And the winner is…
Friday, September 2nd, 2011The Photography Book Now 2011 Winners are announced!
PBN 2011 Grand Prize Winner from Blurb Books on Vimeo.
PBN 2011 Category Winners from Blurb Books on Vimeo.
Tag: Aperture
The 4th Year of Photography Book Now
Thursday, June 2nd, 2011
[All photographs courtesy Mickey Smith. View her website here.]
“Will Blurb’s Photography Book Now competition award any non-Blurb self-published books this year? The competition’s credibility depends on it.” ~Twitter post
Here we are midway into the fourth year of Photography Book Now, Blurb’s annual photography competition that has, over the past three years, awarded cash and prizes to numerous photographers. I’m serving as the lead judge for a fourth year and am proud to do so.
The straightforward question pasted above was originally posted as an innocuous Tweet, but behind it is a deeper and legitimate concern. It not only deserves a thoughtful response, but it affords me an opportunity to voice my thoughts about the development and overall ethos and goals of the contest.
The most direct challenge of this question concerns the credibility and legitimacy of the contest. For the sake of clarity, I’ll state the point even more baldly: Is this truly a contest about the most current self-published photography books? Or is this simply a competition in which Blurb promotes itself and bestows self-serving awards?
I want to answer this directly. As lead judge since the inception of the contest, I’ve had the joy of reaching out to colleagues and heroes of mine in the photography community to serve as fellow-judges: Kathy Ryan, Dana Faconti, Vince Aletti, Martin Parr, Charlotte Cotton, Frish Brandt, Kira Pollack, Todd Hido, Anthony Bannon, Jen Bekman and so many others. They have all served happily and fairly in this role, and I thank them again.
I can happily say that of the books submitted to the contest, the judges have responded to and selected the most creative, the most accomplished, and those in which the artist and photographs were most engaged with the book form. In short, the judges have chosen the best books submitted.
Ultimately, this question of just what gets submitted is the key point, and leads right into the question of legitimacy. As is obvious, the judges are limited to the submissions. If it’s not on the table, we don’t get a chance to see it. At the end of last years’ contest, I was concerned with precisely this issue, that the contest was being perceived as solely the “Blurb contest”, and that the submissions were only for books produced using Blurb’s platform.* I wanted to know, could we encourage submissions from around the world and increase the number of non-Blurb produced books in order to advnace the explicit goal of celebrating all self-published photography books?
The answer is yes.
The first thing we** decided to do was look at the language used. There is a very careful use of wording this year informing and surrounding the announcement and marketing of the contest. The contest is “presented by Blurb” but supported by so many other companies within our industry: HP (who provides the Grand Prize money), Adobe, Wacom, x-rite, New Page, Mohawk, livebooks, and on and on. In other words, this is a group effort.
In the promotional material produced, as well as on the website, there is a concerted effort to avoid implying that one must use Blurb’s platform to produce a submission. The front page of the website states, “PBN is an international juried competition celebrating the most creative, most innovative, and finest self-published photography books – and the people behind them.” This should be read literally and taken at face value.
Sometimes there is confusion around the rules and guidelines, which, as we all know, are ultimately crafted by lawyers. Here, in plain language, is what we hope will be submitted: any self-published photography book by any artist (young or old, “professional” or not), using any reproduction and binding technique—from offset lithography, to web-press on newsprint, to print-on-demand, to bound ink-jet prints, to saddle-stiched Xeroxes. The point is, it doesn’t matter how you make your book, just make the best one you can and submit it!
Lastly, this year the organizers produced a series of videos with me, as lead judge, in which we explain and clarify the criteria of what the judges will be looking for in each submission and how to approach the categories. You can find those videos here, for the judging criteria, and here, for the categories. I hope you’ll find them explanatory and useful.
Friends, we are witnessing and participating in an extremely rich moment in the history of photography. This moment is quite unparalleled; the resources and tools available for artistic expression and distribution are immense. The interest in the photographic book form has blossomed over the last decade due to a variety of factors—the Roth and Parr/Badger volumes, the advent of print-on-demand (POD), the healthy flourishing of numerous small publishing houses and independent photobook distributors and libraries, exhibitions and awards devoted to photography books, and the global interconnectedness that the Internet has facilitated, to name a few. (I’ve highlighted some of these resources in a blog posting here).
The contest organizers have explicitly expressed the desire to provide a forum—the contest itself—as well as the financial capital and human resources to offer these amazing awards and parties around the world to honor those photographers that are making books that advance the medium of photography. In “presenting” this contest, they are stating a deep conviction to the book as a vehicle for ideas, for creative expression, and ultimately a belief in the arts as a means to advance human society.
