Great review. I find this type of imagery too spectacular, a little like advertising. I guess many were made for corporate publications so have an inevitable formal sophistication and glossiness. The worn shoe is a nice counterpoint. I’m drawn to the shrouded propeller but not the vast structures. I do appreciate Power’s approach to captioning and sequencing. I must have a proper look at the book though so thank you for the prompt.
GOST makes beautiful books and I love Mark's work, so I am excited to check this out. I'm also a sucker for the whole "industrial sublime" genre. Hearing that the project was influenced by Mike Mandel and Larry Sultan’s Evidence bodes well too.
Interesting, Neil!! I am like Olli not sure about this one. Excellent presentation on your part, but there is something about access that is a little elitist for me and the project loses some of its shine because of it. I have only seen what you are showing here, so must be careful, but, it is like Candida Höfer and Robert Polidori…. Give me exclusive access to Versailles, or the Royal Library, a big-ass digital file to work with, some post-production? Dunno! Thank you for this! Really intriguing….
Interesting, not entirely sure what he is saying. The problem with GOST is that he does not sell to bookshops, only from his website, which means you are taking a flyer every time. GOST makes nice books, but is asking for a lot of trust on the part of the buyer. It is not a model I am fond of. I get the profit angle, but still.
It is a sweet model. Make the photographer pay, run it on kickstarter too, then sell direct (mostly). Ian MacDonald’s new book is on Kickstarter right now with GOST as publisher. The goal is 18000 pounds, as I recall… wow 😳. I could tell you horror stories!
You should check out Ian Macdonald’s book. Yes, I am biased, but he is a superb photographer, who ran with Chris Killip and Graham Smith back in the day. He had two museum shows a couple of years back and will have an exhibition in Paris later this year, as I understand it. His work is fantastic. His Canteen Ladies is one of my favourite photographs. I have a post about him coming on the weekend….
Is that a lot of money? They are really nicely produced. In a world of extractive capitalism, they seem like the good guys. Maybe they are laughing on their yachts.
It is not about the money, it is how it is done. Make the deal or the book with the photographer. Agree to everything; books with prints, the works, then last minute… oh, by the way, I want you to raise 18K on Kickstarter, never discussed, or agreed. I have seen it twice with photographers I know and this publisher. It is backhanded, at best. Something else at worst. There are so many great photographers, who are actively chasing that elusive book. A lot of them older and vulnerable to being flattered, and then reality hits. They not only have to make the prints and send them over, then they have to record videos, promote on Kickstarter and offer up more goodies to help the publisher, who has already agreed to publish. And then the final straw, instead of wholesale prices to bookshops, the publisher keeps the entire sale amount on the vast majority of the books by offering almost exclusively through the website. It is a sweet deal. But maybe, that is just me, or, maybe it isn’t?
I have now heard back from Mark Power himself! He is in China and it’s difficult to comment directly: “I’m really concerned that the comments are completely missing the point of the book, making judgements on just a few pictures. I’m very proud of the book because of what it’s trying to do, and is (I hope) something for the younger generation to use to fight their corner to be able to make their own work. (And btw, only a little is from Superstructure or the Treasury Project... 75% of it is unpublished work).”
It is quite large, that's true. I obviously think that Guangzhou is the best place in China and you’d be mad not to come here. 'Local' (expat) pride there.
Great review. I find this type of imagery too spectacular, a little like advertising. I guess many were made for corporate publications so have an inevitable formal sophistication and glossiness. The worn shoe is a nice counterpoint. I’m drawn to the shrouded propeller but not the vast structures. I do appreciate Power’s approach to captioning and sequencing. I must have a proper look at the book though so thank you for the prompt.
Thanks Jon. Do let me know what you think if you spot it in a bookshop.
GOST makes beautiful books and I love Mark's work, so I am excited to check this out. I'm also a sucker for the whole "industrial sublime" genre. Hearing that the project was influenced by Mike Mandel and Larry Sultan’s Evidence bodes well too.
Such a beautiful book and also makes me want to check out Evidence.
Interesting, Neil!! I am like Olli not sure about this one. Excellent presentation on your part, but there is something about access that is a little elitist for me and the project loses some of its shine because of it. I have only seen what you are showing here, so must be careful, but, it is like Candida Höfer and Robert Polidori…. Give me exclusive access to Versailles, or the Royal Library, a big-ass digital file to work with, some post-production? Dunno! Thank you for this! Really intriguing….
New update! https://crop.photography/p/a-piece-of-work/comment/257090841?r=265os&utm_medium=ios
Interesting, not entirely sure what he is saying. The problem with GOST is that he does not sell to bookshops, only from his website, which means you are taking a flyer every time. GOST makes nice books, but is asking for a lot of trust on the part of the buyer. It is not a model I am fond of. I get the profit angle, but still.
They are available in some shops/galleries: https://gostbooks.com/pages/stockists
I just saw Craig Easton whose books are similarly high production values.
Not sure also about profit. My understanding is that the photographer covers a lot of the initial costs.
It is a sweet model. Make the photographer pay, run it on kickstarter too, then sell direct (mostly). Ian MacDonald’s new book is on Kickstarter right now with GOST as publisher. The goal is 18000 pounds, as I recall… wow 😳. I could tell you horror stories!
This is the only Kickstarter I have backed recently …. very reasonable! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dimmick/island-record
You should check out Ian Macdonald’s book. Yes, I am biased, but he is a superb photographer, who ran with Chris Killip and Graham Smith back in the day. He had two museum shows a couple of years back and will have an exhibition in Paris later this year, as I understand it. His work is fantastic. His Canteen Ladies is one of my favourite photographs. I have a post about him coming on the weekend….
Is that a lot of money? They are really nicely produced. In a world of extractive capitalism, they seem like the good guys. Maybe they are laughing on their yachts.
It is not about the money, it is how it is done. Make the deal or the book with the photographer. Agree to everything; books with prints, the works, then last minute… oh, by the way, I want you to raise 18K on Kickstarter, never discussed, or agreed. I have seen it twice with photographers I know and this publisher. It is backhanded, at best. Something else at worst. There are so many great photographers, who are actively chasing that elusive book. A lot of them older and vulnerable to being flattered, and then reality hits. They not only have to make the prints and send them over, then they have to record videos, promote on Kickstarter and offer up more goodies to help the publisher, who has already agreed to publish. And then the final straw, instead of wholesale prices to bookshops, the publisher keeps the entire sale amount on the vast majority of the books by offering almost exclusively through the website. It is a sweet deal. But maybe, that is just me, or, maybe it isn’t?
Thanks! These were all commissioned jobs, but I’m sure you could get access if you asked.
Thanks for this. Very helpful. I like Power's work and have a lot of his books but I'm not quite convinced by this one yet.
I have now heard back from Mark Power himself! He is in China and it’s difficult to comment directly: “I’m really concerned that the comments are completely missing the point of the book, making judgements on just a few pictures. I’m very proud of the book because of what it’s trying to do, and is (I hope) something for the younger generation to use to fight their corner to be able to make their own work. (And btw, only a little is from Superstructure or the Treasury Project... 75% of it is unpublished work).”
I guess I missed the point then! Since he's in China and if you're in contact tell him I'd love to meet up if he makes it to Guangzhou.
Ha, I did think about suggesting you meet but someone once told me it is quite a big country.
It is quite large, that's true. I obviously think that Guangzhou is the best place in China and you’d be mad not to come here. 'Local' (expat) pride there.
My pleasure. I am not sure how much new there is if you had Superstructure, The Treasury Project and the Poland book, but still a dizzying selection.