Archive for the ‘Post-Doctoral research’ Category
A TASMANIAN CYANOTYPE: Untitled Found Objects by Victoria Cooper
Untitled found objects a cyanotype by Victoria Cooper
Untitled Found Objects is created from a collection made of invasive starfish species colonising parts of Tasmanian waters and a map-shaped beer coaster found discarded in the streets of Hobart. In this work I play with these found objects and speculate on their relationship with Place.
.
Found objects: Starfish and Tasmanian coaster map.
When I take the time to study a place through photography and Material Thinking* history is unearthed, reconsidered and reordered. As I walk in each place, I identify and collect objects for further study. Some objects are commonplace or endemic while others may be discarded or dislocated dissonant interventions. I then utilise the cyanotype process as a site-specific medium to record these collections using sunlight and other environmental conditions as experienced in-situ. In this work the cyanotype forms a blue matrix in which these objects are imaged as their shadows. The shadowy imprints inhabit the blue as white ghostly forms referential of their solid origins.
The final work of blue and white is a paradox between its fiction and truth, the featureless blueness only revealing form by its absence. To think about the cyanotype in this way ushers in many questions: Is the cyanotype blue a political or aesthetic statement? Do the white shadows speak of absence or are they the essence of a presence? Does the reader need an exegesis to understand a poem?i
Victoria Cooper
.
Untitled found objects exposing the cyanotype
*The concept of an aesthetic methodology proposed by Paul Carter in his book, Material Thinking, defines my art, and underpins the making of my work. Through a psychological dialogue with materials, subjects and objects, my work evolves reflexively and in concert with the response to physical experience of time and place. In this process I am taken in new directions and presented with unexpected outcomes for the work.
Just as human collaborators needed to suspend an irritable desire for control of the project, substituting instead a lover’s readiness to be plastically moulded by the other’s (intellectual) desire, so with materials: they self selected, those of especial value to enquiry displaying gifts of amalgamation and self transformation analogous to the emotional environment characteristic of the human exchange. (Carter 2004:xiii)
Paul Carter, 2004, Material Thinking, Melbourne University Publishing Ltd, Melbourne.
.
.
.
.
.
.
©2019 Victoria Cooper
WOTWEDID BLOG CELEBRATES 100,000 VIEWS
100K Header
Our www.wotwedid.com blog reached the milestone of 1000,000 views last week. It has had 56,000 visitors who have had the opportunity to view 380 posts and read around 250K words and see the hundreds of photographs that we have made to compliment the stories.
Our wotwedid Blog was started nine years ago as an opportunity to connect with our friends and creative communities via social media. The topic cloud for the wotwedid Blog includes ARTISTS’ BOOKS, PHOTBOOKS, CAMERA OBSCURA, EXHIBITIONS, MEETING PEOPLE, THE ART AND PRACTICE OF PHOTOGRAPHY, REGIONAL ARTS, CYANOTYPES, PLACE PROJECTS and POST-DOCTORAL RESEARCH.
Topic cloud wotwedid
Usually the content that we post is generated by us and includes the written commentaries, the photographs and illustrations – it can be quite a lengthy time consuming task to get a blog up.
While many posts relate to what we do, have done or will be doing, the Blog represents a chronology of activity in our art practice, our lives and issues that we are concerned about. Due to the contemporary space that the arts and artists occupy today much activity and many events go unnoticed and unrecorded. So a significant driver is to provide a space for commentary on what is happening outside of the popularist ‘art bubble’.
Early this year we were excited to learn that the State Library of Queensland had nominated wotwedid.com for inclusion in the Pandora Archive managed by the National Library of Australia, ‘to ensure the collection and long-term preservation of online publications relating to Australia and Australians. This objective contributes to the Library’s statutory function to comprehensively collect Australia’s documentary heritage.’
Over the years we have found that many views, screen dumps and downloads of resources we make available take place anonymously without comment or feedback. Then again, we understand that this is the same for most online resources. Despite this we find that as we travel and meet friends, fellow artists, academics and curators many say how much they appreciate and enjoy the content that we generate and post.
So, a BIG Thank You to all have visited … And we look forward to your return to help take www.wotwedid.com to the next milestone – 200,000K views.
D+V with masks
Vicky+Doug
PORTRAIT PHOTO: Susan Belperio
Here are some images of people met, events documented and our own art activities over recent years …
©2020 Doug Spowart+Victoria Cooper
..
.
Our photographs and words are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/au/..
ARTISTS BOOKS+AUSTRALIA: Comment for CODEX Journal
CODEX X Papers – Journal Cover+Text Page
.
Early in 2019 Vicky and I received an email from Monica Oppen and Caren Florance inviting our contribution to a report commenting on news and updates on book arts activity in the Antipodes that they were preparing for the Codex Foundation‘s new journal The Codex Papers. They mentioned that they were asking for those involved with projects, conferences, workshops, collections and awards to send through their comments and plans so the local scene could be collated into the report.
Monica and Caren added that, Your commitment to the photo books and also to documenting events for the past years (or is it decades now?!) has lead us to decide that we must ask you what you see as the trends and key events of the past couple of years. Any feedback (your personal view) on the state of the book arts in Australia at the moment would also be of interest.
We were particularly excited to have been invited to contribute and over the days following the request we collaborated on a document that outlined our view of the scene. Photo documents that we had made were reviewed and prepared and forwarded, along with our text to Monica and Caren. The task of collating and blending the individual responses into a single report was completed and forwarded to the Codex Foundation.
Early this year the report was published and we received a contributor’s copy. We were impressed with the journal and the many interesting commentaries on the book arts from around the world. It was interesting to see the complete report and to read the individual contributor’s comments.
