Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008
Fellow photobook afficionado (and blogger) Jeff Ladd has just posted a thoughtful review of the new Radius Books title, Lee Friedlander: New Mexico.
Jeff begins by thinking through Friedlander’s physical approach to photographing, the sense of walking and wandering and peering over and through the urban and wilderness landscape that he encounters. He then muses on a certain sense of dissatisfaction with the work. I really appreciate the line of questioning that Jeff raises, culminating in “One of the most damning questions to ask of a book” which is “Is this necessary?”
In my opinion, this question is as crucial to the experience of creating and editing a book as it is in reading and viewing it from the perspective of the audience. Jeff goes on to state the following: “When I look over Lee’s accomplishments in 33 books and counting I find it difficutl to say yes to this one. It is not because this book is without merit, I think so simply because these bases have been well covered in a few other books now. Almost every photograph here is accounted for in similar versions elsewhere.”
In many senses, I agree with Jeff. I remember one of our first conversations with Mr. Friedlander, where he bluntly told us that “This is not an important body of work, so I don’t want a big pretentious monograph.” Since the project had initially been conceived as an accompaniment to an exhibition, we felt this allowed us the chance to be more playful and creative with our approach to the design, materials and binding of the book, as Jeff points out.
The question of what is important and what isn’t is a broad one, and ultimately a very rich one. In a world where triviality bombards us on all sides and which more often than not keeps us numb to the larger, more systemic problems facing humanity, the last thing I want to do is produce more of it. In thinking through Friedlander’s comment then, that this slim group of photographs of New Mexico was not an “important” body of work, I took it in the sense that this work is not ground-breaking. He’s not pushing the envelope, he’s not looking to re-forge a photographic identity, he’s not looking to make his name with these photographs, nor, in the end, with this book.
Friedlander has been making books since he was a young man. His first book, which was ground-breaking and did forge a photographic identity for him, and which made his name, was also, at its heart, a similar study to what the New Mexico book aspires to: a study of what things look liked photographed and what role the photographer plays in that looking.
At 74 years old, Friedlander does not seem about to change his visual vocabulary (though I wouldn’t rule it out) and in that sense, there is no new ground being broken in terms of his own personal, visual language. He likes driving in plain-jane rental cars and he likes casually wandering down sidewalks across America. He likes his super-wide Hasselblad and he likes photographing 4-5 days a week. To me, the experience of the New Mexico book is one that resonates on a level of, not only attentiveness to one’s surroundings as experienced on foot, but also to the steady, contented workings of a man in the autumn of his life who has found his voice and is happy “speaking” about almost any subject.
I like to think of each of Friedlander’s books as though they are each a poem in an anthology. And while Lee Friedlander: New Mexico doesn’t carry the same weight as his 1970 Self-Portrait or The American Monument, or even his collaborations with Jim Dine, I’m still happy for the quirkiness of The Little Screens or the visual chaos of The Desert Seen and even the sweet quietude of Stems. Were they all necessary, as books? Perhaps. Perhaps not. But I’m glad he’s still steadily making work no matter where he goes, and I’m still glad he’s engaged with the book form.
[Big thanks to Jeff for all his thoughts on photobooks and for bringing his thoughts to this book!]
Tags: Lee Friedlander, Radius Books
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Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008
For those of you that haven’t popped over to the Radius Books website recently, I encourage you to do so. We have continued to update the blog with news items about Radius Books, but the biggest news is the launch of our online store! All of our available titles are listed (in both signed and unsigned versions) as are most of the limited editions, at least the ones that haven’t sold out already.
Big kudos to Bad Feather, the design team of Brad Thomson and Heather Marold (Brad + Heather = Brad FHeather). Seriously, they’re only getting badder….
Tags: Bad Feather, Radius Books
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Wednesday, December 17th, 2008
On TOLERANCE:
“It is imperative that freedom of judgment should be granted, so that men may live together in harmony, however diverse, or even openly contradictory their opinions may be.” —Spinoza
“What is toleration? It is the prerogative of humanity. We are all steeped in weaknesses and errors: let us forgive one another our follies, it is the first law of nature.” —Voltaire
In 2005, after having completed a moving story of the aftermath of the war in Bosnia (which was published by Channel Photographics as a book titled Aftermath: Bosnia’s Long Road to Peace), Sara Terry founded The Aftermath Project. It’s mission sums up the motivation behind the organization:
“The Aftermath Project is a non-profit organization committed to telling the other half of the story of conflict — the story of what it takes for individuals to learn to live again, to rebuild destroyed lives and homes, to restore civil societies, to address the lingering wounds of war while struggling to create new avenues for peace.
For the last few years, The Aftermath Project has provided a once-a-year grant to photographers. “The Aftermath Project holds a yearly grant competition open to working photographers worldwide covering the aftermath of conflict. In addition, through partnerships with universities, photography institutions and non-profit organizations, the Project seeks to help broaden the public’s understanding of the true cost of war— and the real price of peace — through international traveling exhibitions and educational outreach in communities and schools.”
Last week, I was honored to serve as one of three judges for this years’ grant cycle. Maggie Steber, an internationally recognized photojournalist based in Miami, and Sara Terry both flew to Santa Fe where the three of us holed up on the grounds of the Santa Fe Workshops to review the submissions. In the end, it was a very tough competition. There were numerous projects that were worthy of support; in the end, two grant winners and a total of six finalists were recognized. PDNonline has just run an announcement about the winners. Below is the full list of winners followed by my statement regarding top grant winner Asim Rafiqui’s proposal.
