The Estate of Larry Sultan

[Agenda] @mack_publishing publishes “Water Over Thunder: Selected Writings” by @larry_sultan Known for a practice spanning staged, documentary and personal narratives, Larry Sultan also developed a sustained relationship to writing throughout his career. This publication brings together texts drawn from his journals, notebooks, lectures and interviews, offering insight into his approach to image-making and teaching. It is accompanied by previously unseen archival materials. Water runs throughout the book as both a literal and metaphorical element, reflecting a sense of movement within Sultan’s thinking and practice. _ @mack_publishing publie « Water Over Thunder: Selected Writings », une plongée dans la pensée de Larry Sultan. À la croisée de la mise en scène, du documentaire et du récit personnel, l’artiste a toujours fait de l’écriture un prolongement naturel de son travail. Ce recueil réunit journaux, carnets, conférences et entretiens, enrichis d’archives inédites, et dévoile de l’intérieur sa manière de penser l’image, de transmettre. En filigrane, l’eau s’impose comme un motif récurrent à la fois concret et symbolique traduisant le mouvement constant qui traverse son œuvre. 🌍 Discover the best photography exhibitions and publications worldwide with the Paris Photo Agenda. Link in bio _ Images: Larry Sultan, materials from “Water Over Thunder: Selected Writings”. Courtesy of the artist and MACK

"What can I say...I've found my bible. 𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 is exactly what I would have wanted to read as a student and exactly what I want to read now. It offers a lifetime worth of wisdom." - Alec Soth @littlebrownmushroom ❤️‍🔥⁠ ⁠ 📸 'Pictures from Home' contact sheet cut-out from 𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳: 𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘞𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 by Larry Sultan.⁠ ⁠ Read more and order the book via link in bio 🔗

Congratulations to @casemoregallery and @yanceyrichardsongallery ! Their solo booth of Larry Sultan's The Valley (1998–2003) has been named one of the 10 Best Booths at @friezeofficial Los Angeles 2026 by @artsy . This marks the first time The Valley has been shown in Los Angeles since Larry's 2014 retrospective at @lacma It feels right for this work to be back in the San Fernando Valley's backyard. Last day to see it, Booth A27, open through this evening. © Estate of Larry Sultan. Courtesy Casemore Gallery and Yancey Richardson Gallery. #LarrySultan #TheValley #FriezeLosAngeles #FriezeLA

Larry Sultan reflecting on 𝘚𝘸𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴 🛟⁠ ⁠ 'I was interested in making pictures that were excessively physical, sensual, and painterly. They were inspired by the Red Cross Swimming and Life Saving Manuals, and made with a small underwater camera. They were made at a time when I found that much of my artistic activity was cut off from my body. The activity of photographing and the pictures themselves frightened me. As it turned out I had good reason to be scared. As one critic put it, “We thought you were a conceptualist when it turns out that you’re merely an expressionist.”'⁠ ⁠ Taken from 𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳: 𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘞𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. Available now via link in bio 🔗⁠ ⁠ 📸 Larry Sultan @larry_sultan

Sofia Coppola writes: "I’ve always been a big fan of Larry Sultan, I love this new book of his notes, which feels like a closer look and a visit with him. What he says makes me feel connected to artists making work they care about. I can’t wait to share it with friends.’"⁠ ⁠ 'Tasha’s Third Film', 1998, from 'The Valley' by Larry Sultan, featured in the new collection of his writings 'Water Over Thunder' 📸⁠ ⁠ Available now via link in bio 🔗⁠ ⁠ @sofiacoppola

'Best known for photographing suburban Los Angeles in Pictures from Home (1992) and The Valley (2004), @larry_sultan took this during a fashion shoot for Wallpaper* magazine in Belarus in 2006. The location, according to Sultan’s widow, Kelly, was backstage at a circus building in Minsk. As he constructed the scene, with two models on the sofa, Sultan decided they needed someone in the doorway, “so they grabbed their driver and put an overcoat on him”.' 'The women in pink are circus performers who agreed to take part; Sultan enjoyed playing with the height discrepancy between the two. Then he asked whether the circus had an animal they could borrow. First, Sultan and his lighting assistant Keith Kleiner were shown an elephant, and then a bear, but both were far too sad-looking to include. “Larry said, ‘Do you have anything else?’” recalls Kelly, “and they said, ‘Well, we have a fox-like creature, but he’s busy.’ He said, ‘Well, could we wait until he’s free?’ And they said, ‘Sure.’ So he set up the shot with a stool for the fox-like creature, not knowing what was coming.”' ✍️ Killian Fox 📸 @larry_sultan Photo Editor: @cherylnewman1 Read the full article on our website - link in bio

