The 10th Annual New York Art Book Fair

The Fair sees thousands of attendees each year

The Conveyor Editions table

A favorite from the Conveyor table

The Light Work table at the New York Art Book Fair

Andrea Sanguinette at the Light Work table

Spaces Corners showcases indie photo books and zine

A new release at the Spaces Corners table

A selection of photo books from S_U_N_ Editions

A notable book from the S_U_N_ table, “The Family Acid”

The Art Metropole table

A noteworthy release from the Art Metropole table

Last Sunday marked the end of the 10th annual New York Art Book fair which its creators, the Chelsea-based Printed Matter Inc., call the largest fair of its type anywhere for artists’ books and similar publications. Each year, tens of thousands of visitors flock to the MoMA’s satellite PS1 museum in Queens, NY to peruse the best photo book publications from vendors hailing from over a dozen counties. The Fair hosts an impressive array of programming, from book signings to experimental performance-art events in addition to showcasing new releases from established and indie publishers alike.

Though many from New York’s famously colorful creative class attended, photographers in particular are drawn to the event. Photo books are enjoying a golden age of sorts and are growing increasingly popular as collector’s items and vectors for photographers to showcase their work. The recent proliferation of print-on-demand services has allowed photographers to make books which only a few years ago would have been prohibitively expensive for them to create. While the photographic universe has inarguably shifted into the intangible, the printed image often is given more weight and impact as a result. The best photo book collections are proving their staying power even as many other types of publications dissolve into the digital world. The New York Art Book Fair is a testament of the importance of object-hood in contemporary photography despite—or perhaps because of—the diffusion of the medium into many online spheres.

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The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism recently published a report in conjunction with World Press Photo confirming what we’ve long suspected—it has never been harder to get by as a full time professional photojournalist.

This lengthy and thorough document bases its findings on the results of a volunteer survey completed by entrants of the 2015 World Press Photo Contests. Participants hailed from more than 100 countries but were concentrated mostly in Europe. Sadly, if unsurprisingly, the report reveals that contemporary news photographers face increasing professional demands while failing to find stable and adequate sources of income.

What’s more, female photojournalists consistently reported having even greater difficulties than their male counterparts. All of today’s working news photographers must do more with less while coping with the prospect their plight will likely continue. You can read the Executive Summary (pages 6-8) of the report for more details, some the more startling findings of which are excerpted below:

-85% of news photography is performed by men. Men were more than twice as likely as women to be employed long-term on a contract basis. More than three-quarters of women photojournalists were self-employed. Self-employed male photographers were also more than twice as women likely to work for a magazine.

-More than half of survey respondents listed themselves as self-employed and three-quarters worked full time as photographers.

-80% reported that they worked alone.

-About a third of new photographers use video but almost all said they’d prefer to stick to still.

-More than two-thirds of the photographers surveyed had a college degree.

-75% made less than $40k/year, one-third are making under $10k/year.

-The majority of European and North American respondents reported that they made less or “a lot less” than they did 5 years ago.

-Almost all said they felt vulnerable to attack or threat while on the job.

-More than half of the photographers who responded to the survey said that social media is an integral part of their work. Most said they received some sort of benefit from using social media but only about a quarter reported that there was actually any financial benefit to them.

-Over half of those surveyed still felt positive about their jobs, despite the adversity that they faced.

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Fujifilm renews its bid for champ in the arena of fun instant cameras with the newly announced Instax Mini 70. Since the dawn of the digital era Fujifilm has dominated the instant camera market thanks in part to a wise partnership with Polaroid. Their most recent addition to the venerable Instax line notably features a selfie mode—appropriate for a medium that long been associated with self-portraiture. A small mirror adhered to the front of the camera makes it a breeze to fix your hair before the perfect shot.

The Mini 70 like previous releases, delivers credit card sized instant photos on Fujifilm’s ISO 800 film. Being lightweight yet durably designed, it can be easily thrown into a bag without a case or snatched up on the way to the beach. Variable flash output and an improved viewfinder help ensure that the 70 will deliver snapshots worth hanging on to.

The fashion-conscious will delight in the three shades of white, yellow and blue in which the camera ships. The camera will be available in November for $140—a double pack of 20 exposure film to go with it will be available for $20.

