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The Intimate Photobook By David Chow
As good as photography book publishing is these days, with companies such as Nazereli Press, Steidl, Aperture and Lodima Press leading the way in terms of absolute print quality, there is nothing finer than a book illustrated with original photographic prints, paired with seminal writings printed in letterpress and bound in the finest leather. Such celebrated books from the past have included The Pencil of Nature by William Henry Fox Talbot . Printed in 1844 and featuring 26 calotype images, it was the first photographically illustrated book of its kind. Other such books include Idylls of the King of 1874, illustrated with 12 albumen prints by Juliet Margaret Cameron, and Life and Landscape on the Norfolk Broads by Peter Henry Emerson , which contained 40 original platinum prints. All beautiful books in their own right, they were, as one can imagine, very labour intensive and hence costly to produce. Published in limited numbers, they were far too expensive for the average person to purchase.
By the late 19th century the development of photomechanical processes such as photogravure offered the publishing industry more economical means of illustrating books. Between 1887 and 1895 Emerson produced five new books illustrated with photogravures, with Marsh Leaves, regarded by many as Emerson’s best artistic work, as the most notable. While these new books were far more affordable than his first platinum print book, Emerson retained the strong belief that photogravures should be regarded as original prints, a sentiment echoed by both artists and collectors alike. Other books of note from the early 20th century included New York (1910) by Alvin Landgon Coburn, which was illustrated with 20 photogravures, and The North American Indian (1907-1930) by Edward S. Curtis, easily the most ambitious book project of its kind, which included some 20 volumes containing nearly 2000 original photogravure prints.
Coinciding with the work of Coburn and Curtis, Alfred Stieglitz was publishing Camera Work (1903-1917), a journal illustrated with hand pulled photogravures, which were usually produced from the photographers’ original negatives, that has been described as the most beautiful publication of its time. Important work by such photographic icons as Edward Stiechen, Paul Strand, Frank Eugene and Frederick Evans graced the pages of this important publication. One of Stieglitz’s main aims with Camera Work was the establishment of photography as a fine art, a goal he was largely successful in reaching.
Throughout the 20th century many important books were illustrated using photogravure or the more efficient rotogravure printing techniques. Among the most iconic were Brassai’s Paris de Nuit (1933), Henri Cartier Bresson’s The Decisive Moment (1952), and Robert Frank’s The Americans (1958). In Karsh Portfolio (1967), Yousuf Karsh comments in the introduction that never before has his work been printed with such “fidelity” and “so true is the result that friends have said they find it difficult to distinguish between the book-page and the hand-printed original from my darkroom.” Nowadays such books command high prices, and some have even been broken up with the prints sold individually to collectors, as has been the case for many copies of Karl Blossfeldt’s Art Forms in Nature, published in 1928.
The Present Day
Moving ahead to the present day, there are now many options open to the photographer if he or she wishes to get their work published, and there are in fact vast variations in print quality and expense associated with each press or publisher, much of which has been well documented in previous issues of Ag.
For me personally, I started self-publishing my work in 2003. The first book I created was simply entitled Love. With this particular publication I wanted to document a broken relationship I had recently experienced, and the idea of creating a photography book seemed particularly appropriate. It was illustrated with 18 original photographic prints placed alongside poems that had been inspired the images, and all in all it was quite a cathartic experience.
A modest affair, compared to the “original print” photobooks already mentioned, I printed it myself in a small edition of only 25 copies and had it hand bound by a local bookbinder. I approached a gallery in my hometown of Cambridge who liked it and agreed to sell the edition, and within two months it had sold out. As it was a small object, the gallery was able to give it highly visible placement next to the payment counter, and this proved a good way to introduce people visiting the gallery to my work as the book format served like a small portfolio. The very process of creating and publishing a book not only allowed me to focus on assembling a series of cohesive prints, but led to my printing the images from the book as larger individual photographic prints to be sold in other provincial galleries
A year later I came across a photobook of “original prints” at Photo London that had such a profound and lasting effect on me that it changed the nature and course of the next five years of my life.
The book was entitled Sally Mann (2004), which was created and published by 21st Editions, a small publisher and printing press based in Massachusetts. The book contained 10 bound platinum prints that were simply breathtaking, both from an aesthetic and technical point of view. They depicted the artist’s graceful figure and drapery studies that were taken in 1978, preceding the Immediate Family (1992) series of images that the artist is perhaps best known for. Paired alongside the images were haiku-like poems printed in beautiful letterpress and written by Mann herself. Never before had I seen text and images work so well together, as the whole book felt very intimate. It was the first time I had viewed a platinum print, and I was astonished by the subtle yet powerful quality of such prints, radiating gentle warmth with delicate high tones and rich details in the shadows. They indeed had an almost three-dimensional quality to them.
I went away from the show totally inspired and determined to somehow incorporate some of the magic seen in this book into my own personal work. Over the subsequent years I found myself on a journey of discovery as I attempted to learn all I could about alternative photographic printing techniques and the book arts in general. I initially learned how to make cyanotypes, then moved on to photogravure, followed by kalitype and finally platinum. I would not say that I have mastered each process, however I am at a level where I can teach other people interested in such alternative printing techniques through workshops.