Published below is our text and some of the photographs we contributed in response to Monica and Caren’s invitation.
.
Notes on the Antipodean book arts in the Antipodes for Caren + Monica
.
Noreen Grahame in the exhibition Lessons in History Vol. II – Democracy 2012
In the 1990’s and early 2000’s, the world of the artists’ book in Australia was an exciting place. In Brisbane Noreen Grahame, through her Grahame Gallery, Numero Uno Publications, Editions and the Centre of the Artists’ Book championed the Australian artists’ book discipline. Grahame efforts were directed towards artists’ book exhibitions which started in 1991, art book fairs the first of which was held in 1994 and special invitation themed artists’ book exhibitions featuring clique of prominent national book makers.
Artspace Mackay under the directorship of Robert Heather hosted the first of 5 Focus on Artists’ Book (FOAB) Conferences in 2004. Over the years FOAB brought to Australia some of the world’s noteworthy practitioners and commentators on the discipline including Marshall Weber, Keith A Smith and Scott McCarney and juxtaposed them with local key practitioners. For the next 6 years those interested in artists’ books gathered to participate in lectures, workshops, fairs and a solid community of practice developed. In 2006 Artspace Mackay added the Libris Awards: The Australian Artists’ Book Prize that, with a few breaks, continues to be the premier curated artists’ book exhibition and award in Australia.
Noosa 08 Artists’ Book exhibition – Noosa Regional Gallery
Queensland also had 10 years of artists’ book exhibitions and 5 years of conferences from 1999-2008 at Noosa Regional Art Gallery. In many ways Queensland was the place to be if you were into artists’ books.
Southern Cross Artists’ Book Award 2007
In this period a few other artists’ book awards took place including the Southern Cross University’s Acquisitive Artists’ Book Award from 2005-2011.
Throughout the 1990s and until fairly recent times State Libraries and the National Library of Australia actively collected and built significant artists’ book collections. These included many forms of the artists’ book including: private press publications, significant book works by recognised international and Australian practitioners, books as object/sculpture, zines and the emergent photobook.
Now around the country major libraries are feeling the push by managers to move access to the library’s resources online thus the importance of the physical object and the tactile connection with items such as artists’ books is now not considered part of the service that the institution needs to provide. For example, the State Library of Queensland’s Australian Library of Art, which houses one of the largest artists’ book collections in the country, is now without a dedicated librarian. Research fellowships and seminars that were once administered by the Library and supported the Siganto Foundation are no longer available. Information and advice about the collection and other exhibitions or group viewings of artists’ books from their extensive collection have been significantly affected.
In recent years two Artists Book Brisbane Events coordinated by Dr Tim Mosely at Griffith University has facilitated a significant connection between the American and European scenes with guest speakers like Brad Freeman (Columbia University – Journal of Artists Books), Sarah Bodman (Centre for Fine Print Research – The University of the West of England), Ulrike Stoltz and Uta Schneider (USUS). The conferences also have included a place for discussion and review of the discipline by academics and emergent artist practitioners from Masters and Doctoral programs. These two ABBE conferences have provided a platform for academic discourse.
The artists’ book medium has been principally the realm of the printmaker as their artform easily enabled the production of printed multiples. Digital technologies, new double-sided inkjet papers as well as print-on-demand technologies have enabled the emergence of a range of new self-publishers – particularly photographers.
In 2011 I completed my PhD the title of which was Self-publishing in the digital age: the hybrid photobook. From my experiences in the artists’ book field as a practitioner and commentator and my lifelong activities in photography I saw a future for the photobook which could be informed by the freedoms and the possibilities for the presentation of narratives. While some aspects of this prophecy have been the case with some photographers, particularly those involved in academic study, the main thrust for the contemporary photobook has been towards the collaboration with graphic designers. These books take on various design and structure enhancements including special bindings, foldouts, mixed papers, page sizes, inclusions and loose components that can, at times, dilute the potential power of the simple photographic narrative sequence. The contemporary photobook has developed into its own discipline and through the universal communication possibilities of social media, conferences and awards a new tribe has emerged quite separate from and unaffected by the artists’ book community.
NGV Melbourne Art Book Fair 2017
Over the last 5 years the National Gallery of Victoria has presented the Melbourne Art Book Fair. In keeping with the art book fair worldwide movement participants man tables selling their publications. These can range from Institutional/gallery catalogues, trade art publications and monographs, artists’ books, photobooks and zines. The umbrella-like term and the spectacle of the ‘Art Book Fair’ as an event to witness and participate in has captured the individual disciplines and united the various tribes into one, not so homogeneous – community.
A quick review of the 2019 Melbourne Art Book Fair’s 86 table-holders there were only a handful of artists’ book-makers, perhaps a similar number of photobook publishers and a large contingent of zinesters and self-published magazines. The bulk of the tables were held by book distributors, bookshops, arts organisations, educational institutions and art galleries. The discipline of artists’ books was not significantly represented in this space. Was that due to the National Gallery of Victoria’s selection of table-holders or was it to do with artists’ book practitioners not considering the event as a relevant opportunity to show and sell their works?
Ultimately the question is – what is the status of the artists’ book in Australia at this time? My impression is that one of artists’ books key strengths was its closeness to the printmaking discipline and the cohesive bond of makers, critics and commentators, educators, journals, collectors and patrons. As many of these are connected to the tertiary academic environment and collecting libraries, both of which are fighting for their relevance in a changing education and library world, could it be considered that this is a defining moment in the history and the future of the artists’ book in this country?
Doug Spowart co-written with Victoria Cooper
.
.
.
.
