soth referred to there being “book Photographers and wall Photographers.” He then said that he sees himself as a “book Photographer.”

“Book Photographer” Alec Soth’s show I know How Furiously Your Heart Is Beating of work from his new book of the same name seen up on the walls of Sean Kelly Galley. simultaneously with AIPAD, about 20 blocks south.

At AIPAD, you could walk through the galleries and then look through some PhotoBooks by many of the same Photographers to decide which you prefer for yourself. (By the way, Part 1 of my AIPAD coverage, focusing on the galleries, may be seen following this part, or here.) I see points on both sides and so I haven’t made up my mind. (Do I have to?) However, I will point out one thing that doesn’t help- as you can see in virtually every piece I’ve done on a Photography show, glare is a continual problem in both museums and galleries. What’s not debatable is that PhotoBooks provide countless Photographers a way to have their work seen- and for most of them, it’s the ONLY way their work will be seen. Getting gallery representation is a dream for many Photographers I’ve spoken to the past 2 years. It reminds me of my days in Music, when most Musicians I knew dreamt of getting a record deal. The few who did wound up in debt from having to pay back all monies spent on their behalf by the record company when their records failed to sell as many copies as they’d also dreamed. Be careful what you wish for might have been the takeaway from that experience. Later, as an independent record producer, I found myself in a position not unlike that of many of the PhotoBook publishers I meet and saw at AIPAD- independents who own and run businesses which require the laying out of sizable sums of money on their part to produce a book, who then work hard to sell it in hopes of breaking even and being able to make their next book. And yes, “breaking even” is the term I heard most often from those involved when the subject turned to the economics of publishing.

The Publishers were moved behind the galleries this year.

The big news this year for this group was their repositioning. Last year, they were in the front of the southern side of Pier 94. This year, they were in the back, directly behind the galleries and in front of a food section and seating. This meant you had to walk through the galleries to get to the book section.  It allowed for more space around each table, which made it easier for visitors to peruse the items on the tables. I asked a good number of the publishers how they felt about the change and the new location and the consensus was mixed.

Aperture’s booth was run by Director of Sales and Marketing Kellie McLaughlin, left, who was on hand for the entire show, while her terrific show, Aperture Photographs, tracing 50 years of Aperture’s print program, was up in their 27th Street gallery, a mecca in NYC Photography.

Straddling the line, in more ways than one, between the galleries, the publishers, as well as Photographers, was the legendary Aperture Foundation, founded in 1952, one of the most important and respected Photography organizations in the world. They provide support to Photographers in all phases of their careers, which extends into their gallery careers. For these reasons, Aperture’s presence at AIPAD is essential, in my view. They were back and their booth was located between the gallery and publisher areas, featuring books, prints and special editions, with their Director of Sales and Marketing, Kellie McLaughlin on hand all five days. If you have any PhotoBooks in your space, the odds are high you have at least one Aperture book among them.

Lesley A. Martin, right, one of the most well-known editors in Photography hosts Aperture’s popular PhotoBook Spotlight.

Meanwhile, Aperture’s Lesley A. Martin, the well known editor and publisher of the PhotoBook Review, hosted the popular PhotoBook Spotlight in the adjoining space.

Light Work packs em in.

Near Aperture was Light Work, from Syracuse, NY, another important Photo organization who boasts a staggering list of the Photographers who have done residences at the non-profit since 1973 that includes Cindy Sherman, Magnum Photo’s Matt Black and Gregory Halpern, Anthony Hernandez, Deana Lawson, Christian Patterson, Lucas Foglia, Carrie Mae Weems, and the “star” of AIPAD, 2019, Dawoud Bey, among hundreds of others.

10×10 PhotoBooks is another non-profit dedicated to fostering engagement with and among the global PhotoBook community. They also publish fine books of their own, including 10×10 Japanese PhotoBooks, which I have my eye on.

While non-profits Aperture and Light Work both featured books and prints, among the businesses, perhaps no presenter attending this year’s AIPAD straddled the line between gallery and publisher more evenly than Only-photography, of Berlin, Germany, run by Roland Angst.

Only-photography’s Roland Angst, to the right of center, in his firm’s booth surrounded by classic Photographs and state of the art books, right.

In the gallery section, where Only-photography was situated, Mr. Angst’s firm showed off a terrific range of first rate, even historic, PhotoBooks, AND a stunning selection of original prints by the likes of Luigi Ghirri(!), and rare, vintage portfolios by Daido Moriyama and Issei Suda, who, sadly, passed away barely a month earlier, on March 7th, 2019, one month short of his 80th birthday.

The real deal. These original, signed prints by Luigi Ghirri which stopped me in my tracks at Only-photography, were among the highlights of the entire show.

Only-photography is the only publisher known to me who have signed & numbered copies of books by Ray K. Metzker, who passed away in 2014, and Mr. Suda still available (Hurry!). At AIPAD, they debuted their newest book, the beautiful America Revisited, by the esteemed Swedish Photographer Gerry Johansson, in a signed & limited edition of 500 copies.

Roland Angst, left, shows Ray K. Metzker Unknown to legendary gallerist, Laurence Miller, Mr. Metzker’s friend, dealer for two decades, and one the leading authorities on the work of Ray K. Metzker.

Mr. Angst also proudly showed off his new Ray K. Metzker Unknown, released in 333 numbered copies containing images selected by Mr. Angst that appeared to be moving briskly. (My recent look at Ray K. Metzker at Howard Greenberg Gallery is here.)

A wall of Only-photography’s exceedingly collectible books includes titles that are already rising in price.

All the other publishers were in the Publishers and Photo Organizations section.

34 publishers or organizations were on hand this year, down slightly from last year, but that was impossible to tell without a head count as the new space around each table made the area, in total, feel very big. The main complaint I heard were from those with tables near the back of this space, feeling that they received less visitors than those closer to the front, though steady traffic headed to the back to the food area right behind.

The back row of the PhotoBook area.

I witnessed the back tables being “less busy” repeatedly over the 5 days I was there. However, MACK Books was positioned near the back row and their space was continually busy. Then again? For my money, MACK’s recent offerings may be pushing the company to #1 in the world right now. (At least among those books that continually, actually, get released in the USA.) Apparently, a good many others agree, and made a point of stopping by their table. They were rewarded with surprises! Shockingly, among the recent releases on display were copies of Per Strada by Guido Guidi and The Castle by Richard Mosse, both sold out and currently commanding 200% markups on the aftermarket. Also tucked in the display were two out of print books by Alec Soth, including a SEALED COPY of the extremely rare Open Manual, the first time I’ve seen a copy in person. (MACK’s asking price? US$2,000.00. Their copy does not include the hollowed out old book),.

Look! It’s an extremely rare copy of Alec Soth’s classic Broken Manual hiding between copies of the also out of print Gathered Leaves, at MACK.

Right next to it were two copies of his wonderful compilation Gathered Leaves, which has been out of print a few years now. MACK super-staffer Morgan Crowcroft-Brown smiled when she replied to my shock saying they were from “MACK’s secret vault,” and smiled, again, when I asked if I could visit it. The two vintage Alec Soth titles were right next to signed copies of Mr. Soth’s brand new MACK release, I Know How Furiously Your Heart Is Beating, all of which had disappeared the very next time I looked.

Chris Pichler, founder and publisher of the renowned Nazraeli Press, one of the leading independent publishers since 1989 was on hand to meet customers and answer enquiries.

Due to the finances involved, most PhotoBooks are printed in very small editions- 1,000 copies of any given book is a lot, and most books printed in editions of that size and larger are left to the bigger publishers, who have the best distribution, to produce. Smaller companies may make 300-500 copies of a book (often less), quickly sell out of it and immediately move on to their next project. You have to be quick if you want to get one of these, and AIPAD is part of a network of book fairs around the world during the year that provide a primary means of keeping up to date with the latest releases. For NYC, the Publishers and Photo Organizations section of AIPAD is the best opportunity all year long in the City to see the largest number of PhotoBook publishers and their wares in one place2

“These guys,” the gent belonging to the arm on the right was saying as I shot this picture of Satoshi, left, and Takashi, of Akio Nagasawa, one of the leading contemporary Japanese Photobook publishers who have a longstanding, close relationship with the legendary Daido Moriyama, among many others.

