10x10 American Photobooks

I'm happy and honored to be included in the 10x10 American Photobooks project created by Matthew Carson
, Ihiro Hayami, 
Russet Lederman and 
Olga Yatskevich

. The project includes a book, a forthcoming exhibition in Tokyo and an online presence. Shiori Kawasaki and 
Victor Sira

 of bookdummypress are designing and printing the book, which should be available soon. You can pre-order a copy of the resulting book here. It looks great and will have a lot of additional contributors, as well as numerous essays.

As part of the online presence, Olia and Russet asked me to select ten lesser-known, independent and self-published photobooks from the past twenty-five years. A daunting task. I've roughly adhered to at least three of these criteria, but quickly became overwhelmed in trying to go back twenty-five years. In making my selection, I tried hard to pick books that were not recognized classics (yet), had not received the Badger/Parr seal of approval and had not been showered with too many accolades. Sadly, ten is never enough, especially when there are so many good books.

STATEMENT:

Who needs photobooks? Let alone another list. No photobook is truly essential to life or happiness, although any lover of them will beg to differ. While a few books often get rightful accolades, there are also many that sit quietly on the shelf, alone, improperly shelved, remaindered and unsold, waiting to be discovered. Decidedly idiosyncratic and personal, I tried to highlight lesser known books that deserve a wider audience – ones you may have forgotten, heard about on a blog, never heard of, hated and still don’t like, couldn’t afford, one you can’t even see, but just might be willing to look at again and see with fresh eyes.

•  Shannon Ebner, The * as Error (LACMA, 2009)
•  Michael Lundgren, Transfigurations (Radius, 2008)
•  Justin James Reed, 2013 (Horses Think, 2012)
•  Susan Lipper, Trip (powerHouse, 1999)
•  Penelope Umbrico: Photographs (Aperture, 2011)
•  Pierre Le Hors, Firework Studies (Hassla, 2010)
•  Alison Davies, Outerland (Charles Lane Press, 2010)
•  Monica Haller, Riley and His Story: Me and My Outrage, You and Us
    (Onestar Press, 2011)
•  Raymond Meeks and Wes Mills, Not Seen | Not Said (Silas Finch/Orchard, 2011)
•  John Gossage, HERE...Half Blind (Rochester Art Center, 2010)

The NYC Preview for 10x10 American Photobooks is scheduled for 3-5 May, with the opening reception on Friday, 3 May 2013 from 7 to 9. The event will take place at Ten10 Studios in Long Island City (10-10 47th Road, Long Island City, NY 11101).

You can pre-order a copy of the resulting book here.