All photographs ©Doug Spowart
COOPER’s SUBMISSION: Review of Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act
FROM THE FORWARD TO THE EPBC REVIEW DOCUMENT:
The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, plays a significant role in the protection and management of our environment and heritage. It operates within a broader context, alongside other Commonwealth laws and activities and those of state, territory and local governments. The activities of businesses, land managers and the community are also central to achieving environmental outcomes.
The EPBC Act requires that an independent review be undertaken at least once every ten years. The review must examine the operation of the Act and the extent to which its objects have been achieved. The last review was completed in 2009.
.
Victoria’s response to this review that follows comments on the potential acute and long term affects of environmental damage to the very substance that makes up our planet: land, water and sky.
A reflective Victoria Cooper in the field ….PHOTO: Doug Spowart
The importance of Microbial life in the protection of, and biodiversity conservation in, the Australian environment.
My background in science is at a technical level working in both Human and Plant Pathology. I have also completed a PhD where my research examined the communication of freshwater issues in Australia and focussed on the interplay of cultural and creative visual narratives with a science project on aquatic fungi. This research brought together both my current practice in the visual arts and my past experience in science.
In my work I have witnessed the power of microbes as they shape our corporeal and environmental ecologies. When any of our physical systems become unbalanced or neglected these unseen co-inhabitants can become pathogenic impacting on our health and that of the planet. Alternatively if these organisms are lost from the many systems they support – life will cease to exist. For example a forest without fungi and bacteria, dead material would not be decomposed and recycled to renew the land.
My response to this review comments on the potential acute and long term affects of environmental damage to the very substance that makes up our planet: land, water and sky.
My concern is that this review is not addressing the following:
- The creation of a researchable archive on the renewable and sustainable effects of any impact on any microbiological agent. For example the change to the natural microbial community and populations on soil health from removing native grasses, or deforestation of old growth habitat; or the affects on the microbial environment in drying-out of critical wetlands that are drained and not replenished when water is available. If we create an imbalance in the microsphere, this will continue throughout the entire system.
- Create more professional and academic avenues of research to highlight the importance of a cross-discipline collaborative intelligence in this archive.
2.1 By including and financially supporting more broadly the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Indigenous knowledge and experience;
2.2 Australia government initiatives and entrepreneurship for Research and Development into innovative forms of Sustainable and Renewable technology to provide new ways to live with, know and imagine the unique Australian microbiota; and
2.3 Recognizing the urgency with which this action is needed for this work to be undertaken.
The ecology of the micro-environment has developed over many millennia from the beginning of life on Earth. Micro-organisms are in every part of our existence: in and on our bodies, the air we breathe, the food we eat, our soils and waterways. Australia has uniquely developed systems that support our diverse and rich geology, flora and fauna.
The interconnected relationships of micro to macro need to be well understood, protected and maintained in order to continue to sustain life’s balance.
Victoria Cooper PhD
A copy of the EPBC ACT REVIEW Document can be downloaded – Click this link: epbc_act_review_discussion_paper_0
.
Some of Victoria’s visual research work relating to the ideas embodied above…
Vicky’s a page from the The River book
Documentation of a page from the book The Island
A double-page spread from the artists’ book Being Present
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The photobook event that THE VIRUS TOOK AWAY
Some Antipodean Photobooks from the Tate project …PHOTOCOLLAGE: Doug Spowart
.
On the weekend of May 2-3 2020 there was a weekend of major photobook activities planned for the PHOTO 2020 International Photo Festival in Melbourne.
A significant component of the event: A seminal selection of 52 Australian and New Zealand Photobooks* from the State Library of Victoria’s collection was to be made available for public viewing.
On Sunday May 3 international photobook guru Martin Parr was to team up with local photobook aficionado Doug Spowart in a public Q&A session. Of particular interest were their methodologies and considerations for reviewing photobooks. Among other questions it was proposed that they respond to the contentious issues of ‘What validates a book for it to be considered eligible to be included in a canon of photobooks?’ and ‘How such curated selections can energise the recognition for photobooks?’
It was planned that the panel interviewers and contributors to the discussion would be renown writer and Photojournalism Now publisher Alison Stieven-Taylor and would also include the celebrated New Zealand photobook maker and Massey University lecturer David Cook.
An additional event to add to the PHOTO 2020 Photobook Weekend was a major Photobook Fair that would include major publishers, significant photobook makers, a showing of the ANZ Photobook Awards, photobook manufacturers and POD suppliers, workshops and info sessions.
However the COVID-19 pandemic was to change all that …
March 15, 2020 post on the PHOTO 2020 Facebook page
The PHOTO2020 event, retitled as PHOTO2021 is being rescheduled with the new dates of 18 February – 7 March 2021.
Thank you to founder and Artistic Director Elias Redstone and Producer Rachel Ciesla from the PHOTO 2020 team and Des Cowley from the State Library of Victoria for their efforts to bring this project into fruition. And we look forward to being part of the programme on the rescheduled dates…
Keep up to date with PHOTO 2021
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/photofestivalau/
WEBSITE: https://photo.org.au/
The PHOTO 2021 team have been posting video interviews with a diverse group of international photographers and artists – Check them out…
FACEBOOK: Photo 2021-Photo Live
*52 Antipodean Photobooks: A beginning for a canon of the ANZ photobook
In 2019 the Tate Library received a selection of 52 photographically illustrated books from the Australian and New Zealand region. The books were curated by Australian photobook aficionado Dr Doug Spowart and were specially chosen to extend the Antipodean photobook presence within Martin Parr’s 12.5K photobook donation to the Tate in 2017.
Doug Spowart’s Tate commission came as a result of his meeting with Martin Parr at the 2017 Vienna Photobook Festival. Parr attended Spowart’s lecture on the Antipodean photobook at the Festival and saw examples of the 2016 ANZ Photobook of the Year Awards.