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Pronghorn Antelope, Niobrara County, Wyoming, 2013

Bassett Livestock Auction, Rock County, Nebraska, 2006

The Ferrell Place, Sioux County, Nebraska, 2013

First Light, Cherry County, Nebraska, 2013

Grossenbacher Homestead, Sheridan County, Nebraska, 2013

Homesteaders’ Tree, Cherry County, Nebraska, 2011

Jordan Budd, Sheridan County, Nebraska, 2013

Roughneck Housing, McKenzie County, North Dakota, 2013

School District 123, Cherry County, Nebraska, 2012

Simon’s Schoolhouse Museum, Pennington County, South Dakota, 2014

Schoolhouse on the China Pasture, Cherry County, Nebraska, 2013

Storm Blow, Sheridan County, Nebraska, 2013

Uncle Teed, Sioux County, Nebraska, 2013

The Yellow Porch, Sheridan County, Nebraska, 2013

Andrew Moore delivers striking vistas of the near West and portraits of its stoic inhabitants in Dirt Meridian, one of our Best Fall Photobooks of 2015. In it, Moore surveys the regions along the longitudinal divide between the verdant East and the arid West, known as the 100th Meridian. The region was first documented by the War Department, back before the United States Geological Survey was created to map and report on the outlying regions of the young country.

Back then, Timothy O’Sullivan and other photographers well known to history, shot some of the first images ever made of what was then called the Great American Desert. George Wheeler, who headed one of the first official forays into the territory in the 19th century reported that “the probable future agricultural population of the areas surveyed…will be governed as much, if not more, by the permanent supply of water than by the acreage available.”

Then as now, the land surrounding the western edge of the 100th meridian is expansive, dry and largely empty. Agriculture, cattle herding, mining and oil industries are intertwined with the history of the West, though the fortunes from these enterprises are hard-won at best. The people of the 100th meridian trace their histories through their relationship with the land. Like the region itself, they are an austere and rugged bunch.

Andrew Moore’s intimate portraits bring us into the homes of families and wizened ranchers whose descendants settled the high plains generations ago. One, “Uncle Teed” as he is referred to in the book, spent all but two of his more than 90 years within the boundaries of his family property in Nebraska. Also pictured are the Budds, a family of five who trace their ranching roots in Nebraska back several generations. Of their three daughters, their eldest Jordan, photographed by Moore in hunter’s camouflage, was trusted to sell the family’s herd of bulls at auction at the tender age of 13. A 2013 The New York Times Magazine article detailing the lives of Moore’s subjects accompanies the photographs in the book.

One of the joys of Dirt Meridian is how the book pairs these portraits with Moore’s dramatic images of the Western landscape. To achieve the bird’s-eye perspective that makes these photos so captivating, he worked with a Cesna pilot he befriended to fly him around. Moore mounted a PhaseOne high-resolution digital medium format camera underneath the plane’s wing with a robotic gimbal. Tethering the camera to a laptop inside the Cesna, Moore was able to compose and take photos from his computer as the pilot flew them low over the landscape. His images record seemingly endless fences, rolling low hills, derelict homesteads, solitary windmills and newly-built tract houses for oil workers.

Moore’s landscapes tell a story that is both timeless and relevant. The economic impact of energy exploration in the area has never been stable. Recent population booms in the oil shale fields of North Dakota recall Colorado’s gold rush, the legacy of which made headlines some weeks ago when waste water from an abandoned mine burst into a local river, polluting it with lead and cadmium. Exploration and extraction of petroleum resources of the type the Dakotas have seen recently can lead to rising land prices. Increasing property values put an even greater burden on old ranching families who see fewer and fewer returns from their efforts. Moore’s signature attention to dereliction is used in great effect in this book to underline the precarious livelihoods of those who have eked out a life in the hardscrabble expanse along the 100th meridian.

Andrew Moore speaks about Dirt Meridian on Tuesday, October 6th at the Penumbra Foundation in New York City.

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Jacob A. Riis is known to many as the father of photojournalism and a muckraking reporter who exposed the plight of the urban poor in the late 19th century. Riis’ many published works drove a movement to reform the housing and labor laws in New York City and across the country.

Today the Museum of the City of New York unveils a remarkably well-designed and curated exhibition, Jacob A Riis: Revealing New York’s Other Half, that focuses on the journalist’s photographic and written work.

Although Riis is often considered one of the first social documentary photographers, according to guest curator Bonnie Yochelson, he really considered himself much more of a writer.

“His real gift was as a storyteller,” she says.

His many published articles, books and a detailed archive of his correspondence make up about half the exhibition. Riis saw his photographs as tertiary to his larger enterprise and ultimately left his entire photographic collection to the ages in a box in his attic.

According to Yochelson many of the pictures associated with Riis were actually taken by other people. He was known in particular to work closely with two amateur photographers, Henry Piffard and Richard Lawrence and a handful of the images presented in Riis’ most well-known work, “How the Other Half Lives” were actually taken by the duo. “The idea of authorship was not important to him,” says Yochelson of Riis’ use of photography in his investigations.