Many familiar faces from the first two years of the publisher participation in AIAPD returned in 2019, led by big names Germany’s legendary Steidl, D.A.P., and MACK Books, London,  along with Damiani, Nazraeli Press and TBW Books, among the leading independents, renowned Japanese publisher Akio Nagasawa, as well as TIS Books, Yoffy Press, Minor Matters, Kris Graves Projects, Converyor Editions and Japan’s Super Labo. There was so much to see in the Book Dealers, Publishers, and Photography-Related Organizations, I spent about half of my time over my 5 days here, resulting in their own piece in my coverage of AIPAD, 2019.

Keep your eye on TIS Books. Co-Publishers & fine Artists in their own rights, Tim Carpenter, left and Nelson Chan, have gotten off to a most auspicious start, which includes books of their work and Rose Marie Cromwell’s El Libro Supremo De La Suerte, a sensation which made my NoteWorthy PhotoBooks, 2018 list . Both Messers Carpenter & Chan also have wonderful books in the new LOST II, seen below.

Any number of Photographers made appearances, once again, at publisher tables supporting and signing their recent and brand new releases. Along with that, company principles were actually on hand during some or all of the run of the show! These included Michael Mack of MACK Books, Michelle Dunn Marsh founder of Minor Matters, Paul Schiek and Lester Rosso, heads of TBW Books, Monika Condrea, Head of Business Development and Communications of Steidl, Nelson Chan and Tim Carpenter of TIS Books and Kris Graves of Kris Graves Projects, providing a unique opportunity to “talk to the boss,” make a pitch, get firsthand backstories, or give product feedback.

Karine Laval holds a freshly signed copy of her first PhotoBook, Poolscapes, which presents her decade long study of pools in the USA and Europe, revealing their abstract and representational possibilities in a uniquely difused, vibrant palette, and published by no less than Steidl on April 5th.

Among the Photographers I saw signing books in this area were Karine Laval, at Steidl, Marina Font at Minor Matters,  Louie Palu at Joffy Press, Jules Slutsky, Zun Lee, Nelson Chan, Tim Carpenter and Kris Graves signing their books from LOST II and Mikhail Mishin, signing Endless Bridge all at Kris Graves Projects. There were numerous signings at MACK and others at Steidl that I missed.

Carlo Brady of Photo-eye, Santa Fe, NM, who brought a very nice selection of both new and limited edition books, and also hosted book signings. They had a second booth where they showed prints by Reuben Wu.

Barbara Bosworth proudly signs her majestic new PhotoBook The Heavens at Photo-eye on April 6th. I was lucky to pick up a copy of her wonderful Moonlight, for Rosemary, which also features her ethereal skyscapes.

In a space with so many very good books to consider, a few new ones stood out to me. Among the especially NoteWorthy PhotoBooks I saw, the highlight for me was finally getting to see the actual, physical, 20 volumes of Kris Graves Projects LOST II, after having written about it at length while it was in production, the first time I’ve ever written about books I hadn’t actually seen.

THE highlight of the new PhotoBook releases at AIPAD, 2019 was the debut of LOST II, the 20 volume set(!) published by Kris Graves Projects, almost all of it is seen here, along with its spiffy slipcase.

Having called the set “monumental,” I uttered an audible sigh of relief when the actual books impressed me every bit as much as the previews I’d seen. At this point? I strongly feel it’s a landmark set for KGP, and I believe it’s going to be the most highly sought after publication KGP has yet released, one that will be trading for multiples of the $350.00 issue price in no time, given only 60 complete sets are being released. Also, if you are interested in the individual volumes? Fewer than 100 copies of each will be available, and after the five days of AIPAD AND the three days of the LA Art Book Fair the week after? I doubt many remain.

Publisher & Photographer Kris Graves proudly holds a slipcased complete set of the 20 volumes of LOST II. Get a good look at it now because with only 60 sets published? You will rarely see it in the future.

Joffy Press got my attention with two new and recent books by documentary Photographer and Filmmaker Louie Palu, Front Towards Enemy and A Field Guide to Asbestos, two of the most intense and important new books I saw at AIPAD. Both books also stood out for their unique conceptions and production. Mr. Palu was on hand over parts of 2 days to talk about his book and sign copies, and he cordially agreed to answer some questions for me about them. So, I’m thrilled to say that Mr. Palu will be featured in my AIPAD Discovery piece for 2019, along with an AIPAD Focus feature piece on Michelle Dunn Marsh, founder of Minor Matters publishing company, and the woman who curated the All Power: Visual Legacies if the Black Panther Party special exhibition at AIPAD in 2018! Ms. Marsh is a lady who has worn many hats in Photography and PhotoBook publishing over her 20+ year career and is one of those I continually look to for what’s new in Photography. I’ve been wanting to write about her for over a years, so I’m thrilled to be able to bring her to NHNYC readers shortly!

Among other NoteWorthy new releases I saw, TBW Books, Oakland, debuted the new book, Arena, by Jeff Mermelstein, a large book that documents the first 350 events taking place at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center and Steidl previewed the new collaboration by Teju Cole and Fazal Sheikh titled Human Archipelago.

Books were included in some of the gallery spaces, as I touched on in my gallery piece. Danny Lyon signed at Etherton Gallery’s booth and Ryan Vizzions signed his new book, NO SPIRITUAL SURRENDER- A Dedication to the Standing Rock Movement at Monroe Gallery. While Mr. Lyon’s books are well known to PhotoBook lovers, I will mention, again, that Ryan Vizzions’ book is particularly NoteWorthy and one to be sought out while copies are available. In his book, Mr. Vizzions Photos are paired with texts written by 6 women of the Oceti Sakowin, who were the first organizers of the movement, adding a depth that no writer who wasn’t there could achieve.

Once again, the Publishers and Photo Organizations section of AIPAD proved to be a must-see section for all the reasons I’ve touched on. Beyond the extremely varied and essential work the Organizations do, PhotoBooks provide an essential compliment to and extension of the galleries, (some of who are involved in the publication of catalogues and monographs on the Photographers they represent and show), enhancing and adding to the images hanging on their walls. When you add in all the other Photographers who don’t currently have gallery representation that appear in PhotoBooks, they also serve to complete a picture of what’s going on in Modern & Contemporary Photography today.

Therefore, the gallery section and the Publishers and Photo Organizations sections of AIPAD work together in ways that, it seems to me, benefits both of them.

*- Soundtrack for this Post is “Photograph” by Ed Sheehan.

As I did in 2017 and 2018, I’m pleased to present extensive coverage of The Photography Show, 2019, aka AIPAD. This is part 2 of my coverage of the 2019 show. Part 1, which focuses on the galleries, is here. Two to three more parts are coming. Stay tuned!

My thanks to all the Photographers, publishers and galleries who appear in this Post, and to Monika Condrea and Margery Newman for their assistance. 

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  1. Yes, as Messers Badger, Parr and Roth point out there are other Americans as well as Photographers in other countries who have made PhotoBooks of the highest quality and importance. ↩
  2. Printed Matter’s MoMA PS1 NY Art Book Fair is bigger but it is exactly that- it includes Art Books of all kinds, of which PhotoBooks are a relatively small part. ↩

NoteWorthy PhotoBooks, 2018

Written & Photographed by Kenn Sava (*except as credited)

Let’s go book shopping! As I list PhotoBooks I consider NoteWorthy, let’s remember the Bookstores that are still left where you can actually see these books. The Strand Bookstore, NYC, is one of those I frequent. I hope there is at least one near you. Click any Photo for full size.

Another day. Another chance to look at PhotoBooks, to see life, and the world, through someone else’s eyes, to learn something and just maybe have a revelation. I look at A LOT of PhotoBooks (and Art Books). Nary a day passes that I don’t see one/some somewhere. In bookstores, used bookstores, museum stores, galleries, book fairs, pop-up shops, garage sales, online- you name it. Both, just released PhotoBooks and those I’ve only known through legend. I’m getting close to eating, sleeping and breathing Photo & ArtBooks. Why? I use them to research my pieces, to learn about Artists known & unknown to me, and to explore that fascinating phenomenon that is the PhotoBook- which, in its ultimate form, is a work of Art unto itself. A third of those I see I never look at, or think about, a second time. About 40% I do either look at again or think about again. And, far too many of them I purchase. (For the record- Yes, I’ve put my money where my mouth is. I bought every book on this list.)

