On the occasion of the release of his new monograph Legacy: The Preservation of Wilderness in New York City Parks (Aperture, October 2009), Photographer Joel Meyerowitz gave a talk at Aperture Gallery presenting the origin and spirit of the project, along with a slide-show of images from the book.
You can watch below an edited excerpt of the talk where Meyerowitz, a gripping story-teller, speaks about his unexpected discoveries along the building of this survey on New York City parks and the making of the book as a collaborative effort with Aperture editor Lesley A. Martin.

Joel Meyerowitz on Legacy: Excerpts from his talk from Aperture Foundation on Vimeo.

You can watch the entire talk divided in three different clips, in the multimedia section of our website or by clicking the links below:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

This stunningly beautiful collection of images is the result of a unique commission Meyerowitz received from the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation to document, interpret, and celebrate the nearly 9,000 acres of parks in the five boroughs that have been left or returned to their most natural state. Meyerowitz is the first photographer to document New York City’s parks since the 1930s, when they were photographed as part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s WPA program.

Click here to purchase your copy of Legacy: The Preservation of Wilderness in New York City Parks

Click here to view the limited-edition Legacy Portfolio and click here to view the Joel Meyerowitz: Boxed Set

Click here to view upcoming events with Joel Meyerowitz

Click here to become a fan of Legacy on facebook!

SLIDELUCK POTSHOW is a NYC-based arts non-profit, operating in many cities globally, that aims to bring people together around food and art, and to give people an interesting, engaging, and fun platform for sharing art with their community. We are pleased to announce that Slideluck Potshow XIV will be taking place on Friday, November 13, 2009 at  Aperture Gallery and will be co-curated by Lesley Martin, Aperture’s book publisher.

The theme of their fourteenth show in New York City is INSIDE OUT.  This could be about being on the outside, looking in.  Or it might be about the idea of space:  boundaries, architecture, interiority.  Give us something against type, that reverses the expected order of things – work that turns things upside down, or rather, INSIDE OUT.  The submission deadline is Monday, October 26th.

Guidlines can be found here.
For this show, all guests will need to purchase $10 tickets support of both SLPS and The Aperture Foundation.  Due to spatial limitations, this event will be considerably more intimate than recent NYC Slidelucks.  If you are serious about securing a spot for this show, we invite you to purchase your tickets immediately!

SLIDELUCK POTSHOW XIV
Friday, November 13th, 2009  |  7pm Potluck  |  9pm Slideshow
The Aperture Foundation  |  547 W. 27th St, 4th Floor  | New York, NY  |  10001
$10 Donation Required |  Submissions Info

China: Friday, September 18: Aperture Editor, Lesley A. Martin and artist Penelope Umbrico arrive in the midst of installation at Pingyao International Photo Festival for The Edge of Vision: Abstraction in Contemporary Photography . 90% there … all images up; text panels still missing.

Exhibition opens at 9:00 a.m. … Fingers crossed!

Next Tuesday, August 11, Aperture book publisher Lesley A. Martin will be the featured guest curator on 20×200. She culled their archives to find her personal favorites (in addition to all of her favorite Aperture limited-edition photographs, of course!) including Shaun Sundholm’s Untitled (Let’s Get Lost), seen above. She and Jen Bekman will discuss her selections, and the resulting conversation will be featured in Jen’s newsletter and on the 20×200 blog next week. Also, not-to-be-missed, in the same newsletter 20×200 will offer an exclusive special for collectors. So, if you want the inside scoop, sign up now for 20×200’s mailing list!

Dear Exposures Readers,

Aperture friend, Radius co-founder, and photobook freak Darius Himes, sends notice that the deadline for the Blurb Photography Book Now competition is looming.  All entries must be received by noon PDT, July 16, 2009.

