Indie Photobook Week (part 3)

Books by Alec Soth

As a final installment of posts in honor of the 3rd annual Book Fair being held tomorrow at Philadelphia Photo Arts Center, I present my collection of books by Alec Soth. Most of these are published by Soth's own Little Brown Mushroom publishing venture. Little Brown Mushroom is one of the small book publishers that will be presented at the PPAC Book Fair.

Lonely Boy Mag
"A -1 : Alec Soth's Midwestern Exotica"
"A- 2: Boys and Their Cars"

The first book by Alec Soth I ever bought was Lonely Boy Mag, "A-1: Alec Soth's Midwestern Exotica" followed by "A-2: Boys And Their Cars". Both of these books were published in 2011. A-1 is a solo project by Soth, while A-2 includes the work of Todd Hido, Alec Soth, Chad States, and Peter Davidson. Todd Hido was the juror for this year's ONWARD competition, and I got him to sign my A-2 copy when he lectured at the ONWARD Summit back in January. Hido claimed it was the only copy he has ever signed. Chad States will be attending the PPAC Book Fair this weekend and I'm hoping I can get another "rare' signature. Both of these books are editions of 1000. A-1 is sold out, while A-2 is still available on the Little Brown Mushroom website.

Lonely Boy Mag  A-2
erotic dioramas by Peter Davidson

I won't go into the complete explanation of Soth's alter-ego Lester B Morrison here. It is too complex and would require a lengthy post of its own. Lets just say that Soth sometimes works under the pseudonym Lester B Morrison in order to explore an artistic and psychological sense of freedom.The name follows Soth's obsession with the initials LBM....(Little Brown Mushroom, Lester B. Morrison, etc) Here are three zines by Lester, all with titles containing the LBM initials. These are sold as a set of three in an edition of 500.

3 Zines by Lester B. Morrison
"Lester Becomes Me"
"Lonely Bearded Men"
"Library of Broken Men"

from "Library For Broken Men"

from "Lester Becomes Me"

House Of Coates is a more formal step into the world of Lester. It is published in a very unique format, being spiral-bound similar to a cookbook or shop manual. The book is written by Brad Zeller, who tells the story of the elusive life of Lester B Morrison. The images in the book supposedly come from a duct-taped shoe box that Zeller received in the mail containing over two hundred photographs taken by Morrison. This book was released in an edition of 1000 and sold out very quickly. It is now in a second printing of another 1000 copies.The first printing copies have a green cover, while the second printing cover is brown.

House Of Coates
First printing. (Edition of 1000)

from House Of Coates

Finally, Alec Soth and Lester B Morrison lead us to the book collector's dream (or nightmare), with the Steidl Mack publication of Broken Manual. It took four years to produce this book (2006-2010). An edition of 300, each copy is a unique hardcover book hand cut to receive the hidden paper bound Broken Manual inside. (see Peter Davidson's exotic dioramas from Lonely Boy A-2 above). The books were presented all together in an installation at Sean Kelly Gallery in New York last year before being distributed to collectors.

Broken Manual installation
Sean Kelly Gallery, NY
photo by Jason Wyche

Broken Manual installation
Sean Kelly Gallery, NY
photo by Jason Wyche

Broken Manual  (#265 of 300)

Broken Manual

Broken Manual is both a photo essay of men living off the grid, as well as an instruction manual for those who would like to do so (or only dream of doing so). Soth photographed monks, survivalists, hermits, and runaways in an array of haunting and intimate images. The photographs are interspersed with pages containing tips and techniques on escaping from civilization and how to stay hidden. Many of these instructions are repeated from Lester's trio of zines (see above).

Broken Manual

Broken Manual is quite incredible to browse through. Every little detail is amazing. The shell books are intentionally distressed and contain foxing to the interior linings. Pages are hand cut and glued to create the recessed area for the inserted manual. Glued to the inside of the book is a little booklet called "Liberation Billfold Manifest" which contains sample letters to leave behind for loved ones when the time comes to head for the hills. Also included is a signed 8" X 10" color print of Soth's transformation into Lester B Morrison... "Lester Becomes Me".

Broken Manual

Broken Manual

I agonized for months over the decision to buy this book. It is way beyond my usual price range. I had never bought a Steidl limited edition book before, although I have lusted over many of them.Several times I changed my mind and told myself I was crazy to spend that much money on a book. I started to think in terms of "investment" and "secondary market value", and that takes the fun out of collecting. The dozens of twenty dollar small edition photobooks in my collection are almost always purchased with an element of fun. If a few of them become rare collectibles, that will be great, but I don't buy them with that in mind. I don't regret buying Broken Manual, not one bit. I love it. It was important for me to complete my collection of Soth's books. But the stigma of "investment value" will always be attached to it, unlike any of the other books in my collection.

