Ken Schles photographer

News

June into July 2010 Exhibition and symposium, Visual Studies Workshop (VSW) Photo-Bookworks Symposium, Rochester, NY. Exhibition is the same traveling exhibit The Photo-Book Works shown in the Sheehan Gallery, Whitman College, WA.
Symposium is July 1-3. Exhibition is June 28-July 31.

May into June 2010 Recent work for Brandeis University wins two silver awards, in two categories from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education. A sampling can be found here on this website.

April 27 2010 AmericansuburbX ran a bit about Invisible City. See it here.

March 5 2010 The Photo-Bbook Works exhibition in the Sheehan Gallery at Whitman College opened. Eventually the show will travel to the Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester, NY in July for their Photo-Bookworks Symposium. Curated by David Schulz.
Works on display:
Album, Hans-Peter Feldman, Walther König, 2008
American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar, An, Taryn Simon, Steidl, 2007
Archaeology in Reverse, Stephen Gill, Nobody Books, 2007
Atlas, Gerhard Richter, DAP, 1997
Berlin in the Time of the Wall, John Gossage, Loose Strife Editions, 2004
Chizu (The Map), Kikuji Kawada, Nazraeli Press, 2005
Echo, David Schulz, Hammer Productions, 2010
Every Building on the Sunset Strip, Ed Ruscha, Ed Ruscha, 1966
Evidence, Mike Mandel and Larry Sultan, D.A.P., 2003
Fait, Sophie Ristelhueber, Errata Editions, 2009
Fast/Days, Morten Andersen, Centro Português de Fotografia, 2007
Fields, Michal Rovner, Steidl, 2005
First, jay comes, Takashi Homma, Hassla Books, 2009
Jens F, Collier Schorr, SteidlMack, 2005
Journey Without Title, Balázs Czeizl, Visual Studies Workshop Press, 1995
Landmasses and Railways, Bertrand Fleuret, J & L Books, 2009
Lines of My Hand, The, Robert Frank, Lustrum Press, 1972
Memories of a Dog, Daido Moriyama, Nazraeli Press, 2004
Mine Fields, Bill Burke, Nexus Press, 1995
New History of Photography, A, Ken Schles, Schaden, White Press, 2008
Newport Museum Postcard Museum, The, Madeline Djerejian, Self-Published, 2008
Open Sea, Jim Goldberg, Steidl, 2009
Ozone Alert, John Wood, Visual Studies Workshop Press, 1996
Placeholders, The, Volume 3, Tate Shaw, Preacher’s Biscuit Books, 2007
Record of Past Walks in Existing Landscapes, A, Hamish Fulton, Publié pour le Centre d’Art de Kerguehennec et la Galerie Laage Salomon, 1988
Riding 1st Class on the Titanic: Photographs, Nathan Lyons, Addison Gallery of American Art, MIT Press, 1999
Shimmer of Possibility, A, Paul Graham, SteidlMack, 2009
Solitude of Ravens, The, Masahisa Fukase, Bedford Arts, 1991
Still Water, by Roni Horn, SITE Santa Fe, 2000
Sunbird, by Jason Fulford, J & L Books, 2000
Toshi-e (Towards the City), Yutaka Takanashi, Errata Editions, 2009
U-ni-ty, Michael Schmidt, Scalo Zurich–Berlin–New York, 1996
Visible World, Peter Fischli and David Weiss, Walther König, 2000
Weavings, Performance #2 (Portland, Oregon), Corin Hewitt, J and L Books, 2009

March 4 2010 Invisible City and A New History of Photography: The World Outside and the Pictures in Our Heads were both acquired by the Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs at The New York Public Library.
Find Invisibe City in a library near you.
Find A New History in a libray near you.

March 2010 I set up a Facebook fan page. It would please me if you join.

January 2010 An informal appearance at the photo LA Shaden.com booth where I shared a working copy and prints from my new Oculus project.

June 2009 A New History of Photography was a finalist for the 40th Annual Contemporary Author Book Award 2009 - LES RENCONTRES D'ARLES PHOTOGRAPHIE. A satellite showing of the book's images was projected in Arles during the festival along with other Schaden.com White Press projects in The Supermarkt space on Thursady July 9th at 9pm, Place de la Roquette, Arles, France. The two book prizes went to Susan Meiselas for In History, which documents the shattering impact of war on landscape as well as people, and to Swedish photographers Anders Pedersen and JH Engstrom for From Back Home, their collaborative study of their home country over two generations. Good as the study is, it seemed an odd choice considering the strong competition. I can't help feeling that, just as there is too much photography here, there are also too many photography books. From Sean O'Hagen, The Guardian (UK). Link to full review of the festival.


September 9, 2009: On the blog of critic A.D. Coleman Photocritic International:
I don’t intend to flatter people who choose not to go to art/photo school but make art anyway. By the same token, I don’t think anyone deserves praise or attention simply because he or she did go to art/photo school. I’ve taught in and lectured at art/photo schools (and at art/photo departments in colleges and universities and polytechnic institutes) for four decades now. I don’t see much difference between art/photo students, anthropology students, and business-administration students, save that nobody flunks out of art/photo school and MBAs have a much higher rate of employment after graduation. I’ve known photographers who speak and write wonderfully, even brilliantly, about their own work — Mark Klett, Arno Rafael Minkkinen, and Ken Schles, to name three. (Artists as well, of course.) I’ve also known many, including more than a few who taught, who were either not particularly adept at discussing their own work or, for various reasons, chose not to. Some prefer the work to speak for them, and — if the work is indeed eloquent — I find that perfectly acceptable. It’s a pleasure to find a photographer capable of eloquent speech and nuanced prose, but I’ll settle for straightforward and functional. I’ll even deal with the leaden and pedestrian.
link

Some mentions on the web:
in May: On the French photography blog 12th Press, an essay by Nicholas Calcott on the relationship between photography and Italo Calvino's book Invisible Cities.