MoMA PS1, Long Island City, scene of the recent New York Art Book Fair. In case you don’t know, there’s a quite good full time Art & PhotoBook store tucked inside, in addition to the excellent magazine shop off the lobby, right behind that grey wall to the right.

So, after all of this looking, I’ve decided to share a few of those here that have turned out to be especially memorable, or “NoteWorthy,” as I’m fond of saying (There’s no such thing as “best” in the Arts, in my view. I don’t believe in comparing Artists or creative work). Compiling this has been very hard.

Depth of Field. The scene in just one of the many rooms at the New York Art Book Fair (NYABF) @ MoMA PS1, Long Island City, September 21, 2018. I handed my camera to Kris Graves who took this Photo with it from behind his table.

First, we live at a moment when there are more PhotoBooks being produced than ever before. It seems there are an incalculable number of publishers and Artists creating books at a speed I doubt anyone can keep up with. So, as many PhotoBooks as I look at represents only a small percent of those released. Hey, I really tried!

William Eggleston: Black & White. The cover image shown on pages 82-3 of Steidl’s Fall/Winter 2017/2018 Catalogue. I was very much looking forward to seeing what revelations this might hold  in 2018 after the showing of Eggleston’s black & white work at The Met a few months back. Where are you? Phone home. *Steidl Photo. 

Another thing is a bit complicated. Publication dates have become hard to figure. Some of the bigger PhotoBook publishers announce books and show them in their catalogs up to one year before they ever show up in stores here (physical bookstores). The brand new hardcover version of Steidl’s Fall/Winter 2018/19 catalogue now even contains a section featuring “Previously Announced” Books (i.e. books originally scheduled to have been out this year)! Some “Previously Announced” books never do show up (Steidl now completely omits the “Previously Announced” William Eggleston: Black and White. ?). And then, a book that appears as a newly released book in a bookstore here may have come out to the rest of the world in 2016 or 2017. How to treat those books? Do they “count” as eligible for 2018 lists? After mulling this over the past few months, I’ve decided to give lesser priority to publication dates and go by when I first saw the book appear in stores. So, one or two of these may have been released over the past few years, though most of them say “2018” in them. For me, the date of the book isn’t as important as the impact its had on me. That’s my criteria. Maybe, you’ll agree, maybe you won’t. Either way, I encourage you to make your own list.

The Rare Book Room at Strand Bookstore. How many books released this year will end up here?

Ok. With all of that out of the way, here they are, listed in no particular order, in a special edition of my regular BookMarks feature. (First, a special note-If you like what you find on NighthawkNYC, I hope you’ll consider supporting it so that I can continue to spend the countless hours and pay the expenses its taken to keep it going these past 3 years- without running ads. If you would like to, you can make a donation through PayPal by clicking on the box to the right of the banner at the top of the page that will take you to the Donation button. Your support is VERY much appreciated.)

***NoteWorthy PhotoBooks, 2018***

How do they do it? Teamwork. Lester Rosso, left with Paul Schiek, the creative masterminds behind TBW Books, and in front of their sign, reveal one of the secrets of their magic that, it seems to me, a number of others are now trying to emulate. Good Luck with that! Their secret? They consistently make excellent books with top Artists. NYABF, September 21, 2018.

-Gregory Halpern, Confederate Moons with Jason Fulford’s Clayton’s Ascent, Viviane Sassen’s Heliotrope and Guido Guidi’s Dietro Casa, part of TBW’s excellent Annual Series 6. If I were to recommend one new book this year, Gregory Halpern’s would be it. When I look at it, I see a frozen moment in life in America, 2017, seen in the shadows of the solar eclipse, an instant when nature reminds us that everything we stress out about or fight about pales alongside the power IT holds. My look at Confederate Moons is here. 

Gregory Halpern, left with the beard and the glasses, and Jason Fulford, right, in the green striped shorts, authored two of the four volumes in this year’s TBW Annual Series here sign them at TBW’s booth, NYABF, September 21, 2018. PhotoBook Business 102- You know you’re doing something right when Artists like these two want to work with you. Mr. Fulford has his own respected publishing house, J&L Books. Mr. Halpern, the 2016 Paris Photo-Aperture PhotoBook of the Year Award Winner, is fresh off his nomination to join Magnum Photos.

–Diane Arbus: A box of ten photographs, Aperture. The only portfolio Diane Arbus produced during her lifetime is beautifully reproduced from the only set in a public collection, which happens to be the only one with 11, not 10, Photographs. This is one of the books that will be essential for anyone interested in Diane Arbus henceforth. Aperture says “it will never be reprinted.” Nuff said.

Instant classic. Diane Arbus: A box of 10 photographs. Seen at Aperture Gallery & Bookstore, an NYC Photo mecca.

-Harry Gruyaert, Harry Gruyaert (Retrospective with the red cover), and Harry Gruyaert: East/Westboth Thames and Hudson- Two books that solidify the Belgian-born Photographer’s place alongside the better-known “early masters of modern & contemporary color Art Photography,” including Eggleston, Stephen Shore, Saul Leiter, et al. (A term that puzzles me since color in fine Art Photography can be traced back to, at least, Sarah Angelina Ackland, circa 1900). More on both books in my recent conversation with Harry Gruyaert, here.

One of the irreplaceable things about physical book stores are its people, like Miwa Susuda of Dashwood Books, seen here. Miwa is, also, a writer and a PhotoBook publisher with her Session Press. In 2017, Session Press and Dashwood Books released the fine Blue Period / Last Summer by the legendary Japanese Photographer, Nobuyoshi Araki, a copy of which she holds. Seen at Dashwood on October 24, 2018.

-Cristina de Middel– The Perfect Man. Cristina de Middel is an Artist who should win an MTV Video Vanguard award. Huh? What I mean is that I can think of no other Photographer who’s books are consistently pushing the boundaries of what a PhotoBook is and can be. This is just the latest in her series of compelling books, most of which are built around subjects that only the most imaginative would say “There’s a PhotoBook in this!” While that certainly wins her major points in my book, if she wasn’t, also, a world class Photographer, she would just be a curiosity. She is. But, you don’t have to take my word for it- Magnum Photos nominated her to join the world’s leading Photographic collective in 2017. The Perfect Man starts with looking at the largest Charlie Chaplin impersonator festival (with many of its subject posed in scenes reminiscent of Mr. Chaplin’s immortal “Modern Times”), and winds up being a broad look at Indian masculinity, and then a look at social customs Indian women are faced with interacting with them. It’s another book that surprises, and another book, like her classic The Afronauts1, that shows the new and old worlds colliding at full speed in unexpected ways.

Kris Graves holding the contents of LOST, which comes as a set in the spiffy orange box with blue lettering under his hand at his +Kris Graves Projects booth at the NYABF, September 22, 2018. His newly released A Bleak Reality is seen in the foreground.

-Kris Graves, et al, LOST +Kris Graves Projects. A ground-breaking (sorry!) work in a number of ways. First, it’s a daring, TEN volume box set by a smaller publisher featuring the work of a number of established Artists (including Lois Conner and Lynn Saville) along side that of others who are on the way up (like Zora J. Murff, Joseph P. Traina and Owen Conway), each contributing a PhotoBook on a different city around the world. Second, typically for +KGP, the cost is quite reasonable, for both the individual books or the set. And last, taken as a whole it’s a stunning example of what a well-run, Artist-run publishing house can achieve. Did I mention that each component book stands, and stands out, on its own? Also in 2018, A Bleak Reality by Kris Graves from +KGP is a powerful look at 8 sites where young black men were murdered by police officers, a collection of his work that first brought Kris to my attention at AIPAD this past April, as I wrote about here.

Multi-talented Artist & Gnomic Book publisher, Jason Koxvold, center, with Gnomic Book Artists Shane Rocheleau, left, and Romke Hoogwaerts, right at the Gnomic Book booth at the NYABF, September 22, 2018.

