Delighted to be chatting with @krisgraves@andrewsanigar@fultonstreet for the @aipadphoto talk Art of the Photobook
Art of the Photobook
Publishers and artists discuss the importance of the photobook as a medium and aspect of a fine art photographer’s oeuvre, along with the process of creating volumes that speak to the zeitgeist. Featuring Kris Graves of KGP Monolith, Caleb Cain Marcus of Luminosity Lab, Andrew Sanigar of Thames & Hudson and Kevin Moore, Curator of the McEvoy Collection, San Francisco and the Artistic Director and Curator of FotoFocus.
Is it a book or is it a sculpture?
For Caleb Cain Marcus, the creative director of design studio @luminositylabdesign , a book is a legacy object that transforms ideas into visual experiences that live on your bookshelves and on your mind.
Caleb is based in NY and he has worked with museums, curators, and artists to turn big ideas into legendary books and exhibitions.
It will be an honour to chat with Caleb who continues to push the boundaries and I’m looking forward to sharing his wisdom with you!
Join us on November 23rd for the live recording or stream on your most loved podcast platform from December 10th.
Supported by @mondriaanfonds@vanheektextiles@marcgijzen@luminositylabdesign@nkg_publications@jeremyjansen.studio@jessepresse
Produced by @the_bookphotographer
Audio productions by @drexmeister
Identity and graphic design by @thom_niessink Recorded at @huisvanhetboek
#ArtBooks #PodcastAnnouncement #VisualStorytelling
Books of 2025 had many wonderful collaborations including Museum of Contemporary Photography, Damiani, Kris Graves Projects, Saint Lucy Book, ‘Cademy, Liars Corner, Monolith Editions, Warwick Editions and Workshop Arts.
Pulses: A Memoir Through Art
Artist: Jennie Evans
Editor Sybylla Smith
Publisher: Workshop Arts
Creative Direction: Luminosity Lab
Bad Outdoorsmen
Katie Hargrave and Meredith Laura Lynn
Essays: Julie Dickover and Marcus Civin
Publisher: Workshop Arts
Creative Direction: Luminosity Lab
Making It
Artist: Bootsy Holler
Essays: Megan Jasper, Charles Peterson, Tamara Paris
Publisher: Damiani
Creative Direction: Luminosity Lab
Milk Factory
Artist: Corinne May Botz
Essays: Hettie Judah, and Mathilde Cohen
Publisher: Saint Lucy Books
Creative Direction: Luminosity Lab
Conflagration
Artist: Aaron Huey
Publisher: KGP
Creative Direction: Luminosity Lab
Wildfire
Artist: Philip Cheung
Publisher: KGP
Creative Direction: Luminosity Lab
Waterworks: the hidden water system of New York
Artist: Stanley Greenberg
Illustrator: Larry Buchanan
Publisher: KGP
Creative Direction: Luminosity Lab
1804
Artist: Rich-Joseph Facun
Publisher: Liars Corner
Creative Direction: Luminosity Lab
Regina Agu: Field Notes for Shorelines
Artist: Regina Abu
Curators: Asha Iman Veal, Karen Irvine
Publisher: Museum of Contemporary Photography
Creative Direction: Luminosity Lab
Six Thousand Miles Up the Coast
Richard Hay
Creative Direction: Luminosity Lab
Cairo Dream
Artist: Anthony Hamboussi
Publisher: Monolith Editions
Creative Direction: Luminosity Lab
Somoud In Dark Times
Artist: Rehab Nazzal
Publisher: Monolith Editions
Creative Direction: Luminosity Lab
Birds of a Feather
Artist: Claire Rosen
Essays: Femke Speelberg, Metropolitan Museum of Art; Joel Sartore, National Geographic Photo Ark�Editor: Beth Taubner
Publisher: Warwick Editions and Workshop Arts
Creative Direction: Luminosity Lab
We Will Return to You
Artist: Hannah Altman
Publisher: Saint Lucy Books
Creative Direction: Luminosity Lab
All These Feelings
Ana Vallejo
Publisher: ’Cademy
Creative Direction: Luminosity Lab
Claire Rosen’s Birds of a Feather pairs live bird portraits with historically inspired backdrops, creating an interplay that explores beauty, domestication, and our impulse to collect and categorize nature.
The book weaves photographs with historical quotations, connecting ornithology, art history, and ethics. Drawing from scientific illustration and Victorian decorative traditions, it acknowledges both admiration and consequence. Each portrait—falcon, flamingo, chicken—reveals individual personality as vivid as plumage, asking: If nature inspires art, what might art do for nature in return?
The design resolves the challenge of blending Victorian opulence with contemporary book design. Ornamental references drawn from scientific illustration and Victorian wallpaper are balanced by modern typographic sensibility, generous white space, and disciplined sequencing. This tension creates a timeless object that reflects both historical admiration for nature and a contemporary, critical awareness of humanity’s relationship with it.
Artist @claire__rosen
Essays Femke Speelberg and Joel Sartore
Editor Beth Taubner
Publisher Warwick Editions @workshop_arts_publishing
Post @thepostoffice_nyc
Prepress @delicatessen_books
Book photos @stevenpaneccasio
Creative Direction @luminositylabdesign
Join us for the next #i3Lecture with photographer and extraordinary book designer Caleb Cain Marcus @calebcainmarcus of @luminositylabdesign
Free & open to the public! 7 PM on Tuesday, February 10 at @svanyc .