On reflection I realised just how influential that one book of Sally Mann’s platinum prints was in my development as a photographer and alternative photographic printer. As such, I wanted to meet the people involved in the creation of this book, so I made an appointment to visit Steven Albahari, the founder of the unique publishing company that is 21st Editions.
A relatively small company, 21st Editions is based in South Dennis, about an hour and a half drive from Boston, MA. On arrival at the offices and publishing studio I was given a tour by Steven’s personal assistant Pam Clark. The interior of the building had a sense of elegance and serenity about it, and many impressive photographs, which Steven had acquired or had been given by other artists, adorned the walls.
I was impressed by the elegant library at the entrance to the offices, which showcased a collection of all thirty-one books 21st Editions had published over the past 12 years. This is where interested buyers and collectors could sit down and peruse these wonderful art objects at their leisure.
Following Pam’s tour of the facilities, I was introduced to Steven, the founder and publisher of 21st Editions. In addition to having previously worked as a full time landscape photographer, Steven has had an interesting and varied background that included the arts, marketing and manufacturing.
In initial conversations with Steven I learned that he first conceived the idea of creating a unique publishing company dedicated to photography in 1990. Having been inspired by exquisitely printed limited edition artist books from the past, namely Ovid’s Metamorphoses illustrated with 30 etchings by Picasso, Longu’s Daphnis and Chloe, illustrated with original lithographs by Chagall and Appollinaire’s Le Poemes Secrets, illustrated with 18 etchings by Dali, Steven wanted to bring this classic standard to something that it had not been applied, the photographic book, because he believed that the leading artists of our time are the worlds finest photographers. However it was not until September 13, 1998, that the company really started to take shape. Clearly a memorable day for Steven, he had brought together photographic auction specialist Denise Bethel, artists Ernestine Ruben and Duane Michaels, gallerist John Stevenson, and writer/scholar John Wood. Each was internationally regarded in his or her respective disciplines of photographic expertise, and the meeting was a tremendous success, as described in Steven’s own words:
‘It was full of undulating dynamics, accented with seriousness and laughter. Titles for the journal were suggested and rejected and speculation on how it would be received was discussed. Here came together a meeting of very different, but equally passionate minds and this marked the starting point for 21st’ ‘
Around this time Steven received a call from Lance Speer, a curator, writer, teacher and marketer. Lance shared Steven’s vision of building a unique kind of journal that would maintain the highest standards at every level. Steven needed a counterpoint, someone he could bounce ideas off of, and he had found it in Lance.
Initially 21ST focussed its attention on producing a publication every year. Published under the umbrella title of 21ST: The Journal of Contemporary Photography ; these beautiful books contained images from a vast array of leading photographers. They were interspersed with articles by internationally acclaimed writers, and contained interviews with historians, curators and literary figures. The Journal was printed in three editions: trade, deluxe and museum, the later two featuring original hand-pulled photogravures , with the books bound in the finest leathers, Japanese silks, and Italian fabrics. It is hard to put into words how beautiful these books are, as they have to be experienced first hand . Not since Stieglitz’s Camera Work had such care been taken at every stage to produce such a fine publication with original prints. Initial praise for these books was high and indeed universal, with the Wall Street Journal stating that what 21ST had accomplished with The Journal of Contemporary Photography was “In Stieglitz’s footsteps.”
21ST Editions has since diversified into publishing original print monographs and portfolios in collaboration with such acclaimed artists as Michael Kenna, Joel-Peter Witkin, Robert & Shana ParkeHarrison, Eikoh Hosoe, Josephine Sacabo, Shelia Metzner and Tom Baril, to name a few. They are printed in a number of photographic media including cyanotype, kalitype, silver gelatin, platinum, and photogravure. They are published in editions limited to between 25 and 100 copies, and are priced from $300 to $25,000 each. I was interested to find out from Steven how long these publications take to create, and what is the process by which they come together.
The monographs can often take two to three years to complete. This begins with the initial proposal to the artists and writers, followed by decisions on integrated bindings and handmade papers, talks with designers, labour intensive letterpress type-setting and image printing, all leading up to the final assembly of each individual book.
In more detailed discussions about how the books are created, Steven talked passionately about how he enjoyed every part of this “Process.” An integral part of this process for him is to delegate, this involves selecting the best craftsman or individual in each of the relevant publishing and printmaking fields and directing them all in a synergistic way to create the final publication, much like a conductor of an orchestra. Without proper direction and delegation I don’t believe it would be possible for any one person to create books of this incredibly high standard.
Having had a good look around the studio I could see how much work was involved in the production of these fine art publications, and I was interested to know from Steven what was the most challenging aspect of publishing “original print” publications and portfolios?
It’s all challenging, every day is different, all of our challenges are driven by passion and that in itself is really the saving grace. Managing the dynamics takes a lot of energy and probably the most challenging thing for most people would be multi-tasking and managing the risk.