The show is smartly laid out, featuring a variety of his photographs in long glass displays inset in handsome wooden polygons. Of Riis’ photographs, you will find mostly contemporary re-prints made by Chicago Albumen works as very few original prints exist. The newer photographs were made to accurately reflect Riis’s original images, which in the past have been cropped, embellished and blown up.

Amidst the photos, letters, articles and books, you’ll also find a powder tray which Riis used to ignite the explosive powder which illuminated his subjects and made much of his work possible. Also on display is a “magic lantern,” a type of antique projection display that Riis used frequently. Riis used this device to give travelling slide shows that he narrated to advance his journalistic mission. The original lecture was recorded just once when he visited Washington D.C., showed approximately 100 slides and would become the backbone of How the Other Half Lives. Yochelson was able to match photographs from the museum’s collection with the images referred to in the Washington script. Voice-over and foley sounds from the magic lantern’s operation bring Riis’ words to life.

Although Riis may not conform to some modern conceptions of a photojournalist, the exhibition’s incorporation of audio-visual and written works effectively paint him in a very contemporary light. Much as today’s reporters must work around increasingly diverse formats for reportage, Jacob Riis made use of every technology available to him to investigate and disseminate his work. “He was a media-savvy journalist,” says Yochelson, “I think TED talks would thrill him.”

Jacob A. Riis: Revealing New York’s Other Half is on view at The Museum of the City of New York through March 20, 2016.

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The imagePROGRAF PRO-1000

The imagePROGRAF PRO-1000

The imagePROGRAF PRO-1000

The imagePROGRAF PRO-1000

The imagePROGRAF PRO-1000

The imagePROGRAF PRO-1000

Canon ups their inkjet ante with the release of the first printer in their new imagePROGRAF line. Notably, a bold red line runs the width of Canon photo printer housing and is meant to draw an association with the brand’s well-known L series glass. The 17-inch wide imagePROGRAF PRO-1000 seems aimed at the educational market and is designed to quickly produce high-quality prints big enough for small exhibitions or classroom critiques. In many ways it is a beefier, higher-performing version of its little cousin, the 13-inch wide PIXMA PRO-1, having a printhead which is 50% larger. The new head packs a whopping 18,423 nozzles into 1.28 inches of space and is capable of laying down 32 million droplets of ink per second.

Canon has even rolled out a new 12-cartridge inkset for the line, the LUCIA PRO. Notably, the pigment configuration includes a Chroma Optimizer that reduces metamerism in among the usual suspects (cyan, photo cyan, magenta photo magenta, yellow, red, blue, gray, photo gray, photo black and matte black). The imagePROGRAF PRO-1000 photo printer thankfully has dedicated nozzles for each of their black inks, saving you time and ink by cutting out the switching process.

In fact, there are a number of features on this newly released photo printer that are designed to ultimately conserve ink as well as media. Taking some time off from the studio? Just put the imagePROGRAF PRO-1000 into standby mode and it will periodically agitate the ink tanks and even warm up its print head, keeping the precious ink from drying up inside and clogging nozzles. In the event that some nozzles do (and they inevitably will) get clogged, Canon has devised a clog-detection system that kicks on back-up nozzles to prevent drop-outs during a print.

The prints that the imagePROGRAF PRO-1000 delivers have a better “L” value than earlier imagePROGRAF models and what’s more, the imagePROGRAF PRO-1000 packs a built-in color density sensor and calibration function to keep those colors consistent over time. It’s L-COA PRO image processing engine works with a 1GB internal memory core to chew through large image queues – another tip-off that Canon is pitching this photo printer at the academic market.

Although the imagePROGRAF PRO-100 sadly lacks the ability to accept roll paper, its firmware allows for a maximum print length of 129 inches; good news for those interested in jerry-rigging a work-around for panoramic prints. Two paper feeds give you the option of using thicker papers, and a vacuum feed and skew sensor ensure those papers will travel through the photo printer without damage.

Working with Canon recently, I had the opportunity to make several prints on the imagePROGRAF PRO-1000 and was taken aback by the speed and silence with which it printed. That’s right, you read it correctly – it’s actually quiet! On several occasions I had to check that the photo printer was in operation by placing my hand on it to check for vibrations. Considering the quality of the images that it churns out, the imagePROGRAF PRO-1000 is remarkably fast as well, delivering a 17×22-inch print in just 6 minutes. According to Epson, their comparable photo printer, the 17-inch wide Stylus Pro 4900, takes longer than that to produce a top-quality 16×20 inch print.