-Shane Rocheleau, You are Masters of the Fish and Birds and All the Animals (or, YAMOTFABAATA as it reads on its spine), Gnomic Book. A book that looks at the legacy of being white and male in America, quickly expands in scope to include any number of related effects, artifacts and institutions. It also reveals that the words “think small” apparently do not exist in Mr. Rocheleau’s vocabulary. The results are a first PhotoBook that’s extremely ambitious in its scope, biblical in its effect, gorgeously shot with a magical combination of subtlety and abstraction, edited like a Stanley Kubrick film, and exquisitely produced down to the smallest detail- (like its beautiful, hypnotic, and seductive to the touch, cover)…Phew! Along the way, it’s also chock full of indelible images that combine to make it linger and linger on in the mind later. A remarkable achievement, particularly for a first PhotoBook- the only first PhotoBook in this Noteworthy PhotoBooks, 2018 section. Limited edition of 500 copies. My recent Q&A with Shane Rocheleau is here. 

Rosalind Fox Solomon, Liberty Theater, MACK. Something of a marvel, another entry in this Post of a book that consists of a body of work decades in the making, this one is special. Culled from 400 Photographs taken in the 1970s, 80s and 90s, across the south, these 77 show a wide range of glimpses into the complex issues of race and racism, class and gender divisions that could be pivotal moments from 77 films that each stand on their own while provoking a world of feelings and reactions. Except comfort. The title speaks to a performance, and her website says the images are “poised between act and reenactment…” Now 88, Rosalind Fox Solomon, who like Diane Arbus, studied with Lisette Model in the 1970s, shares something of Ms. Arbus’ mystery and power in images that demand repeat viewing, here, in a tightly edited volume that quietly stuns as often as it shocks, aided by yet another powerful essay by Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa, who’s first PhotoBook also appears on this list.

***Noteworthy First PhotoBooks***

–Shahrzad Darafsheh- Half-Light, Gnomic Book. Iranian Photographer Shahrzad Darafsheh was diagnosed with cancer at age 36. But? She hasn’t let it stop her creativity or her work! It seems to me that anyone who’s been through cancer, or knows someone who has, can relate to her new first PhotoBook, Half-Light. It’s, at once both intimately personal, and universal, a book that looks inwards and outwards at the same time. Designed to be read either in western style left to right, or right to left, the custom in Farsi, one time I went through it it felt like an out of body experience. Cancer changes your life- forever, and it also changes how you see life, forever. Here is a Photographic record of the early days of this very talented young Artist’s cancer experience, seeing the world anew and turning her lens on herself, and her surroundings with wondering eyes. Its 300 copies are far too few to reach the audience this book deserves, so don’t wait long. It’s somewhat miraculous that Gnomic’s Jason Koxvold somehow found this work and overcame all the layers of problems inherent in working with an Artist living in Iran to produce such a beautiful and important book.

Shahrzad Darafsheh’s Half-Light.

-Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa – One Wall A Web. Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa has been one of the most astute and urgent voices writing about Photography and PhotoBooks for some time now. His writing has appeared in a wide range of places, including in a number of PhotoBooks, like Jason Koxvold’s excellent Knives. With One Wall a Web the world gets to see his first collection of his Photographic work. Born in Uganda  and living here for a number of years, One Wall is a far ranging look at American life, culture and society with a focus on the black reality in this country in two sets of original Photographs surrounding a section of appropriated vintage archival Photographs. It’s so wide-ranging it even masterfully weaves Allen Ginsberg’s classic poem Howl in. It’s already clear to me that One Wall a Web is one of those books that define this moment, as his friend’s Shane Rocheleau’s does in its way. It’s a book people will be discussing, referring to and looking at for many years to come. As I write this, about 70 copies remain of the first edition.

 

Roma Publications co-founder Roger Willems holds a copy of One Wall a Web, by Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa at Roma’s booth at the NYABF, September 22, 2018.

-Jo Ann Walters- Wood River Blue Pool, ITI Ithaca  Named after a river and a pool near her hometown of Alton, Illinois, a journey through its 120 pages it makes it quickly apparent that yes, still waters run deep. A book over 30 years in the making, it’s a veritable time capsule of people and places, seen with a strong and singular eye, here largely cast on women and girls around her hometown, and elsewhere from Minnestoa to Mississippi cry out for extended pondering- on the women and/or children depicted, their situations and surroundings, and the moment. Coincidentally, Ms. Walters also teaches at Purchase College on the same Photography faculty with Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa. My thanks to Kris Graves for  making me aware of this book. He did so purely on the book’s exceptional merit as something I should see. Modestly, he did so without mentioning that he was once one of her students, which I found out later. Jo Ann Walters’ tree has many branches. Now? We finally get to sit under another one with wonder at her achievement. I’ve found it makes an interesting pairing with the following-

-Petra Collins- Coming of Age, Rizzoli. A minor sensation when it was released, causing first printing copies to instantly vaporize, surprising no one more than its publisher, Rizzoli, who scrambled to produce a second printing, which finally materialized after a few months absence. Coming of Age, (a perfect title in more ways than one), touched a nerve with its subject generation, and with the esteemed Artist, Marilyn Minter, who interviews Ms. Collins inside. It’s easy to see why. Petra Collins Photographs her subjects the way they would like to be seen, and shows sides of them and their lives the rest of us never see. While other Photographers have garnered more attention for more contrived work in this genre, Petra Collins is the one to watch, in my view.

-Rose Marie Cromwell, El Libro Supremo de la Suerte, TIS Books/LightWork. I lived in Miami and South Florida, where it’s impossible to escape the flavor and influence of nearby Cuba. Here’s, an amazing look at the real thing, shot over 8 years while the Artist lived in Havana. It’s a thunderbolt, filled with color, as  you’d expect, but it’s also full of a poignant intimacy that surprises. Another book with an instant buzz that saw copies flying out the door, and a long line for signed examples at TIS’ Booth at the NYABF. El Libro Supreme de la Suerte (The Supreme Book of Luck) supremely deserves it.

If you are able to pick only one book from that group? You are a better man or woman than I am.

PhotoBooks are all we sell! One wall of titles at Dashwood Books.

***NoteWorthy Photo Related Book without Photos***

In this “decisive moment,” the foreshortening got the better of my auto-focus.

-Henri Cartier-Bresson- Interviews and Conversations, 1951-98, Aperture. I picked up The Mind’s Eye, Cartier-Bresson’s writings on Photography and Photographers, which didn’t have the insights I was looking for. Interviews and Conversations does. On every single page. Essential. A reference book for the ages.

***NoteWorthy Reissues***

The New Arrivals wall at Printed Matter, presenters of the New York Art Book Fair. An amazing store that contains multitudes of worlds in the form of Artist’s books by umpteen thousand Artists and Writers. How do they know where all of them are? I never bother to try to find something- I just ask. Extra credit if you can spot the next book to appear on this list.

-Masahisa Fukase Ravens, MACK. (Pictured almost smack dab in the middle, above, in its grey slip case). Believe the hype. Shot in the aftermath of a divorce, this is an unforgettable masterpiece, one of the great achievements in PhotoBook history in my view. It says 2017 inside. I don’t care. I’m listing it here as a public service announcement. After being first published in 1986, it was out of print for the better part of 30 years! The word is copies are running low. Get it before it goes out of print. Again. I’m listing Ravens, also, to acknowledge MACK’s excellent series of reissues that has seen Alec Soth’s classic Sleeping By The Mississippi and Niagara, among a number of others reissued, making them affordable to students and Photography lovers, again, after long absences that has made them available only at very high prices on the rare book market. Bravo! The next selection is another one…

Paul Graham, center, with Lesley A. Martin of Aperture, left, discuss a shimmer of possibility at its re-release. AIPAD, April 13, 2018.

-Paul Graham, a shimmer of possibility, MACK. Though reissued once before, as a one volume paperback, MACK has finally released the book Paris Photo-Aperture gave their “The Best PhotoBook of the Last 15 Years” award to in 2012, in its original 12 volume format (which sold out in less than 3 months in 2012). A revolution when it was first released, its influenced countless books that have come since. Including a few on this list. Limited edition of 500 hand signed sets.

-Daido Moriyama: Record, Thames & Hudson, A selection from Nos 1-30, beginning in June 1972 of the magazine, Record, that the great Japanese Photographer continues to release to this very day. At age 80, he’s now up to No. 39. When I added them up, Numbers 1-30 would cost a thousand or so dollars, IF you could find them all. This beautiful selection from them sells for about 50.00, and is sure to bring many more eyes to the work of one of the most admired, and influential, living masters of Street Photography.