Martin Parr and Doug Spowart reviewing ANZ photobooks at the SLV for consideration to be included in the Tate submission. January 2018. ….. PHOTO: Victoria Cooper
In early 2018 Spowart met with Parr at the State Library of Victoria and shared with him a selection of the photobooks that had been curated for proposed Tate purchase.
While interest in the photobook has resulted in publications and scholarship from every major country in the world the same has not been the case for the Antipodean photobooks. Spowart sees the PHOTO 2020/2021 event as being an opportunity to celebrate ANZ photobooks and bring recognition to the local contemporary and historical publications. To this end Doug Spowart has published a blog entitled The Antipodean Photobook and a FACEBOOK page The Photobook in Australia and New Zealand (under construction @ May 2020).
.
.
Looking forward to PHOTO2021: 18 February – 7 March 2021
.
.
.
.
BIFB: PHOTOBOOK WEEKEND – A Report
BIFB Webpage Header
WORLD PHOTOBOOK WEEKEND
A Photobook Club Australia World Photobook Day activity for 2019
The Ballarat International Foto Biennale was proud to host the World Photobook Day during the festival between Saturday 12 October and Monday 14 October. The call-out was to Celebrate World Photobook Day with other photography enthusiasts by attending 4 photobook events over the weekend.
.
Doug meeting with Aaron Bradbrook
The back story for the BIFB’s World Photobook Weekend is that in March Vicky and I visited the BIFB in its home the National Centre of Photography. In a conversation with Associate Curator Aaron Bradbrook we pitched the idea of a photobook event to coincide with World Photobook Day.
In followup conversations with the BIFB Creative Director Fiona Sweet a series of four events became part of the program. The events were: a keynote talk, a forum, a photobook fair and a birthday celebration.
With BIFB Creative Director Fiona Sweet
In the months that followed we worked with Fiona, refined the event focus and the people who could be involved. We then followed through with our side of the necessary preparations and promotion of the event.
This series of Blog posts provides a report on the four events as well as an opportunity to present a commentary on the Australian and New Zealand photobooks that was the topic of the talk I presented on the first day of the weekend.
To navigate through the events just ‘CLICK’ on the title tab. At the end of each post there’s a ‘RETURN to the HOMEPAGE’ link.
.
SATURDAY 12 OCTOBER
Doug Spowart + ANZ Photobooks
TALK BY DOUG SPOWART
Many Tribes: The Australian And New Zealand Photobook
Click LINK
.
SUNDAY 13 OCTOBER
Book Fair participants
PHOTOBOOK FAIR
Click LINK
.
Forum Panelists
FORUM: Photobooks – Getting Published & Getting Collected
with Patrick Pound, Sarah Walker, Heidi Romano and David Wadelton. Moderated by Doug Spowart
Click LINK
MONDAY 14 OCTOBER
.
World Photobook Day Birthday Celebration
HAPPY BIRTHDAY PARTY! Celebrating 176 years of photobooks
Click LINK
.
.
.
..
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
ANZ PHOTOBOOKS – Keynote TALK: BIFB Photobook Weekend
BIFB Website
Many Tribes: The Australian & New Zealand Photobook
A talk by Doug Spowart
The photobook disrupted the 1990’s prediction that ‘the book is dead’ and grew into a worldwide phenomenon. Doug Spowart will address key aspects of the historical and contemporary makeup of the photobook in Australia & New Zealand where the various ‘tribes’ contribute to a vibrant and progressive discipline.
October 12 @ 2pm, World Photobook Weekend Hub
Mitchell Harris Wines, 38 Doveton Street North
.
What follows in this Blog post is a synopsis of the presentation with references to various aspects of the Australian and New Zealand photobook scene. Where possible links have been provided to external sources for further information.
Please note: This presentation is part of ongoing research and will be added to and refined as new information becomes available.
Photobook Talk: Introductory comments
At 2.00pm I welcomed the 30 or so people who attended this BIFB Photobook Weekend event.
In the opening statements I acknowledged the Traditional Custodians, the Wathaurong people of the land on which we met, and recognised their continuing connection to land, water and community. I paid my respects to Elders past, present and emerging. And I also wished to recognise the importance of storytelling and its continuing tradition today…
I announced to the attendees that due to the recent passing of the doyen of New Zealand photobooks Harvey Benge, that the event would be dedicated to his memory.
With these formalities completed I began the talk:
.
Doug Spowart and ANZ photobooks he loves …Photo: Victoria Cooper
.
I have been working in photography for over 50 years and the photobook has been, and continues to be – my teacher, inspiration and obsession. I have read, bought, collected, loaned books and on occasion not given them back to their rightful owners because they were so special to me and I couldn’t part with them.
In my youth these books inspired and fed my insatiable curiosity of the world and informed me of its challenges and wonders beyond my own experience.
Over time I encountered an increasing diversity and depth in all forms of books and their makers of photobooks, artists’ books and zines. I became interested and involved in each of these different groups researching and documenting their aims, manifestos, their key practitioners, education alliances and reward structures. Much like ‘tribes’ these communities of creative practice gather together within the rich milieu of visual communication through the form of the book.
But First – a little photobook history
In 1839 William Henry Fox Talbot, one of the key inventors of photography, stated that photography would make, Every man his own printer and publisher. He went on in 1844 to publish the book, The Pencil of Nature as a treatise on the uses of photography using his calotype process.
.
Anna Atkins
.
