Limited Editions

Over the years I've created a number of limited edition books and portfolios. In a few instances these hand-made books are in an edition of one, but more frequently they are three to five. For instance, I made five limited edition books, each in an edition of three, that were for sale at my 1999 retrospective at The Witkin Gallery. These books were bound volumes of silver prints. All the books up to 2006 consist of silver prints; subsequent books are made up of ink jet images. I think the ink jet prints are far superior from the standpoint of being bound as a book. The paper is more flexible and easier to work with, both in terms of making prints and the binding process. The new capabilities offered by various Internet publishers in creating small runs of books lends itself to exciting possibilities that I'll undoubtedly explore in the future.

I began working on projects with Clint Eastwood and Bruce Ricker in 1996. In two instances I created books for Clint, Bruce and myself, but I made five copies of Clint Eastwood Out of the Shadows, the extras being for people who were helpful on the film.

In 1999 I had a retrospective exhibition at The Witkin Gallery. To compliment the show I produced five limited edition books of original photographs. I produced three copies of each book and made a special version for myself that included color as well as black and white photographs. First Blues and The Ghosts of Harlem sold out. Only one each of the other three sold.

Harry Shier, my father-in-law, had a wonderful cottage at Spider Bay, an isolated picture perfect location a dozen or so miles out from Parry Sound in Canada’s Georgian Bay. I spend a few days there each summer in July or August, took thousands of photographs and began compiling books of them in the early 1990s. There were only two copies of each volume except for 2004 (3), 2005 (10) and 2006 (3).

I did the same thing for projects that were done outside New York City. I’m actually hoping to expand Highway 80 at 80 into a book and Billie & Lester in Oslo is actually a play with music that was presented at the 2006 Oslo Jazz Festival.

I followed Berenice Abbott’s dictum about projects and in some instances went a few steps further and created small books to organize the photographs. There are a few others that exist, one devoted to Issac Singer and another to a project entitled More, but these two are not properly bound.

My friends John and Susan Moore race horses from New York to Florida and occasionally I go to the races with them. In a few instances I made books based on the race. There only two copies of each.