Register via the link in our bio ⬆️
Image of "Birds of a Feather" book by former i3 Lecture speaker @claire__rosen is by @stevenpaneccasio
#SVA #SVANYC #i3 #PhotoLecture #NYCArt #NYCPhoto #bookdesign #photobookdesign
Milk Factory documents the invisible labor of lactation in America, bringing viewers inside pumping rooms across radically different sites—prisons, banking firms, farm laborers’ tents, schools, airports, and the U.S. Capitol. Corinne Botz’s photographs honor this unrecognized work while challenging romanticized narratives of motherhood and exposing contradictions in modern parenthood and public policy.
The book’s design uses five shades of white paper to classify content types—formal essays, first-person narratives, photographs, poetry, and film stills—creating an organizational system through materiality. The film stills section disrupts this rhythm with large typography and lightweight glossy paper, evoking magazine aesthetics and creating a meta-reference to the book.
Through the integration of design, materiality, text, and image, Milk Factory transforms solitary lactation experiences into a collective political archive—making private labor visible and demanding structural change.
Artist @corinnebotz
Essays @hettiejudah Mathilde Cohen
Publisher @saint_lucy_books
Prepress: @delicatessen_books
Book photos @stevenpaneccasio
Creative Direction @luminositylabdesign
Making It by Bootsy Holler is an intimate photographic documentary of Seattle’s indie, rock, and punk scene from 1992–2008. Holler captures the formative moments of bands that would go on to define a generation through images of live performances, candid portraits, and backstage encounters that convey the era. With a foreword by Sub Pop Records’ Megan Jasper and an introduction by photographer Charles Peterson, the book weaves personal memoir with cultural history.
The cover typography draws from the vernacular of concert flyers, photocopied zines, and self-produced music ephemera, reflecting the cultural and technological transition as Seattle’s music scene shifted from grunge to indie. The open-spine binding with bright orange thread, paired with the title stamped across the fore edge, aligns the book with the raw, utilitarian aesthetics of DIY music culture, emphasizing tactility and imperfection and reinforcing the work’s connection to a pre-digital era when music communities were built through physical presence and shared space.
Artist @bootsyholler
Essays @megan_jasper@charles.peterson.photographer
Publisher @damiani_books
Book photos @stevenpaneccasio
Creative Direction @luminositylabdesign
The emotional life of a book
A new episode of Book Making as an Art Form is out now, featuring Brooklyn-based designer @calebcainmarcus of @luminositylabdesign .
We recorded this conversation at @huisvanhetboek , learning about Caleb’s journey from the quiet mountains of Colorado to European printing houses and into a book practice shaped by poetry, photography, and a deep commitment to looking.
Together, we spoke about:
✦ looking as a lifelong way of being
✦ moving from poetry and photography into book design
✦ why he produces his books in Europe, and how cultural support shapes ecosystems
✦ the dream of making books that leave a trace, in feeling and in thought
Caleb sees a book not as an object, but as an experience - sculptural, poetic, built to hold emotion and memory. A book that aims to stay with you.
This episode is released in parallel with the crowdfunding campaign for Season 2. If this podcast speaks to you, supporting the campaign (or sharing it) helps keep these conversations accessible to everyone who loves, makes, and lives with books.
Link in bio. ✨
Listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Produced by @the_bookphotographer
Audio by @drexmeister
Graphic design @thom_niessink
Recorded at @huisvanhetboek
❤️ Supported by @mondriaanfonds@vanheektextiles@marcgijzen@luminositylabdesign@nkg_publications@jeremyjansen.studio@jessepresse@japsambooks
#BookMakingAsAnArtForm #ArtBooks #BookDesign #PrintMatters #PublishingCommunity #BookCulture #IndependentPublishing #VisualStorytelling #SlowMedia #LuminosityLab
Waterworks: The Hidden Water System of New York, by Stanley Greenberg, published by Kris Graves Projects is an exploration of New York City’s water supply and wastewater treatment systems, was originally published in 2003. This new and expanded edition is a complete reworking of the book, featuring 362 photographs made between 1992 and 2024, and two new large folded insert maps.
The new design highlights the complex architectural nature of New York’s water system through image grids presented in varying sizes. These grids are interlaced with full bleed classics from the original edition.
Artist @stanleygreenberg
Publisher @kgpnyc
Book photos @the_bookphotographer
Creative Direction @luminositylabdesign
Meet the artists, see books we’ve designed and have them signed @icp
Friday
4pm
At Workshop Arts: Suzanne Revy, A Murmur in the Trees
SATURDAY
1pm
At Workshop Arts: Jennie Evans, Pulses
2pm
At KGP: Stanley Greenberg, Waterworks: New York’s Hidden Water System
At Workshop Arts: Claire Rosen, Birds of a Feather
3pm
At KGP: Anthony Hamboussi, Cairo Dream
At Saint Lucy Books: Hannah Altman, We Will Return to You
At Workshop Arts: Suzanne Revy, A Murmur in the Trees
4:30pm
At Kehrer Verlag: Stephen Shames: a lifetime in photography
Book photos @the_bookphotographer