'Water Over Thunder: Selected Writings' by Larry Sultan is out today 💥⁠ ⁠ ‘I’ve always been a big fan of Larry Sultan, I love this new book of his notes, which feels like a closer look and a visit with him. What he says makes me feel connected to artists making work they care about. I can’t wait to share it with friends.’ @sofiacoppola ⁠ ⁠ ‘What can I say...I've found my bible. 𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 is exactly what I would have wanted to read as a student and exactly what I want to read now. It offers a lifetime worth of wisdom.’ @littlebrownmushroom ⁠ ⁠ ‘This book captures Sultan’s spirit – endlessly curious and warm, a little mischievous, comfortable with his vulnerability; equally at home quoting literature or cracking a joke – and, always inspiring to me, unafraid of failure.’ @gregoryhalpern ⁠ ⁠ ‘[𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘛𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 reveals] a creative intelligence grappling with the process of making meaningful work from the fabric of his life. We are fortunate to have this archive of insights, ruminations, hesitations, and triumphs to reflect an artist who thought and felt deeply on the photographic artist's place in the world.’ Paul Graham⁠ ⁠ ‘When I discovered more of Larry Sultan’s writing, it struck me as perfectly him: astutely observant, generous but direct, charming as hell, and full of (literal) questions. This collection of texts demonstrates just that.’ @carmen.winant ⁠ ⁠ ‘Last week when I was printing in the darkroom […] I remembered something that Larry Sultan wrote at the beginning of his book: “It is truly mysterious, and no matter how many pictures I make, I never depleted that quality of mystery.” It feels very special to feel close to what Larry Sultan is holding onto in these words.’ @jamie.hawkesworth ⁠ ⁠ ⁠ Available now via link in bio 🔗⁠ ⁠ 📸 @larry_sultan

Teaching Assignment 4: A Memorial ⁠ ⁠ Another set of devices for conjuring up the past are the memorial, the souvenir, and the memento. Each in their own way objectifies a past event, place, or person. Consider the difference between these objects and their functions, from public memorial to private fetish, and create your own version.⁠ ⁠ Taken from 'Water Over Thunder' by Larry Sultan (@larry_sultan ), publishing February 2026. Pre-order now via link in bio 🔗⁠ ⁠ 📸 Found postcard from the Sultan archive

Teaching Assignment 3: A Device for Conjuring up the Past 💭⁠ ⁠ Create a work or series of works that act as memory aids and history probes. Consider the use of sounds, smells, and tastes as well as physical spaces, objects, and image. If memory was a nocturnal animal what would you call it with? What would you use for bait? A variation on this would be to create a past for the future by making a time capsule. Consider the form of the capsule as well as what you would put inside of it. What kind of past are you creating?⁠ ⁠ Taken from 'Water Over Thunder' by Larry Sultan, publishing February 2026. Pre-order now via link in bio 🔗⁠ ⁠ 📸 Larry Sultan @larry_sultan

Teaching Assignment 2: An Incision in Time—Reordering the Archive⁠ ⁠ Incorporating visual fragments and/or artifacts of your past: mementos, snapshots, home movies, drawings (or facsimiles, counterfeits, reenactments) create a narrative work about an aspect of your history. A variation on this would be to incorporate these archival fragments with current image(s) of yourself and create a self-portrait that addresses the notion of historical identity—who you were becoming who you are💡⁠ ⁠ Taken from 'Water Over Thunder' by Larry Sultan, publishing February 2026. Pre-order now via link in bio 🔗⁠ ⁠ 📸 Larry Sultan @larry_sultan

As we head into the new year, we're turning to Larry Sultan's teaching assignments to find inspiration. These are assignments that Sultan would give to his students, as featured in the upcoming book of his writings 'Water Over Thunder' ✒️⁠ ⁠ Teaching Assignment 1: A Revision in Time—Wish Fulfillment⁠ ⁠ Create a work or series of works that depict a painful or troubling event(s) that occurred in your past as well as what you would do to alter and revise this event in a way that would give you the greatest pleasure, as well as free you from its pain.⁠ ⁠ Look out for more Sultan assignments over the next few days 📣⁠ ⁠ Pre-order 'Water Over Thunder' via link in bio 🔗⁠ ⁠ 📸 Larry Sultan @larry_sultan

Larry Sultan was one of the most important and celebrated photographers of the twentieth century, but his lifelong commitment to writing is less well known.⁠ ⁠ 'Water Over Thunder' is the first publication devoted to Sultan’s wide-ranging use of writing as a personal, artistic, and pedagogic tool. The selected texts – many unpublished until now – come from Sultan’s numerous journals and notebooks, encompassing reflections on his teaching and art practice, drafts for short stories, vivid dream diaries, and polished essays. ⁠ The book’s title is derived from an early draft of 'Pictures from Home' in which Sultan writes about the process of beginning a new artistic project: ‘Everything is in motion, spinning off of surfaces and slamming against shadowy forms ... it seems impossible to find a break in the surface.’⚡️⁠ ⁠ Read more about 'Water Over Thunder' and pre-order via link in bio 🔗⁠ ⁠ 📸 Larry Sultan @larry_sultan