I am looking forward to nothing but fun at tomorrow's 3rd Annual Book Fair at Philadelphia Photo Arts Center. Several artists and publishers from my collection of books will be there and it will be nice to meet face to face. I attended the first Book Fair at PPAC in 2010. It was rather small, but what I saw there really jump started my interest in small independent book publishing. This year's fair has really grown in size with over thirty small publishers participating. Check out the list here.  And the Indie Photobook Library will be bringing along a first ever crowd curated exhibit from its collection. A list of the books IPL director Larissa Leclair will be bringing to Philly is listed here.

Hope to see you at the Book Fair if you are planning to attend. If not, I will be posting photos and a review here on PHOTO/arts Magazine. 

Third Annual Book Fair at Philadelphia Photo Arts Center

Indie Photobook Library

Little Brown Mushroom Books

Towards the 21st Century

“To celebrate new ideas in photography, we are asking people to nominate up to five photographers who have demonstrated an openness to use new ideas in photography, who have taken chances with their photography and have shown an unwillingness to play it safe."

In response to this open call from Joerg Colberg and Colin Pantall for examples of the current avant-garde among photographers, here are the first two that come to mind for me...


Zoe Strauss

Zoe Strauss
Billboard #28 "Women Kissing" at Cottman Ave & Revere Street

At the turn of the century, an unknown Philadelphia based artist named Zoe Strauss created a ten year public art project that presented an annual outdoor photography exhibit, displaying works in progress mounted on concrete pillars under Interstate 95 in South Philadelphia. Visitors were invited to take home a print at the end of each annual one day exhibit. Five dollar copies of the images from the exhibit were sold to art collectors and curious neighborhood visitors who (towards the end of the decade) stood in line for hours for a chance to meet Zoe face to face and have her sign the prints. In 2012, as part of a mid career retrospective at the Philadelphia Art Museum, images were displayed on 54 billboards throughout the city of Philadelphia, further enhancing the public accessibility of her art. Strauss fully embraced the transparency of social media; allowing Facebook, Twitter and her blog to become an open diary and window into her work process. Starting relatively late as a photographer (age 30), she does not even have a 20th Century portfolio. Strauss developed an internationally recognized photography career entirely within the 21st Century.  The PMA exhibit had the double effect of being one of the most talked about and well attended exhibits in the museum's history, while at the same time ruffling the feathers of Philly's photographic olde guard. Self taught photographer Zoe Strauss has never played it safe a day in her life. Just ask the White House press secretary.



Alec Soth

Alec Soth photobooks

Alec Soth has changed the way we think about, and consume, photobooks. Always pushing in new directions, Soth sells a wide variety of book formats via his prolific Little Brown Mushroom publishing venture. Collectors can buy limited edition books that range in price from less than ten dollars to almost one thousand dollars, in an amazing variety of formats. Soth has produced cheap staple bound zines in various edition sizes, as well as elaborate projects such as Broken Manual that took several years to complete. Most recently, Soth has been travelling the United States, producing very quickly edited newsprint "dispatches" from places like Ohio and Upstate New York. Soth also transitions seamlessly from solo artist to collaborator. Projects such as Lonely Boy Magazine have been produced with multiple contributors, House Of Coates was produced with writer Brad Zellar, and Soth has ventured into the pseudo-psychological realm via his alter-ego Lester B Morrison. I am an avid collector of Alec Soth's books and have written about my passion previously on PHOTO/arts Magazine.  Alec Soth has little competition in becoming the defining figure in the early 21st Century photobook genre.

AIPAD 2011

Notes on AIPAD 2011... (Part 1)

Had a wonderful afternoon yesterday at the press preview for the 2011 AIPAD show at the Armory in New York City. Meeting new folks I had only known through the internet and blogs, such as Susan May Tell and Elizabeth Avedon, long lost high school classmate Andrea Meislin of Andrea Meislin Gallery, fellow blogger Ruben Natal-San Miguel of Art Most Fierce, and nice chats with gallery owners Yossi Milo, Bruce Silverstein, Deborah Bell, Spencer Throckmorton, and others who were all refreshingly upbeat and ready for a long weekend ahead. It was also nice to see some Philadelphia representation from Gallery 339 and Paul Cava. I chatted with Martin McNamara of Gallery 339 about the ever improving state of photography venues in Philadelphia

This is a fabulous photography show with something for everyone. At least for everyone's eye, certainly not everyone's budget. Pricing seems cautiously robust and confident. The air of optimism among many dealers I spoke to regarding a turn around after several down years is tenuous at best, although more than a few galleries have returned to AIPAD after several years hiatus, adding to a low buzz of energy in the hall that we all hope means good years ahead for the photographic art collecting world.

