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21st Fine Photography Book Publishers
PHOTO NEW YORK
by Linda DiGusta
The notion of a fine art photography fair conjures images of images - the famous ones by the greats of the last 100 years, the edgy ones featuring life as we know it, images of flowers, landscapes, animals, babies, famous faces, on color and black & white. While all the above were framed and hanging at the Metropolitan Pavilion last weekend for Artfairs Inc.'s Photo NY fair, some of the most impressive offerings were not hanging at all.
The pieces that attracted us to one booth were lying open on stands of fine wood. The exhibitor was 21st Fine Photography Book Publishers, and their work went far beyond paged of reproductions with informational captions. These very limited editions (average is about 65 per title) feature gallery-quality prints, suitable for framing if the buyer so chooses, mounted on page after page of the finest paper and literary text specially selected or commissioned for the work. Exquisitely designed, finished and bound, these books are priced in the $10,000 range. when we wondered at the fact that they were set out at the fair for all to peruse, 21st staffer Pam Clark informed us that it is so important to be able to touch the materials in order to understand them, that 2 copies of each addition are made for this purpose alone. Invited to touch, we did, and she is absolutely right. In the case of Sally Mann's work, she is also the writer, making the volume a truly intimate, immersing experience of one of the most noteworthy artists active today. Another remarkable tome featured the photography of Eikoh Hosoe and the Poetry of Baudelaire.
"Eikoh Hosoe and the Poetry of Baudelaire"
21st Fine Photography Book Publishers
We found another stellar collaboration on the well-filled shelves of Harper's Books - the photographs of Lucien Clerque, cover by Picasso and a poem by Jean Cocteau add up to a small treasure for any lover of art and /or books. The eclectic and extensive selection of this dealer included the works of Irving Penn, Josef Sudek and W. Eugene Smith.
Photography by Lucien Clerque, cover by Picasso and
a poem by Jean Cocteau
From harpers Books East Hampton
The galleries even provided a few surprises for those who still expect their photographic artwork to hang, from a wall-size assemblage made of cut-out Polaroids, to many examples of moving image art that has been rendered usable and desirable to collectors by digital technology. Jared Whitman's video piece "Shell Factory Station," shown by Vara-Kuelbs Projects, was a humorously compelling example. At times we had to ask the dealers what sort of "photograph," we were actually looking at. Tracy Causey-Jeffrey of Ch'i Contemporary Fine Art explained for us the multi-level photograms of Wanda Taylor Remington, who alters her original photos through a process of contact printing, then adds touches to the resulting print by hand.
"Shell Factory Station," shown by Vara-Kuelbs Projects
The 21st Century photography exhibition, as evidenced by the wide range of work on view at Photo NY, is an ever-evolving concept. Photography itself, through the creative and technological innovations of artists and publishers, continues as a genre to cross over boundaries towards becoming, for many intents and purposes, borderless.
Editors' note - The Photo Review was represented at Photo NY by an amazing collection of works that are for sale as part of the organization's Benefit Auction to take place on October 28th in Philadelphia. For information, online bidding and catalogs, visit http://www.photoreview.org or call 215-891-0214.
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