Scientific illustrator Anna Atkins used the ‘blue print’ cyanotype process to produce a book in 1843 entitled Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions. Atkins’ book is recognized as the first photobook as images and texts were printed on the page at the same time – whereas Talbot’s prints glued or tipped-in on the pages and the text printed using letterpress. In recent years the date that Atkins’ book was catalogued by the British Library, October 14 1843, has become celebrated as ‘World Photobook Day’.
In the 175 years since the Atkins and Talbot, the use of photographs in books has developed into a powerful carrier of information and ideas either with or without text. Book design including format, paper selection, layout, typography and production methods have also developed in companionship with this growing interest in the photobook as a form of communication. The onset of desktop and online publishing created an environment where individuals and collectives could independently publish. The art and commercial process of book production and publication is under an epic transformation. Talbot’s phrase – Every man [or woman] his [her] own printer and publisher has become a reality.
Early reference books about photographically illustrated books and photobooks
The ‘Photobook’
Historically bibliographers have categorised books with photographic narrative or content using the terms ‘photographic book’ or ‘photographically illustrated book’.
Over the last 20 years however interest in the photographic book emerged encouraged by the critical review and commentary of the discipline in publications starting with Phillip Roth’s 2001 The Book of 101 Books: Seminal Photographic Books of the Twentieth Century, and the 2004 ICP exhibition and publication, The open book : a history of the photographic book from 1878 to the present. However the term ‘photobook’ came to prominence as a result of three tomes published in 2004, 2006 & 2013 by Martin Parr and Gerry Badger The Photobook: A History. Originally the purpose of the discussion in these books was to establish a cannon for photographic books. Later the term photobook came to encompass all kinds of books including those from the contemporary boom in trade and self-published books.
Within a few short years the photobook became a publishing phenomenon. Whilst frameworks may have previously existed in the publishing world the drivers of the new photobook discipline – mainly photographers, created hierarchies consisting of awards, criticism, knowledge sharing and educational structures, supported by boutique publishers as well as the powerful established brands. Photobook designers also found new recognition for the unique contribution that they could make in transforming a photographer’s body of work, often in collaboration with the photographer, into a work of visual communication. Scholarship and collector market interest spawned bookshelves of critiques, surveys and catalogues covering the books from just about every nation of the world. Social media hype by key influencers and their particular sphere of interest set trends and photobooks became a sexy, desirable and collectible commodity.
.
.
THE ANTIPODEAN PHOTOBOOK – A BRIEF HISTORY
Within its remote geographic location the Antipodean photographically illustrated book was very much based on trade published books that reflected the needs and interests of society. Publishers selected books containing content that would be highly saleable to the public. Of concern to the publisher was the book format, production values at a price that would provide an appropriate return on the investment. In the 100 years from 1900 books published followed certain themes and subject matter.
- 1900/30 Illustration/pictorial/documentary
- 1940–50 Nationalistic pride/immigration
- 1960s Discovering/celebrating who we are as a people
- 1970s – The political book
- 1980–90s – A celebration of landscape and the wilderness
- 1990 Exploring visual storytelling + Documentary
For a more illustrated discussion of this topic please see the lecture slides from my 2017 Vienna Photobook Festival lecture.
Australian & New Zealand Photobook of the Year Awards book from 2017 …PHOTO: Courtesy MomentoPro
.
The Antipodean Photobook – A CONTEMPORARY VIEW
To have a perceived currency in the global scene the Antipodean photobook – its practice, publishing and marketing has been arguably influenced by the Euro/US market and taste. Where does this place the local photobooks? Does it merely mimic the Northern hemisphere’s trends in their book products? While some aspects of practice do take their lead from the cross Atlantic product, could its isolation have enabled the Antipodean photobook discipline to develop in other ways. Photographers from this region have their own unique and intimate vision. They have access to variety of subject matter from the social circumstances of people, to environments and political spaces. They also have opportunities to connect with local allied creatives in book design, publishing and printing technologies including print-on-demand and desktop self-print.
The Antipodean Photobook – TRIBES
In this talk I want to highlight the diversity of this region’s creative potential and participation in the photobook medium. In that diversity there are various groups that can be recognised and acknowledged as publishing an Antipodean view. In my review of Australian and New Zealand photobook publishing I have found the following author groups or collectives with their associated motivations:
- Those who make books for the general market that will be sold through online or bricks and mortar bookshops
- Those who make books for a discerning clientele sold in specialized art/architecture/design bookshops or gallery bookstores
- Self-publishers making books by POD or hand-making intended for the art book market
- Self-publishers making zines and ephemera for free distribution through their culturally-connected venues
- Those who were once called ‘vanity publishers’ – making books because they can
- Those who make publish political manifestos
- Those who publish with the principles of altruism – creating books to distribute ideas and social comment
- Artists who make ‘fine art’ books for collectors and public collections.
Each of these makers associate, collaborate, and form associations – both personal, professionally and organisationally with like-minded people who share their interests. For some time I called these groups or collectives ‘tribes’. Distance separates photobook makers in Melbourne from their peers in Sydney, or for that matter with Adelaide or Brisbane. Similarly Australian photobook makers may not have any significant connection with New Zealand makers and vis-à-versa. Other ‘tribes’ may exist in the fields of academe, design and publishing as well as areas relating to the collection and criticism of photobooks. Then there are different ‘tribes’ for those that sell photobooks with some having a specific interest in antiquarian or historical photobooks, whilst others may focus on contemporary books. Certainly there are practitioners who crossover into different tribal groups but generally each tribe stands alone.
Whatever the ‘tribe’ there is a rich and diverse community of practice for photobooks in Australia and New Zealand replete with events and supporting structures.