-Luigi Ghirri- It’s Beautiful Here, Isn’t It… Aperture. With 2008 1st Printings selling for over 300.00 per, my thanks to Aperture for issuing a 2nd printing this year otherwise I would have never seen it! Ghirri’s Kodachrome is the place to start exploring his work (especially in MACK’s gorgeous reissue, which seems to be disappearing), but this is a very nice selection of works from throughout his career. Intro by William Eggleston.  

Roy DeCarava & Langston Hughes- Sweet Flypaper of Life, First Print Press/David Zwirner Books. Roy DeCarava is one of the unsung masters of contemporary Photography, who is quietly undergoing a renaissance that’s seen a few of his books reissued at long last in honor of the Photographer’s 100th birthday in 2019. First published in 1955, it features 141 DeCarava Photographs chosen by Langston Hughes who then supplied an accompanying narrative. His aim, he said, “We have so many books about how bad life is. Maybe it’s time to have one showing how good it is.” It’s that, and more, as it shows life “Uptown” in the mid-1950s in a way unlike that seen in any other book. 

***NoteWorthy Catalog of the Year**

-Sally Mann- A Thousand Crossings. It’s going to be a while before another book coming along surpassing this as a one volume reference/summary/monograph of Ms. Mann’s work to date. Beautiful. Throughout.

-Saul Leiter- All About Saul Leiter– It came out in Japan last year, and has just been released here. I’d still recommend Early Color as the place to start exploring Saul Leiter, but this is an excellent second choice and provides more of a complete sense of the man’s work over his career. With all due respect to his black & white work- Saul Leiter is a supreme Photographic Artist with color and the effects of light, and that is the work of his I will always be drawn to, and there’s a lot of it in this beautiful volume. My look at the recent Saul Leiter: In My Room show and book is here.

-Luigi Ghirri- The Map and the Territory, MACK. Focused on his work from 1970s and 1980s this is a beautiful almost 400 page look at a visionary Photographer, who, was the only name Stephen Shore mentioned when I asked who he felt deserved more attention. He told me Luigi Ghirri was the Artist he used to recommend, before the internet did away with little known Artists. Which brings me to…

***NoteWorthy “Non-PhotoBook” of the Year/ Holiday gift of the Year***

The 3 Stereograph viewing stations, each containing 10 different stereo Photographs of New York, 1974, at the Stephen Shore Retrospective at MoMA, May 23, 2018.

–Stephen Shore, Stereographs, New York, 1974, Aperture. Hey, it counts- its got an ISBN number…and 30 Stereo Photographs! I don’t know how many other visitors to the Stephen Shore Retrospective at MoMA were thinking, “Wow. This is COOL!,” when they sat at one of the 3 stations, each containing 10 of Mr. Shore’s Stereographic Photographs. Well, I was. Now, you can have your own! Hurry. Aperture only produced 400 sets each containing a “Stephen Shore” signature model viewer (cool!) and all 30 of the works seen at MoMA (ditto). Each set includes a card hand signed by Mr. Shore. Don’t sleep on it. I hear they’re going fast. All of those who already own it that I’ve spoken with said they hoped more images would be made available. Hear, hear. My piece on the monumental Stephen Shore Retrospective at MoMA is here. 

Stephen Shore: Stereographs, New York, 1974, published by Aperture.

***PhotoBook Discovery of the Year (Regardless of Publication Date)***

-Lewis Baltz, WORKS, Steidl, 2010. WORKS is THE most extraordinary box set I have yet seen. Period.

When you look at it like this, it could have been called “MONUMENT.” Note- There are two editions of WORKS. Mine is the first edition, 2010. the later WORKS- Last Edition edition adds the subsequent Candlestick Point (2011) and Texts (2013), which they just lay on top of this box. Both of those books are available separately, so you can create your own Last Edition. Their Last Edition also comes with a booklet containing Lewis Baltz’ Last Interview, which, unfortunately, is not available elsewhere.

Since discovering WORKS, Lewis Baltz has become one of the few Artists who have effected the way I see the world, and one of even fewer to effect how I think about what I see. Mr. Baltz passed away in 2014 at 69 and this was a project he worked on when he, apparently, knew the end was coming. The result is that WORKS is the complete 10 volume edition of his Photography as the Artist wanted it to be seen. The care and attention to detail he brought to this edition, matched by Gerhard Steidl and his team, make it the definition of “definitive.” It houses the career work of an Artist who’s work expanded from the so-called “New Topographic” approach to Photography to including how the forces that control man’s uses of the land have extended into virtually every realm of human life. Inside, the entire journey can be taken in one place, where its continuity and interconnectedness can be fully appreciated as it can be nowhere else, in drop-dead beautiful quality printing. Lewis Baltz was an Artist who while producing Art based in what he saw around him created a body of work that, also, warns about where this was (and is) all heading. In my view, this makes him one of the most important Photographers of our time. Each of the 1,000 copies is hand signed by the Artist!

For those not wanting to make the investment in WORKS (currently 600.00 and up), there is the one volume Lewis Baltz– the catalog published in 2017 to accompany the first posthumous retrospective of Mr. Baltz’ work in Madrid, and so another entry for NoteWorthy Catalog, 2018. (It reached me in January, 2018.) The best one volume survey of his work is a great way to get the feel of both his accomplishment and the interconnectedness of the various series he produced, (and yes, they are interrelated). Even more than A Thousand Crossings, it’s very hard for me to see another book surpassing Lewis Baltz as a one volume monograph, especially given its particularly beautiful Steidl production and superb essays by Urs Stahel and, particularly, Artist Walead Beshty.

And so, in my book, there are no “winners,” no “losers” among Artists. ALL Artists who have created a PhotoBook (since that’s what we’re talking about here) this year are Winners in my book! CONGRATULATIONS! Seeing so many books and speaking with so many Artists & publishers has given me a real sense of how hard it is to produce a book today, particularly in this country.

For the rest of us? Get out there, look at some PhotoBooks and see what speaks to you. For me? I look forward to seeing what’s coming next. And? I will be looking for it…

11pm, East 17th Street @ Union Square. It can be a lonely road seeking PhotoBooks in the dead of night, which I actually was. But, wait! “Hey, man. Got any PhotoBooks there I should know about?”

*-Soundtrack for this Post is Impossible Year by Panic! at the Disco from Death of a Bachelor.

My previous pieces on Photography are here.

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  1. Both Ms. de Middel and Vivienne Sassen, mentioned earlier, have come under controversy for their work in, and about, Africa. ↩

A Conversation With Photographer Harry Gruyaert

Written by Kenn Sava. Photographs by Harry Gruyaert.

Harry Gruyaert is a mystery to me.

I wonder…HOW does he get such miraculous, beautifully atmospheric Photographs, over and over, again? It doesn’t matter what time of day,

Los Angeles, California, USA, 1981. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos. I came across a print of this work in June and realized that I hadn’t done a deep dive into Harry Gruyaert’s work. Well? It’s summer. Into the pool!  Three months later, I’m still immersed in the sheer joy of looking. Click any Photo for full size.

or night it is.

Launderette. Town of Antwerp, Flanders Region, Belgium 1988. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

What the weather is,

Ostende, Belgium, 1988. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

or even what’s going on.

Commemoration of the Battle of Waterloo, 1981, Village in the Province of Brabant, Belgium. Photo By Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

And, he’s been doing it for going on 50 years now.

His Photographs will make you stop and wonder- What’s going on here?

Rue Royale, 1981. Brussels, Belgium. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

Or, marvel at the almost magical combination of elements coming together in a split second of time,

Parade, 1988.Flanders region, Province of Brabant, Belgium. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

any time,

Galway, Ireland, 1988. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

any where.

National Communist party congress, Trivandrum, India, 1989. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

But, the biggest mystery of all, for me, is WHY is he still so relatively little known in the USA?

His name is heard nowhere nearly as often as his fellow contemporary Masters of color Photography- William Eggleston, Saul Leiter, Stephen Shore, and the rest. As I write this, there are only TWO books of his work in print here (see BookMarks at the end). Yet, I find, his work has a richness and subtlety, those gorgeous colors he’s legendary for, all in the service of a mystery, like an untitled still from a movie (sorry, Cindy), that brings me back to have another look, again and again. His work can stand right alongside that of his peers, and it will hold its own alongside any of them. Even beyond contemporary Photography, Harry Gruyaert’s work, also, speaks to the lover of Painting in me. His is that rarest of work that touches some of the same nerves that Edward Hopper is, perhaps, most renowned for- the insular loneliness that defines modern life.