Here are some of the things that caught my eye...


Books! (Some very expensive books!!) There are two photo book dealers at the show, Harper's Books, and Jeff Hirsch Books. I could have spent my entire time at the show browsing through what these dealers had on shelves and display cases. Lot's of vintage Japanese photo books, and a full range from early books such as New York by Alvin Langdon Coburn ($75,000) to the first artist book by Ryan McGinley ($9500). The trio of books below really got my attention; New Topographics ($1500), Anonyme Skulpturen ($9500), and New Industrial Parks (Baltz) ($2750). They would all look great in my library!

Jeff Hirsch Books (AIPAD 2011)

Favorite dealer display was Deborah Bell Gallery. Such a unique and eclectic mix going on in that booth I found myself walking through it over and over. Bell is displaying some very interesting prints by G. P. Fieret, Andy Warhol, Marcel Broodhaers, Marcia Resnick, and a corner devoted to the current exhibit at the gallery in Chelsea, Susan Paulsen: Sarah Rhymes With Clara

Deborah Bell Gallery (AIPAD 2011)

Another solid display was the choice of Weinstein Gallery of Minneapolis to present a one man show of Alec Soth.The display is Soth's most recent body of work, Broken Manual. Big bold prints by a contemporary master was a nice balance to the historical and vintage master works throughout the halls. Alec Soth will be participating in one of the panel discussions to be held on Saturday. Photography Now: How Artists Are Thinking Today will discuss the issues contemporary artists are dealing with. The other panelists participating with Soth will be Julie Saul, Larry Fink, and Shirin Neshat.

Weinstein Gallery (AIPAD 2011)

LBM Dispatch: Michigan

Alec Soth    Lake Superior, Marquette (2012)

From October 20th through November 5th, Alec Soth and Brad Zellar will be on the road in Michigan, producing an election season version of the LBM Dispatch in one of the country’s most diverse and politically fascinating states. The trip —a rambling search for the state of the union in towns all over Michigan— will take them across the Upper Peninsula to the Mackinac Straits, and then downstate through the enormous territory of the Lower Peninsula, including stops in Saginaw, Flint, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Kalamazoo, and Grand Rapids.

Michigan  will be the third edition of LBM Dispatch books produced by Soth & Zellar. The two previous titles were Ohio and Upstate. Both are terrific and I am looking forward to seeing Soth's images from Michigan, having just traveled through almost everywhere this book will cover.

The LBM Dispatch

Recent Acquisition

Lonely Boy Mag. (No. A-1)
Alec Soth's "Midwestern Exotica"
Little Brown Mushroom (2011)
Edition of 1000

Alec Soth's first venture into erotic publishing, issue number 1 of Lonely Boy is a men's magazine nicely fashioned in the format of vintage 70's style. Funky and different and worth collecting.

Available from...

Photo Eye

Little Brown Mushroom

Towards The City

Toshi-e (Towards the City)  Yutaka Takanashi

My goal for 2011 is to buy a significant photo book each month. (I would love to buy ten a month! but I've set a budget for one) This means careful consideration and research goes into each monthly selection. One of the best ways I have found over the years to select choices is to look at the Best Of photo book selections on the Photo Eye web site. Each December a number of top photographers, critics & curators provide their list of the best photo books for the previous year. I spend quite a bit of time looking through these lists and developing wish lists for my future collection. My book purchase for March came from Alec Soth's list, Yutaka Takanashi's Toshi-e (Towards the City). Published by Errata Editions.

Yutaka Takanashi’s Toshi-e (Towards the City) is a landmark two-volume set of books from one one of the founders of the avant-garde Japanese magazine Provoke. Published in 1974 and considered the most luxurious of all of the Provoke era publications, its brooding, pessimistic tone describes the state of contemporary life in an unnamed city in Japan undergoing economic and industrial change. Books on Books 6 reproduces all one hundred sixteen black and white photographs that make up the two volumes. Photographer, writer and book historian Gerry Badger, contributes an essay called Image of the City - Yutaka Takanashi's Toshi-e.

