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| © Justin Guariglia / Courtesy Aperture Books |
| Click photo for more images from Justin Guariglia's eight-year project, Shaolin: Temple of Zen. |
Darius Himes: There have been several big changes and announcements over the summer at Aperture. Your promotion to publisher was one, as was the resignation of Ellen Harris, the Executive Director of Aperture, who had been with you for almost five years. Mixed in with those changes came the announcement of the Aperture Prize and a full list of summer activities in your rather new Chelsea space. How have all of these things affected Aperture?
Lesley A. Martin: The biggest, most impactful change starts with Ellen's resignation. Obviously, losing one's director is a big deal and creates a certain amount of turbulence no matter what. But from my perspective and that of my colleagues, we have been working very hard to build an organization that is stronger than ever, and we will continue to do so. Ellen did many significant things for Aperture that have helped establish a solid foundation for the growth of the organization as a whole. Now it's up to us to keep it moving onward and upward.
Over the last year there had been a lot of discussion about how to move forward and define the book program. I would like to consider my new position as a reinforcement of the direction in which we've been taking the book program, it's a reinforcement of the notion that quality and content is of the utmost concern to Aperture.
We're very lucky to have a great team at Aperture -- and it is very much a team effort here. We are at a point now where we can keep growing and moving forward. As of right now, the decisions the book program makes about which projects to publish will help set the agenda for the whole institution, so the decision making process is very consensus based. A project will usually begin with the book, but the work contained is then disseminated in different ways -- online, in exhibitions, and promoted through lectures and book signings. And as each department works with the material, they each bring their own perspective to bear on it, allowing the material to move out into the world in different ways, and hopefully, to be seen as a multi-faceted body of work, which is always very satisfying.
We want to ensure that when we take something on, we can provide the best public platform for that project. The flip side of that is that each book project is scrutinized in multiple ways before we'll acquire it -- so it can take a while. But we take very seriously that the book program has to acquire projects that contribute to the overall mission of the organization. It begins with the book and then becomes the concern of the institution.
DH: You hint at the dissemination process involved for these projects and that it happens through various channels, such as exhibitions and online. But let's talk for a minute about how the books are disseminated and distributed. In the last year, you began working with Distributed Art Publishers (D.A.P.), who is known as North America's best art book distributor. What has that been like? Have they brought a new level of attention to Aperture books?
LM: Well, we work with D.A.P. in North America and Thames & Hudson overseas for the European and Asian markets -- really the rest of the world. They are both phenomenally intelligent about art books. As Aperture positions itself and some of our activities in closer alliance to the art world, it means a lot to us to be able to find our books in more museums and the remaining independent bookstores. We're excited about reaching broader audiences while still being able to keep in touch with our classic, core photo community.
DH: How does the acquisition process work?
LM: It is the editorial staff's responsibility to ferret out projects from around the world that are of relevance to what's happening in the photo world right now. We ask ourselves, what projects are advancing the conversation of contemporary photography in interesting ways, what is unique, what bodies of work have dropped off the radar that need to be resuscitated? We bring that to the table with a physical checklist of project criteria. We really want the work to contribute something new and innovative to the dialogue of photography.
And again, the actual acquisitions process is very much consensus-based. We look at each project to see how it will function in the overall Aperture mission, in all of the various ways that we ask a project to serve.
We've been asking ourselves: how do we differentiate ourselves from the great leagues of photobook publishers. It's a very rich time for photobook publishing. For any project we take on, we have to be able to articulate very specifically what this book contributes to our list and our mission¬ -- is there new ground being broken photographically; is the project of exemplary quality; does the project reveal something of historical, sociological, or conceptual importance? I'd like to think that we have been -- and will continue to be -- willing to take creative risks.
DH: You mention projects that “take risks.” How does that tie into concerns about the commercial success of a book?
LM: We consciously give ourselves leeway to do things that may not be major blockbusters.
DH: In other words, you are looking for success on more levels than simple commercial mass appeal, which to be honest is fleeting and never guaranteed anyway. At the end of the day, you want to be proud of the work and the book as a whole, not simply the bottom line of its financial success.
LM: Right. We have to feel that each book offers a contribution to the field in some way … That said, we're also very conscious that we are a hybrid of sort -- and that we function with the trade publishing world as a way of getting our books out there. We have to be savvy about that, but not to the extent that we start allowing the likes, dislikes, and various whims of the trade book business to dictate what we do.
DH: Who participates in these editorial meetings?
LM: This is actually in flux right now. Along with the creation of my new position, we have just hired a new associate editor -- Joanna Lehan, who I'm very much looking forward to working with. Almost all of the editorial staff attend -- from both the book program and the magazine, the sales and marketing team, our director of exhibitions and limited editions, and our development director. There is representation from all the different Aperture puzzle pieces. Each department thinks about how they could work with the material. There are always differences of opinions and grappling back and forth about each project. Is this project feasible at this time? How does it fit into the list of other books? Etc. That balance is really important. We're not out to represent or to make an argument that any type of photography or particular genre is more important than the other -- we just want to represent the best there is to offer from a broad range.
DH: You mention the “leagues of photobook publishers” out there, and indeed there really are dozens of interesting publishers right now. What is your personal perspective on publishing?
LM: Well, I come at publishing from a perspective that asks not just whether this particular body of work is great work, which naturally, has to be the starting point. But beyond that, one of the questions I ask is whether the work can function in an interesting way on the printed page. I love to talk to photographers about how they see their work being shaped into a book. And when I give lectures, I try to encourage people to be informed about books and what makes a good book, what they think a good book is, what are they looking for, etc. Personally, I get excited about minutiae and really enjoy speaking to photographers about book specifics: the kind of paper and binding, the format and trim size, how does it all fit together, what is going to make this book unique and different from the others. I really am a geek in that way!
--Darius Himes is editor of the photo-eye Booklist, and a writer and photographer. He lectures on photography at The College of Santa Fe and regularly talks to students and photographers around the country about photobooks.
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