The imagePROGRAF PRO-1000 can be had at the end of the month for $1,299.99. The 12-ink cartridges will set you back $59.99 excluding the Chroma Optimizer which retails for $54.99.

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You’d likely be as impressed as I was when recently handed the new Leica SL. Overall this camera is quite a treat to shoot though it is not without its flaws and quirks. For one, the camera weighs more than 4.5 lbs with its 24-90mm lens attached.

The lens, which is more than half the weight of the camera, features a sturdy metal sheathing and ribbed rubber rings that are a pleasure to hold. The unusual focal range is delightfully versatile, functioning equally well for portraiture and landscapes. Sadly however, this zoom has variable f/stops (and not overly fast ones at that) ranging from f/2.8–4. With its flocked lens hood attached, the whole thing measures about 9 inches from the camera body when fully extended, so don’t expect to go un-noticed while walking around with one.

One of my favorite things about using the SL was the design of the camera body. The chassis is largely covered with a texturized leatherette that has the feel of canvas and its deep right-hand grip makes holding this beast a delight. The blocky and minimal design hearkens to Leica’s roots while feeling very contemporary at the same time.

In the past I’ve resisted using electronic viewfinders but Leica’s “EyeRes” EVF won me over after a couple of hours. The large 4.4 MP screen and 1.5 inch diameter eyepiece allow for an accurate and comfortable picture preview. You’ll find plenty of real estate for setting information and a small histogram although you can turn most of these off for a more “natural” shooting experience.

A square monochrome screen at the top of camera offers at-a-glance info about the camera settings: mode, f/stop, shutter speed, ISO, battery life, and shot count. The 3 inch touchscreen display on back of the body displays images with accurate brightness and color rendition that is easy to view even when in near-direct sunlight. Both the back screen and EVF can play back your images or operate in live view mode, switching handily via a sensor in the eyepiece when you hold it up to your face.

For Leica, the SL represents a foray into new territory as the configuration of its interface will attest. All of the 11 buttons on the body are unlabeled as most of them are user-configurable. Aside from the standard click-wheel and shutter-speed dial, you will find a small rubberized “joystick” that aids not only in quickly locking down your AF point but also in breezing through Leica’s truncated menu options. Four long plastic buttons flanking the rear screen are very much your sandbox to choose how you’d like to review and delete images or switch between menu options.

After offloading the images from the SL, I was impressed with their brightness and lack of chromatic aberration. The autofocus system delivered solid results with moving subjects and the out-of-the box sharpness and bokeh were both laudable. In the end, my only real qualm with the SL was with its playback zoom. While checking my focus during shooting I found that the camera was not able to fully resolve DNGs while zoomed. I was able to fix this easily however by switching to DNG + JPEG capture. Leica has since confirmed that a forthcoming firmware update will resolve the issue.

The Leica SL

The Leica SL (body only)

f/4.5 1/200, ISO 400

f/4, 1/500 ISO 400

f/22, 1/100, ISO 400

f/4.0, 1/320 ISO 400

f/8, 1/80 ISO 400

f/16, 1/100 ISO 400

f/22, 1/100 ISO 400

f/16, 1/100 ISO 400

f/11, 1/200 ISO 400

f/5.6, 1/320 ISO 400

f/5.6, 1/80 ISO 800

f/4.5, 1/800 ISO 400

f/20, 1/100 ISO 400

f/4.5, 1/800 ISO 400

f/7.1, 1/100 ISO 400

f/4, 1/200 ISO 400

f/5, 1/80 ISO 400

f/6.3, 1/80 ISO 400

Hands-on with the Leica SL

Hands-on with the Leica SL (front)

Hands-on with the Leica SL (back)

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On Monday, Aperture Foundation will mark the 30th anniversary of the publication of Nan Goldin’s The Ballad of Sexual Dependency with an evening of art and entertainment featuring Goldin’s famous The Ballad slideshow. The benefit will also feature a live musical performance by Laurie Anderson and special guests.

Throughout the late 1970s and early ’80s Nan Goldin documented her colorful and often torrid encounters in the East Village neighborhood of New York City. Her vibrant, off-the-cuff photos capture the wild abandon of the post-punk scene and the drag queens, gay culture and hard-partying bohemia of downtown. In advance of Aperture’s benefit, American Photo spoke with Marvin Heiferman, who edited the seminal book along with Mark Holburn and Suzanne Fletcher (who was also a favorite subject of Goldin’s).

