I've been fairly underwhelmed by lots of photobook offerings over the past couple of years. Of course there have been some great titles, but it seems to be slowing down a lot in terms of ingenuity and genuine contribution . Again, there will always be good books coming out but maybe we need to turn the volume down on the average material? Just a suggestion as inflation soars and the market contracts. I have received a couple of great things from The Getty @getty_publications_inc this past week and now the new Peter Hujar and Larry Sultan from @mack_publishing both batches have essential material in them. Mack's recent biography adjacent forays have come at a time when we need much more looking under the carpet for all the missing jewels tucked in the archival floorboards. These are two essential examples. As a Hujar fan, I love seeing his contacts. As a Sultan fan all of the adjacent archival writing is really eye opening and vital in a time when both artists voice seem clear and intimate. We can use more of this type of publishing over publisher (masquerading as artists, more than one) vanity projects.
Fascinating curator/artist/archivist Harald Szeeman. Dipping into this world is really overwhelming. Gratitude to @donnawestbrett for helping me secure 1000 pages of reading and beautiful books to boot from @getty_publications_inc I'm also quite excited about the Renger-Patzsch
Pay attention to @jasonhendardy sub stack instead the obscenity of the Fed Gala. He's a great dude with interesting observations. I don't usually plug these things but Jason is worth the effort