$25,000 grant: Asim Rafiqui (Sweden/US), for his project, “The Idea of India: Religious and Cultural Pluralism as Resistance to Sectarian Conflict,†an exploration of the aftermath of religious conflict in India through documenting pluralist landscapes, shared sacred sites, shared cultural traditions and efforts at reconciliation within divided communities.
$15,000 grant: Louie Palu (Canada), for his project, “Home Front,†which explores and compares the experiences of American Vietnam War veterans, and returning soldiers from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Palu’s project focuses on the emotional and psychological issues faced by soldiers who return from war and the long-term effects they deal with as they try to reintegrate into their families and society.
In alphabetical order, they are:
Rodrigo Abd (Guatemala) – “Reclaiming the dead: Mass Graves in Guatemala, a story only partially toldâ€
Andrea Bruce (US) – “Unseen Iraqâ€
David Monteleone (Italy) – “Russian Caucasusâ€
Saiful Huq Omi (Bangladesh) – “The Disowned and the Denied: the Rohingya Refugees in Bangladeshâ€
Donald Weber (Canda) – “Firewalk: Life with Cluster Bombs in South Lebanonâ€
Ami Vitale (US) – “Kashmir: Lifting the Veilâ€
This was my juror’s statement regarding Asim Rafiqui’s work:
“When freedom of conscience, liberty of thought and right of speech are upheld within a society, when each person, according to their own manner of worship, is allowed to express their beliefs, development and growth are not only the norm, but inevitable. The subcontinent of India has, for countless generations, provided humanity with an example of a pluralistic and deeply religious society that has dis-allowed the diversity of religious sentiments from hindering its many differing peoples from developing deep bonds of affection, tolerance, and service to each other.
“This was the norm until the bankrupt nationalistic philosophies of the twentieth century were allowed to run amok amidst the generality of the worlds’ populations. Ultra-nationalism and its close ideological cousin, tribalism, are both nothing more than racialist tendencies masquerading as points of falsely-placed pride.
“When religious sentiments tied to patriotism are stirred-up and the fires of religious hatred and intolerance are fanned to flame, more often than not by the clergy, the baser tendencies in man flourish. This is especially deplorable when religion is involved, for the fundamental purpose, as attested by the scriptures of all the world’s great religious systems, is to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race, as well as foster the spirit of love and fellowship amongst men.
“Asim Rafiqui’s work as a photographer aims to recover this lost sense of religious pluralism and tolerance for a 21st century India. He states that he is “using photography not only as a means of evidence, but also as a vessel for the imagination.” His multi-faceted work addresses the rich legacy that is still present in much of India, through her shared sacred sites and integrated communities. Rafiqui’s photographs are elegantly layered compositions that convey the vibrancy and urgency of his project.
“With the imbalanced reporting of seemingly constant acts of inhumanity reported through our mainstream media, we have little chance to imagine, picture or develop a true sense of community, not just in India, but world-wide. The way must be discovered again. We must be helped to imagine such an alternative reality as opposed to what we too-often see before us. I anxiously await more from the camera of Asim Rafiqui.â€
From Louie Palu’s project, “Home Frontâ€:
The Aftermath Project is served by a wonderful group of board members and advisors, including Jeff Jacobson, Nancy Foley, Sara Terry, Charles Harbutt, Arthur Ollman, Kent Kobersteen, Roy Flukinger, Frish Brandt, Susan Meiselas, and Elisabeth Hoffman.
Here are a few images from the judging: Sara getting it all organized…
Maggie Steber, Sara Terry peeking over the top and myself:
Tags: Asim Rafiqui, Louie Palu, MAggie Steber, Sara Terry, The Aftermath Project
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Thursday, December 11th, 2008
I love Hey, Hot Shot! I love looking at new work and seeing what is happening out there in the big, wide world of photography. (That’s the same reason I love things like Critical Mass, CENTER’s awards, the Aftermath Project awards, and all the great portfolio review events…)
I’ve met three of the five photographers and have known their work for quite awhile now. I first saw John Mann’s work when I judged the annual contest for the Portland-based Newspace Center for Photography. The work feels both fleeting and weighty at the same time, a nice paradox for a medium that could be described exactly the same way. Donald Weber’s work first hit me upside the head at photolucida last year. His rock-solid work in the Ukraine and Russia has earned him respect and a spot on the new VII Network team (part of the VII Agency). I’ve also just seen his work as part of the Aftermath Project submissions this year, and am pleased to see his work advance through the final stages. Cara Phillips emerged as one of the winners in the first annual Photography Book Now contest which I was very involved with and which just ended this past October. Her work on the plastic surgery industry is creepy and fascinating (and very well-conceived). I’m also excited about her new ultraviolet portraits!
John Mann:
Donald Weber:
Cara Phillips:
Tags: Cara Phillips, Donald Weber, Hey, Hot Shot!, John Mann
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Wednesday, December 10th, 2008
Photographer Richard Renaldi has just announced the launch of both a new book—Fall River Boys—and a new publishing company—Charles Lane Press. He intends to self-distribute the new book, which can be purchased (come February 2009) through the website or in a handful of art and design bookstores around the country.
Richard says, “This book is the culmination of over 8 years of photographing primarily young men and cityscapes in the town of Fall River, Massachusetts.
Fall River Boys is what I consider to be a complete vision. All of our decisions have been made with quality in mind, and we feel that we have not compromised in any way with this book. It is the mission of Charles Lane Press to maintain the highest levels of quality—from the papers we select, and the craftsmanship of the German printers we work with, to the quality of our bindings and design.”
His 2006 Aperture monograph, entitled Figure and Ground, deftly combined portraiture and landscape in a quiet and lyrical manner. I’m looking forward to seeing the new work.
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Words Without Pictures (Aperture, 2010)
Short Track, by Jake Mendel
Bird Watching, by Paula McCartney