This ground-breaking body of work was a slideshow long before it became a book and offered a very different experience of her images. Originally comprised of more than 800 images, this slideshow was “ever-evolving” as Heiferman put it, “it was different every time Nan did it.” Although the images and elements of their sequence changed with each iteration, the basic format of the show remained the same. Viewers (many of whom were also Goldin’s willing subjects) experienced the work in a darkened room as she managed several slide projectors at once, dj-ing not only the images but also a pre-recorded soundtrack that included the Velvet Underground, James Brown and Nina Simone.

In taking this slideshow from projected image to printed page, Heiferman tackled a major challenge. Together with Holburn, Fletcher and Goldin, Heiferman had to shave several hundreds of images down to the 126 photographs that made it into Aperture’s 1986 publication. The many pictures which comprised the original series were made into black-and-white Xerox facsimilies that Heiferman and the rest spread out on the floor of his loft to sequence the book. While they endeavored to retain the feel of the original body of work, they “were not slavish to it, it does kind of track it though” says Heiferman. He does offer an important caveat however, “the book is its own thing.”

Indeed, for the many young people who consider the book a cultural touchstone, the publication is their only experience of the work. Aperture’s Monday event will be a rare opportunity to see Goldin’s images as they were originally shown. Whether on the page or on screen, Heiferman stressed the importance of the photographs’ legacy. “It’s about visibility – the photography world is a big, straight, white world and she was always interested in gender fluidity” says Heiferman of Goldin’s documents of gay culture.

In our conversation he recalled that Goldin was “a photojournalist of herself,” and “always had a camera around her neck.” In some ways her work presaged the abundance of diaristic images made today. “Instagram is everyone’s version of a diary…the slideshow suggests that through photography, we learn about ourselves,” says Hieferman.

Aperture’s benefit will take place at Terminal 5 in Manhattan, NY on Monday, October 26th at 7:30 PM. Tickets are available here.

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Grinding Stone

Empirical Data

Height Field

Artifacts

Works in Progress

In 2013 I began production on a body of work called Science. This series of studio photographs evolved from my discovery of a large number of popular science books from the Scientific American Library on the street as I was leaving my job. I scanned and archived photographs from the books to create a small personal database and used them as an aesthetic guidelines for a series of images I made with simple materials and shot in the small studio in my home with an old 4×5 monorail camera.

Although I enjoyed making the work that would become Science, I never found a proper venue to showcase these photographs I’d labored over. That changed this past June when I noticed an application opportunity from Humble Arts Foundation on social media to apply for an online group show. The show, billed as “F*cked Up” was to be a fairly open-ended collection of images—I thought it might be an excellent opportunity for me to finally show some of my Science photographs.

This opportunity was especially attractive to me because, unlike many applications, this one was free and required minimal preparation. After sending off a brief artist statement, bio and link to my website, I submitted five images from my Science series to be considered for the show.

After I submitted my application I more or less had forgotten about it. Several months later I received a congratulatory email in my inbox letting me know that one of the five photos I’d submitted had been accepted into F*cked Up. The online show went live in late September and featured work by 38 other photographers including Lucas Blalock, Dalia Amara, Karl Baden and Nate “Igor” Smith. I was pleased to find myself among artists whom I knew from my graduate education at SVA, people I’d been introduced to years ago as an undergraduate and even one photographer I’d known as a teenager in suburban northern Virginia. Since the show has been up, I’ve noticed a bump in traffic to my website linking from the group show and have made connections with some of the other artists through social media.

While being in an online show may not have the fanfare of an actually gallery exhibition – it does have several benefits. For one, mounting a physical show can be very costly, the two person exhibition I de-installed last month cost me about three thousand dollars. Shows that are staged “IRL” are also confined to their particular location and gallery hours which may not be convenient for your audience.

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What was the last thing you bought for $100? A pair of designer jeans? A fancy dinner, perhaps? How about a signed, limited-edition print from one of the 20th-century’s greatest photojournalists? During Magnum’s online print sale, you’ll have the chance to make a great addition (or beginning) to your art collection.

The square 6×6-inch archival prints are limited to an edition of the number sold within Magnum’s five-day sale. The photographs for sale represent the work of well-known photographers Robert Capa, Tim Hetherington, Elliot Erwitt and 50 others.

Although any of these prints would look great on your wall at home (not to mention a good investment) we were especially taken with Alex Webb’s photograph from his US-Mexico border work and Michael Christopher Brown’s portrait of Cuban lovers.

Up Close and Personal features the most intimate images from Magnum Photos, as interpreted by over 60 photographers and artists. Signed and estate stamped prints for $100 will be available for a limited time, from 9am on Monday November 9th until 6pm Friday November 13th, here.

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