My third day was all about speaking at the 10x10Photobook Salon. Having been to one earlier in the year on my last trip to the US I knew it would be quite informal and a really lovely way of showing the book.
There were four of us presenting our work that evening. Virginie Rebetez with her book Out of the Blue, along with her publisher Delphine Bedel, Lucy Helton and three of her books Actions of Consequence, Transmission and her zine Fire, and me with Conversations with my mother.
There was a very receptive audience… however, it was still quite hard to talk about my work, which is so personal, to a group larger than one-to-one. Having been through it at portfolio reviews I knew this would be emotional – but I think that’s OK: it’s emotional work.
Speaking here was significant: it was my first public talk about this body of work, and I was mindful of this moment. Because I only made 16 editions I can’t send it out for review or awards, and this makes it tricky to get it out there. I didn’t do a Kickstarter…I never intended it for mass distribution but I still want people to know about it…. This Salon was a perfect way to do that – people who are really into photobooks and who take a great interest in them. Each time I show it I think – “that’s my letter to you”. I had some good conversations afterwards that continued well into the evening.
It was also great to show in the context of other wonderful – and very different – books. Virginie Rebetez book explores the disappearance of Suzanne Gloria Lyall, a young woman from Albany (NY). The content of the work creates a multi-layered narrative showing how information about someone who is not there becomes ‘property’, loss, and how we come to know someone through it… Suzanne has never been found. We were very fortunate that Suzanne’s mother was also present at the evening to talk about the work and the process of making it and I am always hugely in awe of how photographers make pieces about others with such sensitivity and tact. It’s a real long-term relationship, and Virginie has made a nuanced and care-full piece of work.
Lucy finished the evening speaking about her three books which I had been lucky enough to see in detail the day before in her studio. I was again reminded about how much the form of the book itself is another medium. I kept thinking of ceramics..the transformation from clay to vessel, and how broad that definition of vessel could be….. the book is a vessel and how that is explored is so exciting….
I have learned a lot this year about communicating this body of work. As I have moved through the last few months I have got less and less attached to needing to do some sort of ‘mass promotion’, which really doesn’t suit me or the work. This Salon was perfect. You can read about the Salon here.