Covered market, Bairritz, France, 2000. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

Born in Antwerp, Belgium in 1941, he joined Magnum Photos in 1981, as admittedly, and somewhat controversially, the first and only, non-PhotoJournalist in the legendary group. 37 years later, he’s still a member, and is it only a coincidence that the current roster may be the most diverse in its 71 year history? Still going strong, 2018 is turning out to be a big year for Harry. First, the Harry Gruyaert – Retrospective at FOMU Foto Museum in Antwerp, Belgium, from March 9th to June 9th, 2018, while the feature length documentary, Harry Gruyaert Photographer, premiered this summer. Meanwhile, this past Saturday, September 8th, saw the opening of his new show at Antwerp’s renowned Gallery Fifty One. The show is titled Roots, and features work Mr. Gruyaert created in his native Belgium, where his “roots” are.

I’m thrilled to say I had the privilege of speaking with Mr. Gruyaert in France after he just returned home from attending the opening of Roots, and in a far ranging interview, I was fortunate to ask him every question I could think of that I have yet to see asked of him thus far. What follows is not a blow by blow biography. It’s meant to fill in the gaps in what’s been written about Harry Gruyaert thus far. And so, it’s meant to intrigue, to inspire you to delve further into his long and rich career. I quickly discovered that he is not one to mince words. Hold on to your seats, and prepare to meet a living legend, who’s bursting with passion in his mid-70s. Ladies and gentlemen, my conversation with Harry Gruyaert on September 11th, 2018…

Before I could get a word out, he said…

Harry Gruyaert- I liked what you did on Saul Leiter, so…

Kenn Sava- Oh, you did? Thank you very much. It’s interesting…I notice there’s a couple of things you seem to have in common with Saul. Early on, his father, also, was adamantly against his becoming a Photographer, and eventually disinherited him. He was also really loved Pierre Bonnard, as I mentioned. I note that you are as well. Saul who was known for his color work, did most of his intimate work in black & white, as you have.

Pierre Bonnard, View of the Old Port, Saint-Tropez, 1911, oil on canvas, seen at The Met.

Pierre Bonnard is not somebody who comes up all that often, I’ve had him come up twice with such great Photographers recently. What is it about Bonnard that particularly speaks to you?

Pierre Bonnard, The House of Misia Sert, 1906, Oil on canvas.

HG- It’s extremely sensual, you know. It’s amazing. His cropping is really amazing. I really like so much the feeling he has towards his life, and his wife. It’s quite amazing.

Town of Jaisalmer, State of Rajasthan, India, 1976. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos. I couldn’t resist pairing this with Bonnard’s House above, without any input from Mr. Gruyaert. The more I look at them, the more I find coincidentally in common. Down to the animals just inside each door.

A funny thing about Saul Leiter. When I arrived in Paris in April, 1962, I went to Elle Magazine, which is a fashion magazine, and I showed my work to the art director, Peter Knapp, and he said, “Oh, you are the little Saul Leiter. “ I had no idea who Saul Leiter was. It took me 40 years to realize who was Saul Leiter, and strangely enough in the last Paris Photo, my work was hanging next to his in the booth of Gallery Fifty One, run by Roger Szmulewicz, and  believe it or not, who walks by as I was standing in the booth ? Peter Knapp ! It’s amazing. So I asked him, “Why did you tell me that all those years ago?” He said, “It’s because of the way you work with color, obviously.” I really find it exciting  when things like that happen. 

KS- So, his work had no influence on you. You weren’t aware of it.

HG- No. No. I found out much later when his first Steidl book came out and when I saw his show at the Foundation Cartier-Bresson in Paris, which was only a couple of years ago.

KS- This has been a big year for you with the FOMU Retrospective, the Documentary Harry Gruyaert Photographer, and now the Gallery Fifty One show, Roots, I wanted to congratulate you on all of that.

Harry Gruyaert, in the red slacks facing the camera, at the opening for his new show, Harry Gruyaert: Roots, September 8th. Photo by Gallery Fifty One..

HG- Thank you. 

KS- I came across your work in the Magnum Square Print sale and realized I hadn’t done a deep dive into your career. Part of the reason is there aren’t a lot of books of your work in print here. The Retrospective, with the red cover, and East/West being two. It seems that you’re slowly reissuing your books, right?

HG- Sure. You know I accumulated so much work. And the good thing about making books now, is that you have much more control than before. The quality of printing is much better and my new books look better than the ones I published before.

Moscow, Russia, USSR, 1989. From East in the 2 volume set, East/West. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

KS- East/West is a fascinating book in that regard. I’m interested in why you chose to group the two books together. I know you’ve said many times you’re not a journalist, but looking at this work now from so many years later, it almost has a journalistic feel to it- A commentary about the materialism in America and the fall of the USSR at the time you were taking the pictures. Was that any part of the intention in issuing them together now in a slipcase? 

Freemont Street. Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, 1982. From West in East/West. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

HG- Yes, that was part of the idea of publishing these two series of pictures together. Don’t forget, I’m a documentary Photographer, and in that sense I feel quite close to somebody like Cartier Bresson whose work is always about a particular place at a particular time. We have both travelled a lot and taken pictures in many different countries and share that same openness to different world and different cultures. Though I am a great admirer of american photographers, I sometimes feel that the work they have done in the states is more interesting than their work in other countries. I don’t know why that is. 

KS- You were involved with Henri Cartier-Bresson and I read the story of him asking you to color his prints. For everyone who wasn’t able to know him, what would you like them to know about him? Is there any one thing that particularly stands out?

Henri Cartier-Bresson, Hyeres, France, 1932

HG- (Laughs)…Oh boy. I was very lucky to have known him. He was very provocative. He was full of energy. Very provocative, and at the same time, he wanted to be a zen buddhist. (Laughs) Very interesting person. Complex. It’s such a lesson that he gave up Photography and went back to his old passion, Painting and Drawing, when he felt he had nothing more to say through photography. It was not on the level of what he did before, but it’s such a lesson. Then, he’d come and ask you, “What do you think of my Painting or Drawing?” He started all over again, questionning himself instead of relying on his reputation.

Shaded streets of the medina (old district), Near “Jemma el Fna” square, Marrakech, Morocco, 1986. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

KS- That’s quite a compliment to you that he’d ask you to Paint his prints. 

HG- It all started when he came to see my first show about Morocco at the Delpire Galerie in Paris. My C. prints were far from perfect and he started making comments. He took bits of paper or little objects and put them on my prints to explain to me what he meant.Amazing. Then he sent me his book about Andre Lhote, who was his teacher in Painting and  called me up two weeks later, and said «  I have a suggestion to make.I will send a couple of my prints and I will send you a big box of pastels and you can try and color them.” I said, “Henri, it’s nice to think about it, but I’m not a Painter. I can’t even make a drawing.”

He had a problem with color photography. He felt it was only used for commercial reasons and was not really interested. And I think he really didn’t like the fact that many Magnum Photographers moved to color because that’s what magazines were asking for when they were better doing black & white. But some became very good magazine photographers and were very successful. 

In 2017, 174 Harry Gruyaert Photographs were on view in 11 stations of the Paris Metro at the invitation of RATP, the Paris public transport operator. Seen here are two images from his beach series, “Rivages,” (shores, or “Edges” as it’s called here), images that speak of the insignificance of man in the scope of nature, the Artist has said, while at the same time, showing a sense of humor, particularly on the left. Seen here in a still from the Harry Gruyaert Photographer Documentary.

KS- Was there a single moment or an event that got you first interested in Photography?

HG-Different things…I wanted to travel. I went to an exhibition in ’58 at the World’s Fair in Brussels. I saw the different pavilions : America, Russia, Japan, India… I was looking at the globe which I had at home. And I thought, I want to go to all these places. And I was also interested in fashion. I loved  Fashion magazines which were much better at the time, like Harper’s Bazar and Vogue, and photographers like Avedon and Irving Penn. And there were all these beautiful girls…

KS- So, it came out of your desire to travel.

Still from Harry Gruyaert Photographer.

HG- To travel, to discover things…I was always interested in Paintings. I always went to Museums. 