I chose the book primarily because of it's connections to my own interests in New Topographics photography of the late sixties to mid-seventies.(New Topographics was my first photo book purchase of 2011) Takanashi's book was published in 1974, the "year of the oil crisis", and the images are about economics, consumption, urban society, and the tensions between free flung consumerism and the resulting price to be paid down the road. Many of the images were in fact taken by Takanashi through the open sunroof of his car while speeding down the road. In his essay for the book, Gerry Badger describes the images as "Robert Frank or William Klein on speed." These are not the careful, quiet studies of Lewis Baltz, Frank Gohlke, Robert Adams, or the other New Topographers who were photographing the man-altered landscapes of America during the same period that Takanashi was recording urban Japan. I like the subtle similarities versus differences that involve the Japanese and American responses to urban landscapes during a time period when both countries were still deeply enmeshed in a post-war economic and political relationship, what Badger describes as schizophrenic (from Japan's point of view).

One really interesting thing about this book... I ordered it from Photo-Eye earlier this week and it arrived in my mailbox on the day of the Japan earthquake and tsunami. I sat in the safety and comfort of my living room paging through this book on a day of terror and sadness for many Japanese. I was amazed by the images below from the book in light of the events that had taken place on that very day.

At times like this we want to reach out and help in our own individual ways. I was pleased to learn that some quick thinking photographers on Facebook have organized an online photo auction to benefit victims in Japan. Photographers can donate a print to be auctioned in a limited edition of ten 8" X 10" prints to be sold for $50 each with 100% of proceeds going to Japanese quake relief efforts. The group is called Life Support Japan, and I will post more details as they develop. I am donating Curtains (Rhawn Street) which was chosen by Larry Fink for ONWARD 11, and will be traveling in a group show to Ring Cube gallery in Tokyo, Japan this coming May. I thought it was an appropriate selection. My thoughts and prayers go out to those who are suffering in Japan.

Photo Eye Best Books of 2010

Errata Editions

Life Support Japan

Recent Acquisition

Lonely Boy Mag. (No. A-2)
Boys & Their Cars
Featuring Todd Hido, Peter Davidson, Chad States, Alec Soth
Little Brown Mushroom (2011)
Edition of 1000

Little Brown Mushroom Books

One of the most important international photography events, The AIPAD Photography Show New York, will be presented by the Association of International Photography Art Dealers (AIPAD) from March 17 through 20, 2011. More than 70 of the world’s leading fine art photography galleries will present a wide range of museum-quality work including contemporary, modern and 19th century photographs, as well as photo-based art, video and new media, at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City. The 31st edition of The AIPAD Photography Show New York will open with a Gala Preview on March 16 to benefit the John Szarkowski Fund, an endowment for photography acquisitions at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The AIPAD Photography Show New York is the longest running and foremost exhibition of fine art photography.

“Photography has been less affected by the recession than other parts of the art world,” said Stephen Bulger, President, AIPAD, and President, Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto. “As a result, photography remains a growing market. Now more than ever, AIPAD is a must-do show for collectors, and clearly is the best show for photography in North America.”

Exhibitors:
A wide range of the world’s leading fine art photography galleries will exhibit at The AIPAD Photography Show New York. In addition to galleries from New York City and across the country, a number of international galleries will be featured. An exhibitor list is available at aipad.com/photoshow.

Exhibition Highlights:

Deborah Bell Photographs, New York, will show black-and-white photographs by Andy Warhol (c. 1981-86). These are photographs that precede the stitched or sewn photographic composites and are primarily formal studies taken from street life, providing insight into "Andy's eye." Gary Edwards Gallery, Washington, DC, will show a portrait of Chairman Mao from 1963 by an unknown Xinhua Agency photographer. The portrait is said to have been printed in over 100 million copies. It is the basis of the gigantic portrait hanging on Tiananmen Gate, facing Tiananmen Square in Beijing; and Andy Warhol’s Mao screenprints of 1972 are based on this photograph, as well.

New work by Abelardo Morell will be on view at Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York, including images of a landscape in Florence and a rooftop view of the Brooklyn Bridge made with a camera obscura. Peter Fetterman Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, will bring work by Annie Leibovitz, Lillian Bassman, Sebastiao Salgado, and Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Galería Vasari, Buenos Aires, will show the work of photographers, such as Annemarie Heinrich and Juan Di Sandro, who immigrated to Argentina between the 1930s and ‘50s. Originally from Europe, they belonged to a generation that had been trained at the most refined avant-garde schools and there is no doubt of their fundamental role in the development of modern photography in Argentina.

