Entries in Books (8)
Machiel Botman
Three Books
Last night the Fotomuseum Den Haag opened my exhibition! And we had Three Books there! What can I say?
For now I just post some pictures of the book. It is for sale in the museum, at Kahmann Gallery in Amsterdam and you can write volutemail@gmail.com for copies. I will soon post more information and images.
This is a book about all my years, images from the previous books and many images that were not published. And it shows lots of spreads from my bookdummies.
Fotomuseum The Hague & a book called Three books
Ok, in two weeks this exhibition opens, on saturday 17th of may. Victor Levie and I worked on this since over a year. About 100 prints with images from my beginning to now, many images I never used. The prints are with the framer and we are working on final things re the book. First time for me to print on uncoated paper. The printer is Robstolk drukkerij, the tests - very good stuff.
cutting pages for the dummy of three books
MENABO
MENABO
(catalog published on the occasion of the exhibition with M.R. Gallery in Brescia, Italy, in 2006)
This 36 page Leporello is a hand-folded Lambda print of more than 10 meters, in one piece. Menabo means maquette in Italian, or in this case (book)dummy. I wanted to get away from these "serious' and costly-to-do photography books.
And, like with Drifting, it was another reaction to Rainchild. Perhaps with the aim to be lighter and to play even more. Mauro Rossi is a friend who at that time had his gallery in Brescia. Very kind and crazy man. The perfect accomplice to Menabo.
a small menu card from a restaurant in the mountains of Toscana
a brownish changing skyline of a city
a dummy called Our Fathers, our mothers are from Tokyo
a dummy cover with the image called Frozen Rain
a little man, made by my son from left-over carton strips
a conclusion, that "if I were a bird, I would constantly fly the skylines of our cities"
Menabo
Published by M.R. Gallery, Brescia, Italy in 2006
Edition 200 copies, signed and numbered
Printed by Newlab in Brescia, Italy
Menabo's spreads are published here with the kind permission of Mauro Rossi, the publisher
Copyright images is with the publisher and the photographer
DRIFTING
"to be honest, I'm drifting away from many things that are important to me, many people and many things. In a sense I am drifting away from myself, from the life I have. But in another sense this already happened before: where is that boy who photographed himself in the mirror, or the couple in the cinema? Where has that curiosity gone? I am not sure if I want to know the answer, so you tell me, should I want to know?" (from an email exchange with Catherine Duncan).
It was a piece in which I used many unpublished images. Those which had fallen out of the book dummies. It was a collection without sense, because I wasn't consistent: I still brought in known and published images. The wall version of Drifting was liked a lot. It always felt that was because it just looked impressive and perhaps that was reason enough.
"you will do what you have to do, but while you are at it do not forget to use that camera: you have brightened my days with your dark and mysterious images. I insist you keep them coming". (from the same email exchange with Kate)
My first exhibition with HUP Gallery in Amsterdam, in 2005, was soon after the Rainchild exhibitions. In fact these were still happening, both with Gallerie Vu and with Grazia Neri. It was not logic to copy these exhibitions, and we decided to show unpublished work. I had just made Rainchild, on which I had worked over ten years. Any next book is (also) a reaction to the book before: I made one dummy for Drifting, one layout, one title, one sequence. That was it. And this time I was consistent: this catalog Drifting had only unpublished images. Hup's young designer found the crazy typography for the cover, which I would have never thought to use, and I loved it. The idea to print the glossy black typography on the dark grey carton of the slip case came from the cover of Masao Yamamoto's beautiful book A Box of Ku, published by Nazraeli Press in 1998.
Drifting
Published by HUP Gallery, Amsterdam in 2005
Softcover in a carton slipcase
Editing and design Machiel Botman
First edition 500 copies, including a limited edition of 25 copies which includes a silverprint of the image Sydney, 1999
(Sydney 1999)
Images of the spreads from this catalog Drifting are shown with the kind permission of the publisher
(Copyright for the images in Drifting is with the author. Copyright for the images of the spreads of Drifting is with the publisher Kahmann Gallery (before Hup Gallery) in Amsterdam)