The Antipodean Photobook – KEY EVENTS AND SUPPORTING ASPECTS
Conferences
- Photobook New Zealand 2016, 2018 & 2020 (next year)
- Photobook Melbourne 2015
- Unless you will conference and Photobook Reviews 2017
- MCA Photobook Day 2014
- World Photobook Weekend – Ballarat International Foto Biennalé 2019
- Auckland Festival of Photography 2015 and other years
Fairs
- Melbourne Art Book Fair annually since 2015
- Volume – Not another Art Book Fair, Sydney 2015 & 2017
- As part of Photobook New Zealand
- Ballarat International Foto Biennalé 2017 & 19
Publishers
Awards
- The Australian & New Zealand Photobook Award (formerly individual events)
- The AIPP Photographic Book of the Year
- The Perimeter Small Book Prize
- 2019 Photobook Competition – Australian Photographic Society
- PHOTO 2020 x Perimeter International Photobook Prize
- The Libris Artists’ Book Award (Bi-ennial)
Bookshops and online sellers
- Perimeter Books Au
- Sainsbury Books Au
- Rim Books NZ
- Remote Photobooks NZ
- Most major art gallery bookshops
Supporting organisations + Interesting stuff
- Pictures on paper (a film by Becky Nunes)
- Asia Pacific Photobook Archive
- PhotoForum (New Zealand)
- The Sticky Institute (Melbourne)
- Photo Book Reading Room
- Tangent Photography Collective
.
.
The Antipodean Photobook – MAJOR CONTRIBUTORS
The Asia Pacific Photobook Archive
A contributor to the ANZ photobook scene is the large collection of photobooks assembled by the Asia Pacific Photobook Archive. APPA was founded by Daniel Boetker-Smith in 2013 and is now coordinated by Daniel and Bella Capezio. The Archive is a not-for-profit open-access physical archive of self-published and independent photobooks and is now situated in Le Space in Collingwood, Melbourne. Contained within the Archive is a significant collection of contemporary photobooks from the Asia/Pacific region with some books coming from the western Asian region. Books in the Archive can be accessed by appointment and may also be presented from time to time in exhibitions, presentations and displays.
.
.
Perimeter Books
Leading the push to publish and present Antipodean photobooks and artbooks to the world is the Melbourne publisher Perimeter Books. Founded by Dan Rule and Justine Ellis, Perimeter Books has developed a solid presence at all the major artbook fairs around the world. Additionally Perimeter’s bookshops and online service brings specialist books from the contemporary international scene within reach of the local market. They have supported and promoted local photo and artbook authors through their annual Small Book Award.
.
Justine Ellis & Dan Rule – Perimeter Books
.
Photobooks in education – Photography Studies College
For some time photo educators in all levels of academic study have included the photobook as a capstone project or a holistic assessment assignment. In recent years many of the graduates of these institutions enter the photobook scene with a significant publication that launches their publishing career.
One Australian institution, Photography Studies College (PSC) in Melbourne, has nurtured many emerging photobook makers including Sarah Walker – Winner of the ANZ Photobook Award and the Perimeter Small Book Prize. The engine that drives the PSC photobook is Course Director Daniel Boetker-Smith assisted by a team of lecturers themselves photobook authors. PSC has also supported special events for the wider photobook community including workshops and lectures with the photobook doyen Martin Parr, the acclaimed designer Teun van der Heidjen and the educator associate professor Corinne Noordenbos.
.
MomentoPro Sponsorship of ANZ Photobooks
Significant enablers to the local recognition of our photobooks include the yearly photobook awards that bring together a diverse selection of books for their critical evaluation and recognition. Coordinated and supported by the photobook print-on-demand company MomentoPro with the Patrons Libby Jeffery and Geoff Hunt, this yearly event creates a focus for the Antipodean photobook community of practice.
The MomentoPro organization has also altruistically supported many other major local events including Photobook New Zealand in 2016 & 18 and Photobook Melbourne in 2015 as well as numerous awards both national and local for photobooks. In 2017 MomentoPro supported the freight costs towards getting the ANZ Photobook Awards to the Vienna Photobook Festival.
What follows is a small selection of events supported by MomentoPro…
.
ANZ photobooks puchased by the Tate
In early 2019 a collection of 52 ANZ photobooks curated by Victoria Cooper and myself were accepted into the UK Tate Library. The project was initiated by Martin Parr to add Antipodean content to the 12.5k photobooks that he had donated to the Tate in 2017.
Martin Parr reviewing ANZ photobooks with Doug Spowart at the State Library of Victoria
Documenting the history ANZ photobooks
Over the last 3 years I have been adding to the information about ANZ photobooks by the compilation of a COMPENDIUM of all things about the Australian and New Zealand photobook discipline. The latest edition of the Compendium focused on the Australian scene and was launched at the Melbourne Art Book Fair in March this year. I am presently working on an update of the New Zealand listings for Photobook New Zealand in March 2020.
.
A Conclusion
What I hope for is that through the recognition of the different ‘tribes’ in the Antipodean photobook that I have discussed today, we can celebrate the diversity of practice that has developed in this part of the world. Through recording, highlighting and discussion of the photobook discipline in the Antipodes will be made visible and find its place within the international scene.
In the meantime what continues to excite me about photobooks is that materialised in each book is a concept revealed, a view shared, an opinion expressed, a shout uttered or a tender moment whispered. And while the author’s life moves on – the books are left behind on shelves in libraries, on coffee tables and left casually opened on the bedside table. The photobook, is the ultimate intimate and portable archive of the life and times of the artist.
For future reading…
.
Doug Spowart
A revised version of the talk presented at the 2019 Ballarat International Foto Biennalé on October 12.
.
.
Documenting the Antipodean Photobook
My research in the Antipodean photobook world its tribes and the discipline is on-going. I may have met many people, participated in numerous events and looked and lusted after maybe thousands of books, but I find it is an ever-expanding space of creative activity. Wherever possible I document the people and places I encounter …
.