Once again this year, we have an amazing line-up of judges drawn from the wide, wide world of photography: historian Gerry Badger, Chris Boot of Aperture, Matt Eich of LUCEO, photographer Larry Fink, Claudia Hinterseer of Noor Agency, photographger Henry Horenstein, Whitney Lawson of Travel+Leisure, Larissa Leclair of Indie Photobook Library, Jon Levy of Foto8, photographer Steve McCurry, Laura Brunow Miner, and Markus Schaden of Schaden.com.
If you aren’t excited about showing your book to these folks, I’m not sure who you’re waiting for.
This contest is here for us. It is here to seek out and celebrate the best self-published photobooks of our time. We have pulled together an amazing group of judges this year, all of whom represent a firm commitment to the medium, and are known throughout the photography world for their efforts.
It is up to the photographers and bookmakers to show us what they’ve got. We can’t wait!
—Darius Himes, June 2011
PS Want to continue this conversation? Head over to Flak Photo’s Facebook page and post your comments.
[All photographs courtesy Mickey Smith. View her website here.]
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* There have been non-Blurb books that have won various awards over the past few years. Elisabeth Tonnard’s In this Dark Wood, and Cara Phillip’s Singular Beauty to name two.
** I am not an employee of Blurb, but I consult with the contest organizers as the lead judge.
Words Without Pictures (Aperture, 2010)
Tuesday, April 6th, 2010
Words Without Pictures, edited by Alex Klein (Aperture, 2010)
Including an essay by Darius Himes (among numerous others)
ISBN 978-1597111423
6 x 8 inches, Softbound, 510 pages
Words Without Pictures was originally conceived by curator Charlotte Cotton as a means of creating spaces for discourse around current issues in photography. Every month for a year, beginning in November 2007, an artist, educator, critic or curator was invited to contribute a short unillustrated essay about an aspect of emerging photography. Each piece was available on the Words Without Pictures website for one month and was accompanied by a discussion forum focused on its specific topic. Over the course of its month-long “life,” each essay received both invited and unsolicited responses from a wide range of interested parties. All of these essays, responses and other provocations are gathered together here. Previously issued as a print-on-demand title, we are pleased to present Words Without Pictures to the trade for the first time as part of the Aperture Ideas series. The contributors are Amy Adler, George Baker, Christopher Bedford, Walead Beshty, Sarah Charlesworth, Charlotte Cotton, John Divola, Shannon Ebner, Jason Evans, Harrell Fletcher, Paul Graham, Leslie Hewitt, Darius Himes, Soo Kim, Sze Tsung Leong, Miranda Lichtenstein, Sharon Lockhart, Allan McCollum, Kevin Moore, Carter Mull, Marisa Olson, Arthur Ou, Anthony Pearson, Michael Queenland, Allen Ruppersberg, Alex Slade, A.L. Steiner, Penelope Umbrico, James Welling, Charlie White, Mark Wyse and Amir Zaki.
Excerpt from the essay “Who Cares About Books?” by Darius Himes
Photography.Book.Now online updates!
Thursday, July 9th, 2009Over the past 2 weeks, there has been an outpouring of excitement about the Photography.Book.Now 2009 contest and the impending DEADLINE at noon on July 16th! Here’s a quick round-up of all the press:
There are several interviews with me as the Lead Judge of the contest:
Photographer Cara Phillips, one of last year’s Photography.Book.Now runner-ups, maintains a wonderful blog. She’s just posted an interview with me about the contest. Photo-eye Director Rixon Reed interviewed me for their online magazine. Photographer and blogger Douglas Stockdale also ran a few questions past me. And the Live Books folks posted a short interview with me on their blog.
Other online shout outs about the contest:
Amy Stein, a photographer who recently published her first book (via the Critical Mass Book prize), made mention of the contest on her blog. Hey, Hot Shot! (a fabulous Jen Bekman project, who was one of last years’ judges) posted a nice little piece, as did Lesley A. Martin (Publisher at Aperture) on the Aperture blog. Lesley was also one of last years’ Photography.Book.Now judges.
That’s it. Now go make a book!
DEADLINE: July 16, Photography.Book.Now 2009
Thursday, June 25th, 2009
(“Embarrassing Books“, by Penelope Umbrico)
Pretty much the best annual contest for book-loving photographers is about to END on July 16, a mere 3 weeks away!*** I’m talking about Photography.Book.Now, version 2.0, folks. Hosted by Blurb, one of the acknowledged leaders of the print-on-demand revolution, the Photography.Book.Now contest is important for several reasons. Besides the big carrot of $25,000 USD (just ask Beth Dow how fun it was to receive that last year, no strings attached), and other goodies and parties along the way, it’s a chance to get your work in front of a group of top-notch judges who will all be judging the entries in New York shortly after the end of the contest in mid-July.
(*** I’m one of the judges in this contest, heading up the team for a second year.)