I never even thought about doing anything else. I was Director of Photography for a couple of television Film. I had a big admiration for the directors of photography who worked with  Italians film directors like Antonioni, I through they were really fantastic. I could have made a profession out of that, but I wanted to do my own stuff, my own Films and it meant working with a large crew of people and you needed a lot of money. The good thing about photography is that you can work on your own. If the digital small cameras of the quality we have now had existed at the time, things might have been different.

KS- When I look at your work I see elements of both- they seem like stills from a movie but then when it comes to printing, it’s some of the same techniques that come to bear that Painters would use, so you’ve almost married the two. Do you see it that way at all?

HG- Yeah, sure. The funny thing is that the directors I know in Paris, I’m friendly with some of them, have told me they’ve been inspired by some of my photographs…So it’s wonderful that it works both ways. 

Edward Hopper, New York Movie, 1939, Oil on canvas.

KS- I’ve read a couple of your interviews over time talking about Edward Hopper. I think in one interview you said you didn’t really look at his work early on, but you can kind of see what people say when they talk about the similarities in the loneliness and isolation in your work. Since it didn’t come from Hopper, that sense that is in some of your work, where do you think that came from? Those isolated figures, that sense of loneliness and isolation that occurs in your work? 

Trans-Europe-Express, 1981. Belgium. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

HG- I don’t really know. It’s not the person that interests me most. It’s the person in its environment. To me, all the elements are important. I don’t have any particular intention. It’s just what I see.

Bay of the Somme River in the town of Fort Mahon, Picardie, France, 1991. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

I think humans have such a great idea about ourselves but nature is so much more powerful.

The Flemish House, by George Simenon. Cover Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

Talking about loneliness in the city…A funny thing that came up. Do you know (Georges) Simenon, the Belgian Writer of detective stories ? Inspector Maigret is the name of the detective. They translated them into english and they had trouble finding covers for them. Peter Galassi said to them, “Look at Harry’s work. I think you can find something there.” So, the guy from the publishing company sent me some lay-outs and I didn’t think it could work because the cover is vertical and 90% of my work is horizontal. But, the way he cropped it, it was really quite interesting and I asked him to print the full frame image on the back cover. 

The full frame source Photo for the cover. Bar, Antwerp, Belgium. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

Then, Penguin Books in London picked it up. Believe it or not, we’ve done 65 covers.

KS- You’ve done 65 covers for them?

HG- Yes. Just from my archive. My archives are not only Magnum, only a small percentage is Magnum. So, she comes to Paris and looks through mainly my old work. When I did my show at FOMU at Antwerp, there was a big wall with all the covers of the books and small pictures of the full frame.

The strange thing is Simenon is Belgian. He’s from Liege. I’m from Antwerp. I met his son and he showed me some Photographs that Simenon did himself, and you find this kind of thing of a small figure in an urban landscape. With a certain lonelieness. Which you find often in my work. It’s really quite funny.

KS- You’ve spoken about a number of the places you’ve worked- Moscow, Belgium, California & the American West. How do you feel about New York?

It’s a small world. New York City. USA, 1996. The 23rd Street Subway station, across from the Met Life Building. It’s immediately recognizable to me because it’s in my neighborhood. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

HG- Extremely exciting. I’ve done lots of work in New York. The first time I came to New York was in ’68. I was friends with people like Gordon Matta-Clark. All those Artists were important to me, in terms of the energy, in terms of what they were doing. 

National Road 1,near Mechelen, Antwerp Province, Belgium, 1988

Pop Art taught me to look at a certain banality with interest, a visual interest and a certain sense of humor.That changed the nature of the work I was doing in Belgium at the time.  In the beginning it was only in black & white. For two years, I didn’t see any color there. But Pop Art taught me to look at things in a different way and then I started to work in color.

So for two years there I only shot black & white.

Near Bruges, Belgium, 1975. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

KS- I don’t really consider Robert Rauschenberg a Pop Artist but he was obviously very important at that time, and since. Has he had any influence on you at all?

Robert Rauschenberg, Black Market, 1961, seen at MoMA’s Robert Rauschenberg: Among Friends show, 2017.

HG- Oh, I love his work. I mean the personality… the openness, trying other things. There’s more sensuality in Rauschenberg. It’s more fun as well. 

KS- In looking at someone like Robert Rauschenberg, and there’s others, too, who were Painters, but also were Photographers, it seems to me that their Photography doesn’t get any attention at all. Have you seen Rauschenberg’s Photography, and if so, what do you think of it?

Robert Rauschenberg, Anchor, from Studies for Chinese Summerhall, China, 1983. Photo by Graphicstudio, USF.

HG- Oh, sure. It’s interesting. Sometimes it takes time to discover things. So many Photographers are being discovered…look at Saul Leiter.

Excerpts from T.V. Shots, Photos taken between 1969 and the early 1970s. From the publisher- “Gruyaert’s break from television wasn’t all peaceful, though: his first serious body of work contained photographs of distorted TV images. By following events such as the 1972 Munich Olympics from home, he created a distressed parody of the current-affairs photo-story. The work caused controversy, both for its disrespectful assault on the culture of television and for its radical challenge (both formally and in terms of content) to the conventions of press photography. Gruyaert views it as the closest thing to journalistic photography he has ever made.” Photos by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos, as seen in the 2007 Steidl book of the same name.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, someone said. This is NOT by Harry Gruyaert. NYC Subway ad for Maniac, September, 2018

KS- Speaking of that…another Photographer who is also a Painter, is William Eggleston. You were able to see the legendary 1976 show at MoMA, Photographs by William Eggleston, and you spoke about being impressed with his dye-transfer prints. I’m wondering- What did you think of his work when you first saw it?

HG- It was amazing to see that, especially the quality of the printing. The first book is one of his best and one of my favorites. 

KS- So you think William Eggleston’s Guide would be among his best work?

HG- Sure. Yes. Definitely. There are other good things too. But the problem now is that publishers want to publish too many books. Some are good, some are not so good. Banality can be interesting, but sometimes, it’s just banal!

KS- In the Gallery Fifty One show you have 41 works in black & white and 19 works in color, though they are large. I notice there seems to be more surrealism in the black & white works, where it’s more subtle in the color work. Does that seem to be the case for you?

Belgium, Hofstade, Carnival (Superimposition), 1975, is included in the Gallery Fifty One show. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum

HG- Black and white and color are two different approaches. I took pictures of my daughters in black & white because I felt I got closer to them. Shooting in black and white I feel less preoccupied by the way people dress, the background or things that could distract me. I concentrate on the human quality of the person. Color is more complex. With color, the color really has to be the main thing…the most important thing…

A normally very busy street deserted by citizens for the first meal of the day. During the Ramadan. Cairo. Egypt, 1987. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

KS- It’s said that Roots was, at one point, basically a “farewell” to Beligum, after your difficulties with your father…

HG- That was not so much the problem as the lack of a cultural environment.

“Midi” train station district, Brussels, Belgium, 1981, is included in the Gallery Fifty One show. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

KS- But, it seems that you’ve made peace with Belgium. Have you done work in Belgium since Roots? 

HG- I do all the time. At the show I gave Roger (Gallery Fifty One’s Director) about 15 prints I did very recently, to show whoever’s interested that things change. Nothing stays the same. The colors are different now. The mentality’s different. Belgium is more like the rest of Europe, I guess…the same clothing…the same advertisements. It’s actually much more colorful, but in a more capitalistic driven way. It’s more fashionable somehow, and It’s more alike. Before, in Holland and Belgium, which are very near to each other, things were very different in the color aspect and all that. And now, things have become much more the same, like in the States.

KS- So you were saying that some of the American Photographers influenced you more than the Europeans. Who were those American Photographers who influenced you?

HG- (Lee) Friedlander, definitely. (Irving) Penn, (Richard) Avedon. Helen Levitt is wonderful, sure, Bruce Davidson and others…

Stephen Shore, Merced River, Yosemite Park, CA, 1974, Seen at the Stephen Shore Retrospective at MoMA, 2018

When I look at Stephen Shore’s work, I have the feeling that I am traveling with him. It’s really important in Photography to get to the person and have the feeling of being with him. That’s really important. Stephen Shore, but other Photographers as well. It’s physical. It’s the experience they have that appeals to me. It’s a physical thing. That’s why I don’t care much for conceptual work. It comes from the brain. For me, it has to come more from the stomach. It’s physical. It’s experience, which someone has at a given time, and through the experience I get contact with the person who did it.