.
.
Return to the BIFB Photobook Weekend Blog Homepage..
NOTE: Should any captions in this post contain incorrect information please contact us and advise so we can make the necessary changes.
.
All photographs, unless indicated otherwise, are the copyright of Doug Spowart.
Please contact Doug Spowart to access permission to copy or use images for any purpose.
Text ©2019 Doug Spowart
A PHOTOBOOK FORUM: BIFB Photobook Weekend
BIFB Web
FORUM: Photobooks – Getting Published & Getting Collected
with Patrick Pound, Sarah Walker, Heidi Romano and David Wadelton.
Moderated by Doug Spowart
What sparks and drives the passion for the photo book? How do photographers get published? And how can photographers establish and grow meaningful collections? Join Doug Spowart and a diverse panel of photobook practitioners and publishers as they answer these and other associated questions through their personal observations, stories and predictions.
VENUE: World Photobook Weekend Hub, Mitchell Harris Wines, 38 Doveton Street North
BIFB Creative Director Fiona Sweet welcomes the attendees ………PHOTO: Victoria Cooper
.
The Ballarat International Foto Biennale Creative Director Fiona Sweet Acknowledged country, welcomed the 45-50 attendees to the Forum and introduced Dr Doug Spowart as Moderator for the event.
Doug Spowart thanked Fiona and announced that the BIFB Photobook Weekend celebrates 10 years of Biennale activity in the field of photobooks as what he believed was the first photobook exhibition in a major gallery was ‘Book One’ curated by Juno Gemes at the Ballarat Art Gallery in 2009. He mentioned also that as part of the core program in 2009 he and Victoria Cooper presented the exhibition ‘Book: Site’ at the Post Office Gallery that featured their photobook and artists’ book work.
.
BIFB Photobooks @ 2009 event
.
Spowart went on to advise that due to the recent passing of the doyen of New Zealand photobooks Harvey Benge that the event would be dedicated to his memory.
.
Doug introduces panel ………..PHOTO: Victoria Cooper
.
With the formalities completed Doug Spowart introduced the Forum panelists:
.
Panelist: Patrick Pound ……………..PHOTO: Doug Spowart
Dr PATRICK POUND
Is an avid collector interested in systems and the ordering of objects: an attempt, perhaps, to make things coherent. As Pound says, ‘to collect is to gather your thoughts through things’.
.
Panelist: Sarah Walker ………………PHOTO: Doug Spowart
SARAH WALKER completed a Bachelor of Photography (Fine Art) in 2016 at Photography Studies College. She utilises combination of found and archival imagery, as well as video, as a part of her photographic practice.
Panelist: David Wadelton …………..PHOTO: Doug Spowart
DAVID WADELTON lives and works in Melbourne. Wadelton’s practice includes paintings and photographs and is also recognised for his significant contributions to the field of experimental music in Australia.
HEIDI ROMANO is a photographer and festival director with a diverse skill set, honed through 15 years of experience. She is a passionate book designer and loves working with artists through all levels of project development. Due to ill health Heidi had to withdraw at short notice.
The Briefing
Spowart then briefed the panellists and the audience as to the program for the event. He described that the Forum would be in the format of a casual Question & Answer event. He asked that the audience would hold their questions until the end of the structured program and that all up the total duration should be around 70-80 minutes. After which members of the audience could catch up with the panellists if they had private questions that they wanted to ask.
The questions were displayed on a digital screen and panellists were invited to comment as directed by the moderator. Sometimes discussions ensued between panellists and occasionally a few quick comments came from the audience.
Panel in action …………PHOTO: Victoria Cooper
.
The questions and discussion points included the following:
- Why do photographers want to make photobooks?
- What is there about the book that appeals to people who want to connect with the book or purchase it?
- Do collectors look at a photobooks differently to other people? Editioning / Signed copies / A collection focus / Investment
- How do you display/store your photobooks
- What do you look for in a photobook? – Do you have a favourite?
- How do you see photobooks as the main or part or as complimentary of your creative practice?
- Where do you get the inspiration to make/design or purchase a photobook?
- Building a clientele – groups, bookstores, student/professional peers, through exhibitions, online…?
- Awards and competitions – how you see their role in supporting photobook practice?
- Is there anything that you find particularly special about the idea of a book or the object that is the book?
- Can you describe the stages that you have gone through from idea to launch of a recent book?
- How do you keep up to date with your area of interest in photobooks?
- What is the next book that you want to buy?
- Have you a story about the book you wanted and you missed it? OR The bargain?
- What would you expect from someone who is to design your book?
- What do you think a designer would you expect from a photographer/publisher commissioning you to design a book?
- The photobook as a companion/catalogue to an exhibition – do you have an opinion about the exhibition in the book as a catalogue or should the book be an autonomous artwork based on the same content
- What book forms interest you — concertina / codex / single sheet boxed sets, zines, fine press, limited editions…?
- Commerce: marketing and selling books – how does that work?
- Can you tell us about a book that you are working on…?
- Does the idea for a book come first OR does the book come from an existing image resource?
- The use of found objects and ephemera in photobooks …
- How do you know if what you have done is a success…?
.
Sarah answers a question ……….PHOTO: Victoria Cooper
.
At the end of the event Doug Spowart thanked the panellists, the audience, the BIFB and his partner Victoria Cooper. It was mentioned that the Photobook Fair was on at the Art Gallery and that now would be a good time to add special books to the attendee’s collections. The room was quickly cleared except for a few who remained to ask questions of the panellists.
.
We were sorry that the venue was not equipped with equipment to record the event.
.
.
.