But, to be honest, the educator side of me thinks this contest is important because of how it gets photographers to think outside of the box and to think in relation to the book as a separate entity, one that is a combination of many arts.
Let me explain. …
A book, in general, is a very democratic and accessible vehicle to disseminate ideas, in the form of either text or images—two primary advantages are that books require no electricity and can be returned to again and again, unlike an exhibition, for instance, or the Internet.
Creating a successful book involves editing and sequencing and design all in light and in line with an overriding concept which has to be determined ahead of time. Asking yourself ahead of time, “Who is this book for?” and “What am I trying to accomplish with this book?” is extremely important.
The three categories of this year’s contest Fine-Art, Editorial and Commercial are designed to encourage photographers to think about books the way publishers do. Let me restate that: the categories require that photographers think like publishers.
The fine-art category is extremely broad and the most subjective, in that photographers and artists using photography can do whatever they want to produce their book. Books from “art” photography publishing houses like Nazraeli Press, Twin Palms, J&L Books, Aperture, Phaidon, or Radius Books—are often “name” driven and rely on an audience that recognizes that name, whether that’s a really huge name, like Annie Leibovitz, or someone lesser-known, like Julie Blackmon. What is most important in relation to this category is that the content of the book is driven by the personal, artistic concerns of the artist/photographer, and not by “market conditions”.
Editorial photography, which is the second category, is a much different animal than ‘fine art’ photography and book making. Let me state two things at the outset, though. I’m not really interested in or trying to stoke the debate surrounding questions about what constitutes ‘art’ photography. First of all, anything done well is done artfully. If it serves the goals that one sets out with, then ‘art’ has been employed. With more ‘utilitarian’ tasks, art enhances the outcome—think of ‘the art of cooking’ or ‘the art of furniture-making.’ There are more abstract tasks, such as teaching or public speaking, which also benefit from thoughtful and inspired attention, and which employ ‘art’. So, in our case, I don’t want anyone to think that any of the three categories don’t somehow employ art or don’t constitute artfully done work.
Editorial and commercial photographers often serve patrons other than themselves, however, and this is a big distinction. So, an editorial photographer sent on an assignment to cover X, may find themselves with a much larger, broader, more engaging body of work than will ever get published in a magazine. And they may want to turn that project into a book, and get it out there to a wide audience. Likewise, a commercial shooter ofter has photographic skills that translate into a broadly accessible visual language, and can be used for a ‘commercial’ book project. Publishers often conceive of book projects in-house and then commission commercial photographers to produce work for the book. [cont'd below]
[Image Collection #1: Instances of Books Being Read (from home-decor and home-improvement webistes and catalogs), 2007, by Penelope Umbrico]
Perhaps some concrete examples would help. A new book from Princeton Architectural Press—Bamboo Fences, by Isao Yoshikawa and Osamu Suzuki—is a great example of a commercial book project, in my mind. It’s about a very specific subject—bamboo fence building in Japan, written by Yoshikawa—and Suzuki’s photographs perfectly illustrate the work and convey the physical and abstract beauty of these objects. It’s primarily a photography book, but is supplemented by the text. The name of the photographer (or even the author) is not what will drive the sales of this book. It’ll be bought by architects and interior design folks that are hip to the subject matter.
Here’s another example: Bird, by Andrew Zuckerman. It has a specific subject matter that has been very artfully photographed by a commercial photographer. The audience for this book—and by that I mean ultimate sales for this book—is hoped (by Chronicle Books the publisher), I would guess to be upwards of 50,000+. Who doesn’t like birds?
Further: here are two examples of books that have a pretty broad ‘trade’ appeal, but which are not really ‘commercial’ books the way I’ve talked about the books above. They are Jonah Frank’s Right, Portraits from the Evangelical Ivy League (Chronicle Books), and Articles of Faith by Dave Jordano (Center for American Places). In my mind, both of these books probably stemmed from assignments, and once embarked upon, held a fascination for the photographers, blossoming eventually into the book length projects we see on the shelves. Both have more of a storytelling quality to them then either Bamboo Fences or Bird. In that sense, that come out of a ‘documentary’ tradition, but are presented in as appealing a way to as broad an audience as possible.
In either the editorial or commercial category, I would emphasize again that you need to think like a publisher if you are going to submit to that category. Visit websites of publishers (like this one and this other one) and read the ‘catalog copy’ that they produce about their own books. It’ll give you great insight into what type of audience they are aiming for. In many ways, creating an intelligent, succesfull commercial is as hard as creating a successful fine-art project.