The end of April: On Jeff Ladd's blog 5b4, in a thread responding to Jeff's 2nd anniversary posting on the inflated value of great photobooks, there is an entry (last one) where Gerry Badger weighs in and mentions my book Invisible City. I think the whole thread is pretty interesting. Read it from the start here or click here to just read Gerry's insightful entry (Invisible City is mentioned in the 1st paragraph).

April 18-19 2009 At The Pacific Street Photographic Workshops Jeff Ladd and I taught a weekend workshop on Making The Photographic Book. Response? "...both [are] incredibly passionate, well-informed teachers and your love for photography and books is very inspiring. I would recommend the class to anyone who wants to develop a deeper understanding of photography books and how to conceptualize them." — Amy S. "The sharing of ideas was generous and intelligent." — Laurie L. "Ken and Jeff were very attuned to the individual needs of the participants. ... Thanks so much for an inspiring and memorable course!" — Sebastian Z.

March 11 2009 at 7pm at the International Center of Photography as part of The Photographers: Lecture Series I will talk on my book A New History Of Photography (Note: this event is sold out).

January-March 2009: More Intensified: The Music Photography of Ken Schles, 1993-2006 a solo exhibition at The Noorderlicht Gallery in Groningen, Holland.

February 2009 Review: Photo-Eye by George Slade with a response by Ken Schles.

January 2009 A personal appearance at photo LA to sign books at the Shaden.com booth.

December 2008-January 2009 A New History is selected on best photography books of the year lists for 5b4, Photo-Eye, Schaden.com and Print Run.

September - December 2008 Multiple reviews and articles for A New History in FAZ, Süddeutsche Zeitung, 5b4, 1000 Words Photography. See reviews here.

September 2008: Official release of A New History during Photokina, in Cologne, Germany. Review in the September/October issue of Hotshoe International (London). Article entitled: Insight into the mind of a great photographer, by Bill Kouwenhoven, says the book displays "magic", "gutsiness", is "eloquent", the photographer shows "virtuosity"; "this book is a meditation on photography and the photographs that live in our heads", "uniquely personal", "it provides a particular insight into the mind of a great photographer", "gorgeously printed...and is an art object in its own right."

June/July 2008: "stealth" showing of A New History at the FOAM Photo Festival and Arles. Again, very positive public reaction.

May 2008: Debut of A New History at the Markus Schaden booth of the 1st New York Photo Festival, only a few test copies of the book available, but very good public reaction and strong pre-orders.

July 2006: Now represented by Josette Lata for advertising work.

June 2006: Moved office from Tribeca to Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.

Review: March 2006 Art in America. "...the photoportrayal of the city of Groningen in the uncompromising light of the area's northern sky. ...classic... The image fairly buzzes with intellectual activity, voices and ideas, residents old and young, a moment in real life permeated with the sweet reek of beer and cigarettes." —Edward Leffingwell (link to the full review)

NY Art Fairs 3/10-13/2006—at the New York Armory Show Schaden.com will show limited edition books by Ken Schles. At the Pulse Art Fair Lucas Schoormans will show photographs.

Exhibitions: Ken Schles photographs ran through December 17th, 2005 at the Lucas Schoormans Gallery in Chelsea. From The New Yorker: "[Schles] hasn’t lost his ability to get under the skin of urban life, and his new work, made in the course of a project in Holland, finds him on solid ground. His subjects are ordinary citizens seen in passing: waiting for a train, sitting on a bus, peering through a café window. Although occasional eye contact is made, nothing is revealed. So it’s hard to account for the vague but persistent sense of yearning, unless the muffled melancholia is the photographer’s own."

My project Homeland Security debuted as part of the Noorderlicht Festival entitled Traces and Omens and ran September 4th through October 9th, 2005. Also running concurrently was an exhibition of Promised Land, which will inaugurate Noorderlicht's new home and exhibition space in Groningen, The Netherlands. Click here for more details on the festival and see below for more information on Promised Land.
Marks of Honour: A Striking Library opened 5/10/2005 at the FOAM in Amsterdam and includes the work of 45 internationally acclaimed photographers. Marks of Honour

Recently published: Promised Land, a Noorderlicht Foundation book, with photographs by Anders Petersen, Antoine d'Agata, Ken Schles, John Davies and Adrienne van Eekelen on the city of Groningen (NL). Previewed it and order it here. An exhibition from work made for the book will run during the Noorderlicht Photo Festival held in Groningen, The Netherlands (see above).

For a glancing mention in good company, see Nov/Dec 2004 issue of Photograph by Vince Aletti: "Silvia Plachy's effortlessly engaging Self Portrait with Cows Going Home started me thinking about personal photo books. Of course, any book with idiosycratic vision and integrity—Robert Frank's The Americans, Richard Avedon's Observations, Ken Schles's Invisible City, or my favorite among the current releases, Lee Friedlander's magnificent Sticks and Stones: Architectural America—is in essence personal..."

Publication: a portfolio of Invisible City in issue number 5 of FOAM, a quarterly publication of the Photography Museum Amsterdam.

Ken Schles Winner 2003 IPA Photographer of the Year Award for Culture. For awards listings click here. For bio, click here.