A visitor spends quality time with Rembrandt(s). At The Met, February, 2015.

To me, Art is…When I look at Rembrandt, I’m with Rembrandt. When I look at Bonnard, I’m with Bonnard. When I look at conceptual work, I’m with the brain of somebody. If they have to write a lot of stuff before we’re able to understand what it’s all about, I’m not interested in the exhibition. I have to first look at the work and it should mean something. It has to appeal to me visually. 

KS- Have there been any Directors or Painters that have spoken to you more recently?  Anyone that’s come along since Antonioni, Magritte? Anything that’s more contemporary? Anything that you’ve really been impressed with?

HG- Recently? I’m a movie fan. I go to movies all the time. In the past I went to the cinema every day. I learned more from movies than anywhere else…movies and paintings…

About Antonioni. What’s really interesting…In 2009, 10 Magnum Photographers had a show at the Cinematheque Francaise in Paris, exploring  the relationship between still Photography and Film. My part was to show how much I was inspired by Film, and mainly, by Antonioni. So, I did a projection, which lasts about 25 minutes, with extracts of his movies – l’Avventura, The Eclipse and the Red Desert –  and some of my Photographs next to them.

Province de Brabant, Belgium, 1981. One of my personal favorite Harry Gruyaert Photos reminds me of the scene in Antonioni’s La Notte when Jeanne Moreau sits in the car in the rain. Photo by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

There are three Antonioni Films I was limited to1. So, I was able to use certain things. …. But, when they saw the thing produced, the review were very happy about it.

KS- I would love to see that. You have a new book, Rivages about to come out, (to be released in the USA as Edges later this year). I’ve read that you’ve been enjoying using today’s technology to make better prints. Are you also involved with the selecting of the images for the books and the way they are sequenced, or does somebody else do that?

HG- Completely. It’s team work. I’m the first person, obviously. I’ve been working with the same people the past 4 or 5 books. It’s like teamwork. 

The English edition of Rivages (Edges) is coming out at the end of September. The French edition is earlier. I’m very happy with them. The printing and everything. 

KS- So, you’re selecting the images for the books. 

HG- Sure. There’s some discussions, obviously…yeah, teamwork.

KS- Are you working on another version of Morocco?

HG- No plans for the moment, but everything is sold out. 

I want to do a book about street photography in the different cities I’ve been to. You know like New York, Brussels, or whatever And also a book on India and Egypt, a book about my industrial work, about airport, about my daughters… So many things… I also want to redo It’s not about cars, which was first published with  Roger Smulewicz of Gallery 512, but in a larger and more complete version. 

KS- Was Luigi Ghirri an influence?

HG- I discovered him later. I like some of his work…I think lots of his …He’s more of an intellectual. He has a real concept, I think. And I’m kind of… I think more in terms of color and I don’t think that’s his main interest. We have a very different approach

KS- There’s a couple of images that kind of remind me of yours. The shot of Versailles from the distance…

HG- Those are the ones I prefer. 

Still from the Harry Gruyaert Photographer Documentary showing the Artist on the corner of West 42nd Street and 7th Avenue.

KS- What did you think of the final documentary, Harry Gruyert Photographer? Did you have a chance to see it?

HG- Sure.

KS- What was your reaction? Were you pleased with it?

HG- I’m pleased with it. It’s not my Film. Well, it’s the Film of the director. It became very personal. You know, the thing is my father had about 25 hours of family films. The director knew that and he used a lot of that in the Film, comparing what my father did and what I did, and talking about my upbringing, so it became a very family kind of Film, which is fine, I think it’s a bit over done…it’s his Film.

Harry Gruyaert in action in Times Square, NYC. He has spoken about how taking Photos is like a “dance” for him, which is obvious, here, in this shot from the Harry Gruyaert Photographer Documentary website. While other Photographers bring full Hollywood movie making gear to bear in making their Photos look “cinematic.” Mr. Gruyaert does it the old fashioned way, as you can see.

KS- Are there any plans to release it in America? Are we going to get to see it over here?

HG- Who knows. It’s just the beginning. 

Gallery Fifty One, Antwerp, Belgium.

KS- You just returned form Gallery Fifty One and the opening of your show in Antwerp. How did you feel about the show? How did the installation look to you?

HG- We tried something I had never done before. We set two screens, one on top of the other, very close. On one we showed black and white photographs and on the other color photographs.

Installation view of Roots at Gallery Fifty One showing dual video monitors. Photo by Gallery Fifty One.

Sometimes the relationship between them worked, sometimes it did not. But it was an an interesting experience. There’s much more black and white stuff (included in the show) than I have ever showed. The color photographs are the ones published in the new edition of Roots.

The Gruyaert family at dinner in a peaceful moment. Harry’s father, left, worked for the AGFA Film Company. His feelings about his son becoming a Photographer have been written about elsewhere. Still from Harry Gruyaert Photographer.

KS- Did your father ever come to accept you being a Photographer? Did he come to appreciate your work at all?

HG- Oh yes. He became very proud. (laughs) Once I was vice-president of Magnum, that was it for him. I think it was more about my position at Magnum than about my work.. 

KS- No one’s ever mentioned that anywhere. They always talk about how adamant he was against your becoming a Photographer. They never mention that he did finally come to accept it. Unlike Saul Leiter, who’s father disinherited him. So, at least, that’s good to hear.

HG- No, no no. My father was very proud at the end. He was. Whenever he would tell others how great his son was, it was special for him.

Our conversation ended there. A few days later in an email, Harry added this-

“I am just a photographer. If people look at my work and think it’s art, I am happy about it. But it is not for me to decide.”

Count me in that group of “people.”

While the mystery in Harry Gruyaert’s work will enthrall me for years to come, I hope the mystery surrounding his lack of recognition here will be history in the near future. After all, I’d rather leave the mystery writing to Simenon.

BookMarks– Morocco is Harry Gruyaert’s most renowned book, winning the 1975 Kodak Prize. As he said, it’s been out of print since the last French edition, Maroc, published by Textuel in 2013. At the moment, two books are in print in the USA, Harry Gruyaert, with a red cover, a retrospective, published by Thames & Hudson in 2015, is likely to remain the most comprehensive overview of his work for the foreseeable future, particularly because, as he said, it has the Artist’s direct involvement.

It’s gorgeous, in my view, and the place to start exploring Harry Gruyaert’s work and achievement among books currently in print in the USA.

Harry Gruyaert: East/West, a two volume set in a slipcase, contains East, Photos taken in Moscow near the very end of the USSR in 1989, and West, Photos taken in the American West (including Los Angeles and Las Vegas) in 1981, was published in 2017 by Thames & Hudson. It’s a fascinating look at both places decades ago, and intentionally, or not, provides a powerful visual contrast between capitalism and communism.

East/West

Equally compelling is how much Mr. Gruyaert’s color palette changes between the two bodies of work.

Just released by Editions Xavier Barral this past May (2018) is the new edition of Harry Gruyaert – Roots, a book “about” the Artist’s relationship with his native country, Belgium. It adds over 20 additional Photos to the 2012 edition, which quickly went out of print. As the Artist said in the conversation, he finds today’s printing far superior to what he was able to achieve in the past, making this the edition to get.

Coming soon will be Edges (or Rivages in French), another new edition of an out of print beautiful collection. In visual poetry, Mr. Gruyaert explores the relationship of man to nature, the land to the sea, and the earth to the sky in 144 pages. Soon to be published by Thames & Hudson.

While I recommend starting with the red Retrospective, all of these books are excellent and recommended.

Cover image cropped from an original by Harry Gruyaert/Magnum Photos.

And, for lovers of detective novels, Harry’s images appear as covers on 65 Simenon novels published by, and available in the USA through, Penguin Books.

*- Soundtrack for this Post is “I Should Watch T.V.” by David Byrne & St. Vincent from “Love This Giant.” Lyrics, here. Video, here-

My thanks to Harry Gruyaert and Gallery Fifty One.

My prior Posts on Photography may be found here.

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  1. In 2009 the Cinematheque Francaise presented Images to Come, an exhibition exploring Magnum photographer’s take on the relationship between cinema and photograhy. The works are displayed alongside still from L’Avventura, The Eclipse and the Red Desert. ↩
  2. Harry Gruyaert: It’s Not About Cars, published by Gallery Fifty One in 2017. ↩