[For more reading on the current explosion in the art & photobook market, you'll all have to wait for the book I'm co-authoring with Mary Virginia Swanson about just that. It will be published by Princeton Architectural Press in 2010. For a self-taught graduate seminar in your hands, pick up The Photobook: A History, Volumes 1 & 2 by Martin Parr and Gerry Badger (Phaidon) or a copy of the newly released WordsWithoutPictures.org conceived and edited by Charlotte Cotton at LACMA, to which I contributed an essay.]
And lastly, a huge shout out to Penelope Umbrico, whose work with photos from Flickr is smart and stunning. Penelope, if you’re reading this, I hope we all get to see a book of yours someday soon!
Benson’s The Printed Picture reviewed in Aperture 194
Monday, April 6th, 2009
The Printed Picture, by Richard Benson (MoMA, 2010)
Reviewed in Aperture 194, Spring 2009, by Darius Himes
ISBN 978-1-57687-510-0
8.25 x 11 inches, Hardcover, 338 pages, numerous illustrations
Excerpt from the review by Darius Himes:
Benson, a photographer and master printer, has a methodical mind and approaches his subject systematically; The Printed Picture is thus, at its most basic level, a textbook—though the writing is never pedantic or stuffy. Benson developed the material presented here over the course of thirty years of teaching at Yale University, and reading his words is not unlike the experience of being in a lecture hall. Each chapter presents a class of printing processes (such as “relief printing” or “non-silver processes”), and each derivative process within that chapter is limited to a double-page spread complete with illustration and detail enlargement. Entire processes are distilled to three or four paragraphs at most—digestible, succinct, and engaging.
In the first 100 pages of this 338-page book Benson takes great pains to cover all the known processes, and offers a sturdy and admirably comprehensible outline of the fundamental approaches to reproduction prior to photography. In the book’s first four chapters he discusses relief, intaglio, and planographic printing—the triumvirate of ink-on-paper printing techniques—along with early multiple-impression color processes and such elementary printing methods as stencils, rubbings, silhouettes, and the typewriter. All these early techniques, some of which have been around for centuries (in certain cases millennia), seem to have played an important role on the inexorable passage toward the invention of photography. …
The Printed Picture will speak most clearly to those readers who have spent years in the halls of art schools and love the smell of ink and turpentine, who wax poetic at the sight of fixer-stained trays, or geek out over a mammoth-plate albumen print. By the end of the book, it is clear that materiality and man’s incessant curiosity are the central themes of The Printed Picture. The love of objects and of evidence of the artist’s hand—as un-digital as that may sound—are still both relevant and worthy of celebrating. —Darius Himes.
Aperture 194, Spring 2009
Tuesday, February 24th, 2009
Traditional chemical photography is an extraordinarily flexible field, which, even as it disappears, has hardly been touched.—Richard Benson
The Spring 2009 issue of Aperture (194) arrived today with my review of Richard Benson’s recently published book, The Printed Picture. The book, which stands on its own, also accompanies an exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, in New York City, and which, thankfully, is still open for viewing (through July 13, 2009). For ANYONE interested in the history of image-making, reproduction techniques, and the history of photography and photographic practices, this show (and book) is an absolute MUST.
Here’s an excerpt from my review of the book:
Benson, a photographer and master printer, has a methodical mind and approaches his subject systematically; The Printed Picture is thus, at its most basic level, a textbook—though the writing is never pedantic or stuffy. Benson developed the material presented here over the course of thirty years of teaching at Yale University, and reading his words is not unlike the experience of being in a lecture hall. Each chapter presents a class of printing processes (such as “relief printing” or “non-silver processes”), and each derivative process within that chapter is limited to a double-page spread complete with illustration and detail enlargement. Entire processes are distilled to three or four paragraphs at most—digestible, succinct, and engaging.
In the first 100 pages of this 338-page book Benson takes great pains to cover all the known processes, and offers a sturdy and admirably comprehensible outline of the fundamental approaches to reproduction prior to photography. In the book’s first four chapters he discusses relief, intaglio, and planographic printing—the triumvirate of ink-on-paper printing techniques—along with early multiple-impression color processes and such elementary printing methods as stencils, rubbings, silhouettes, and the typewriter. All these early techniques, some of which have been around for centuries (in certain cases millennia), seem to have played an important role on the inexorable passage toward the invention of photography. …
The Printed Picture will speak most clearly to those readers who have spent years in the halls of art schools and love the smell of ink and turpentine, who wax poetic at the sight of fixer-stained trays, or geek out over a mammoth-plate albumen print. By the end of the book, it is clear that materiality and man’s incessant curiosity are the central themes of The Printed Picture. The love of objects and of evidence of the artist’s hand—as un-digital as that may sound—are still both relevant and worthy of celebrating. —Darius Himes.
Enjoy!
Photography: A Very Short Introduction
Words Without Pictures (Aperture, 2010)
Short Track, by Jake Mendel
Bird Watching, by Paula McCartney