.
Return to the BIFB Photobook Weekend Blog Homepage.
.
.
.
A PHOTOBOOK FAIR: BIFB Photobook Weekend
BIFB Book Fair Website image
BIFB World Photobook Weekend – Photobook Fair
Sunday October 13, 10am – 5pm
Art Gallery Ballarat, 40 Lydiard Street North
The BIFB celebrated World Photobook Day with other photography enthusiasts awith their second Foto Book Fair.
Participants of the Fair included:
- Australian and New Zealand Photo Book Awards
- Ballarat International Foto Biennale bookshop
- Bookhouse
- Studio Yeah
- Colin Abbott
- Fems
- Melbourne Photobook Collective
- Particle Books
- Photography Studies College
- Sainsburys Books
- State Library Victoria
- The Fridge Door Project
- Tess Maunder and Vault
Significant and rare books from the State Library of Victoria were presented including:
Des Cowley+Cartier-Bresson’s Book
Henri Cartier-Bresson Les Européens
Paris, Editions Verve, 1955
Henri Cartier-Bresson iconic photobook Les Européens comprises 114 photographs, taken between 1950 and 1955, documenting a vanishing way of life in post-war Europe. His lens captured the moods of Greece, Spain, Germany, England, Ireland, Italy, USSR, France. The book, which comprises some of Cartier-Bresson’s best known and finest images, features a striking colour lithographic design by Catalan artist Joan Miró.
Street Life in London
John Thomson, and Adolphe Smith Street life in London: with permanent photographic illustrations taken from life expressly for this publication
London, Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, 1877
First released in twelve monthly installments beginning in February 1877, Street Life in London is the among the first published collections of social documentary photographs. The book consists of thirty-six photographs by John Thomson, each accompanied by a brief essay by the writer and activist Adolphe Smith. Like the photographs, the essays are sharply drawn vignettes of “local characters” – cab drivers, flower sellers, sign painters, locksmiths, fishmongers, chimney sweeps, beggars, and street musicians – whose individual stories are meant to encapsulate the conditions of an entire class of worker or street dweller.
Charles Nettleton Melbourne illustrated by photographs
Melbourne, Charles Nettleton, 1868
A set of photographs of Melbourne by the commercial photographic studio of Nettleton and Arnest. The collection features significant Melbourne buildings and streets including Parliament House, the Treasury Buildings, St Patrick’s Cathedral, the Royal Exhibition Building and Melbourne University Colleges. Few people feature in the photographs, which are predominantly focused upon architecture. The collection is significant as it provides a visual record of Melbourne’s early development, and also reveals the work of an important local photography studio.
Duncan J Peirce Giant Trees of Victoria
J Duncan Peirce Giant Trees of Victoria
Melbourne, Victorian Department of Lands and Survey, c.1888
A volume containing a series of eight of J Duncan Peirce’s photolithographs of giant trees of Victoria, with descriptions of the species, height, girth and locality of the trees illustrated. All trees illustrated are Eucalyptus amygdalina regnans, commonly known as mountain ash. Enlargements of these photographs were displayed at the Melbourne Centennial Exhibition of 1888 and later at the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1889.
Julia Margaret Cameron Alfred, Lord Tennyson and his friends: a series of 25 portraits and frontispiece/ in photogravure from the negatives of Julia Margaret Cameron and H.H.H. Cameron
London, T. Fisher Unwin, 1893
Published in 1893, the year after Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s death, this book features a selection of Julia Margaret Cameron’s iconic photographic portraits of the poet and his circle of friends. A friend and neighbour of Tennyson’s, Cameron took photographs of the poet several times across a decade.
Peter Lyssiotis What the Moon Lets Me See
Melbourne, Masterthief, 2017
Peter Lyssiotis’s deluxe large-scale publication What the Moon Lets Me See comprises an extended text by the artist, accompanied by numerous photographic images. The work sees a return by Lyssiotis to the dream-like coloured photomontages of earlier books such as The Harmed Circle (1992) and From the Secret Life of Statues (1994). The images represent a collaboration with Australian photographers Doug Spowart and Victoria Cooper, who adapted Peter’s photomontages using a pin hole camera. The book was produced in an edition of 10 copies, printed by Memento Pro, in Sydney. Boldly typographic and beautifully designed, it can be considered a high-point amongst Peter Lyssiotis’s books.
Return to the BIFB Photobook Weekend Blog Homepage.
.
.
.
A PHOTOBOOK BIRTHDAY PARTY – BIFB Photobook Weekend
WPD Birthday Candles
A Birthday Party – Celebrating 176 years of photobooks..!
On World Photobook Day – Monday October 14, 2019
World Photobook Weekend Hub, Mitchell Harris Wines, 38 Doveton Street North
Each year World Photobook Day is celebrated by members of the international network of Photobook Clubs around the world. Since it’s inception 7 years ago it has been organized by The Photobook Club Madrid and Matt Johnston. October 14th has been selected as it was on this date in 1843 that Anna Atkins’ Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions was accepted into and catalogued by the British Library.
This year a small group celebrated the 176th birthday at the Ballarat International Foto Biennalé…
The BIFB World Photobook Day Birthday Cake
.The cake was cut…
Doug cuts the World Photobook Day Birthday cake
.
.And then we all sang HAPPY BIRTHDAY…
As the Australian and New Zealand Photobook Award travelling exhibition concluded over the weekend we were able to announce the winner of the PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD
.
Congratulations Tammy Law for your book Permission to belong
Tammy Law and her book ANZPA People’s Choice award winning book Permission to Belong
Videos and photographs by Victoria Cooper.
.
.
.
Return to the BIFB Photobook Weekend Blog Homepage.
wotwedid 