Michael Hoppen Gallery, London, will show work by the vibrant young Japanese artist Sohei Nishino (born 1982). This will be the first time his work has been shown in the United States. Nishino’s Diorama Map series is an ongoing project to map the world's great cities using his unique process of photography and collage. After an intense month of shooting thousands of photographs on black-and-white film from hundreds of locations across the city, he spends several months developing, printing, cutting, pasting and arranging of the re-imagined city into a huge photographic collage. The final piece is re-shot using a large format camera to create a single grand photographic print.

Niko Luoma is one of the leading professors at the University of Art and Design, Helsinki, and is an integral part of the Helsinki School. His series of abstract C-prints are inspired by nature in flux, every day events, chaos, chance, and time. Luoma uses a simple mathematical system in exposing negative space and composing each work based on ideas of symmetry. The photographs will be on view at Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery, New York.

Fiona Pardington's large-scale photographs in her series Ahua: A Beautiful Hesitation document the sculptures of indigenous peoples encountered during French explorer Dumont d'Urville's 1837 voyage to the South Pacific and will be on view at Lisa Sette Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ.

Panel Discussions:

The AIPAD Photography Show New York will present an ambitious schedule of panel discussions on Saturday, March 19, 2011 at the Veteran’s Room at the Park Avenue Armory.

The panels include PHOTOGRAPHY NOW: HOW ARTISTS ARE THINKING TODAY, which will discuss the issues contemporary photographers and artists are dealing with now. Among the panelists are Julie Saul, Julie Saul Gallery, and artists Sally Mann, Shirin Neshat and Alec Soth.

PICTURES INTO PAGES: PHOTOGRAPHY BOOK PUBLISHING NOW will explore how now more than ever, beautiful photography books are in demand, coveted by many, and considered an important part of a collector’s repertoire. Speakers will include Steven Kasher, Steven Kasher Gallery; Eric Himmel, Vice President, Editor-in-Chief, Abrams; Lesley Martin, Publisher, Aperture Foundation; Nion McEvoy, Chairman & CEO, Chronicle Books; Anthony Petrillose, Managing Editor, Rizzoli; and Gerhard Steidl, Publisher, Steidl.

NEW CURATORS/NEW DIRECTIONS will focus on the work of a photography curator at a top museum. Curators will discuss their goals and reflect on how photography has become more integrated into both exhibitions and collections over the last 10 years. The speakers will include Rick Wester, Rick Wester Fine Art, Inc.; Simon Baker, Curator of Photography and International Art, Tate; Roxana Marcoci, Curator, Department of Photography, The Museum Of Modern Art; Britt Salvesen, Department Head and Curator, Photography Department, Prints and Drawings Department, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Brian Wallis, Chief Curator, International Center of Photography; and Matthew S. Witkovsky, Curator and Chair, Department of Photography, The Art Institute of Chicago.

THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE: BEHIND THE SCENES AT AIPAD GALLERIES will review how leading AIPAD dealers organize exhibitions and work with collectors. Speakers will include Jill Arnold, Director of Business Development, AXA Art Insurance Corporation; Howard Greenberg, Howard Greenberg Gallery; Peter MacGill, Pace/MacGill Gallery; Yancey Richardson, Yancey Richardson Gallery; and Martin Weinstein, Weinstein Gallery.

AIPAD AND THE IPAD: NEW TECHNOLOGY AND PHOTOGRAPHY will look at how all forms of new media technology are affecting the field of photography – from bloggers and Facebook to Flickr and YouTube. Speakers will include: Barbara Pollack, artist and arts journalist; Jen Bekman, Founder + CEO, 20x200 | Jen Bekman Projects; Bill Charles, Bill Charles Represents, New York, and Scott Dadich, Executive Director, Digital Magazine Development, Conde Nast.

Tickets are $10 for the panel discussions and are available on a first-come first-served basis.

Show Information
The AIPAD Photography Show New York will run from Thursday, March 17 though Sunday, March 20, 2010 at the Park Avenue Armory at 67th Street in New York City. Show hours are as follows:

Thursday March 17 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Friday March 18 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Saturday March 19 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Sunday March 20 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The admission is $25 daily and $40 for the run-of-show. Student admission is $10 with a valid student ID. No advance purchase is required. Tickets will be available at the door. For more information, the public can call AIPAD at 202-367-1158 or visit www.aipad.com.