Last year, I had the pleasure of being in one of the first groups of jurors to participate in Blurb Photography Book Now (as was fellow Aperture editor, Denise Wolff), and it was a real treat when all the books from the “Thematic Photography Book” category—of which I was one of 5 jurors—started pouring in and piling up. In looking through them, it was evident to me that one key limiting factor for the technology had to do with an artist’s ability to work with the few format options available. In the best, most successful books, the artists accepted and adapted effectively to those parameters in interesting and creative ways, whereas others were clearly fighting it the whole way through—and their layouts subsequently tried to work despite the format, not with the format. Another observation I made at the time was how frequently the text—whether it be simple captions or an artist statement—was treated as a mere afterthought, and not integrated into the larger whole of the book with much intention. Of course for me, the book is such a great form precisely because of the possibilities present when text and image interact.
One thing I was a bit confused about in last year’s competition was how the somewhat vague category of “Thematic” work (the one I had been given to jury) differentiated itself from the even more vague “General” category, so I was pleased to see that they had redefined the categories to be a little more straightforward: Fine-Art, Commercial, and Editorial. (Mr. Himes, who has coordinated and helped guide this competition, writes further about this tweaking of categories in his blog.)
I frequently advise people who are interested in having a book published that the best first step is to try to work with the book form on their own before presenting it to a publisher: make a hand made maquette, barter some art for design services, or—hey, here’s an idea—why not make a book via one of the super-easy digital printing services now so widely available. This competition (which is not limited to ONLY Blurb-made books) is a chance to do just that, and to possibly get some feedback and recognition while you’re at it!

Also, while you’re thinking about competitions, don’t forget that the Aperture Portfolio Prize deadline is also looming… more about that next week.

Best of luck,

Lesley A. Martin

The second annual New York Photo Festival taking place in Dumbo, Brooklyn, Wednesday, May 13, through Sunday, May 17. This year, the four main exhibition pavilions are curated by William A. Ewing, director of Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne, Switzerland; Chris Boot, head of the London-based publisher Chris Boot, Ltd.; Jody Quon, photography director at New York magazine; and Jon Levy, director of the London-based publisher Foto8. Visit Aperture’s booth in the powerHouse arena to see our latest books and limited-edition photographs. On Thursday evening, May 14, a special book signing and party will take place at the powerHouse arena, starting at 9:00 p.m., with many Aperture artists present to sign their books, including Catherine Chalmers, Michal Chelbin, Doug DuBois, Philip Gefter, Jacqueline Hassink, Charles Lindsay, Walter Martin and Paloma Muñoz, Richard Renaldi, Lyle Rexer, Robin Schwartz, Jonathan Torgovnik and more. For the second year, each day the festival will feature Aperture Presents, a series of panel discussions at St. Ann’s Warehouse.

Aperture Presents Events include:

Artist-Publisher: Mass Produced for Mass Dissemination Thursday, May 14, 5–6 pm

The Edge of Vision: Abstraction in Contemporary Photography: Moderated by Lyle Rexer
Friday, May 15, 5–6 pm

Cuddle (with Bill Hunt)
Saturday, May 16, 5–6 pm

Photography After Frank, A Conversation Between Philip Gefter and Andy Grundberg
Sunday, May 17, 5–6 pm
FREE with Festival Admission

New York Photo Festival
St. Ann’s Warehouse
38 Water Street
Brooklyn, New York
(718) 254-8779

——————–
Party and Book Signing at powerHouse arena with Aperture artists:
Thursday, May 14, 9:00 pm

Wednesday, May 13, 2009 –Sunday, May 17, 2009

The New York Photo Festival Headquarters
37 Main Street
Brooklyn, New York
(347) 853-7447

All Aperture related events

All NYPH09 events

Check out pics from behind the scenes NYPH08

Just announced! Photo-eye Magazine’s list of Best Photo Books 2008. Congratulations to all who are recognized, most notably Josef Koudelka’s Invasion 68: Prague, which made the Top 12 list.

Publisher of the Aperture Book Program, Lesley A. Martin’s list can be viewed here. Darius Himes, Publisher and Co-founder of Radius Books chose Martin Parr’s eclectic work, Parrworld as one of his favorites of the year. Michelle Dunn Marsh, Senior  Art+Design Editor, Chronicle Books nominated two Aperture titles, Hank Willis Thomas: Pitch Blackness* and Misty Dawn: Portrait of a Muse* by Jock Sturges both are available signed from Aperture. Aperture works recognized by PDN include Paul Fusco: RFK* and Travelers*by Walter Martin and Paloma Muñoz. Also nominated was Jonas Bendiksen’s powerful work documenting urban slum dwellings in The Places We Live*.

Be sure to check out Aperture’s bookstore to purchase these incredible titles. Order your copy of Invasion 68: Prague here today!

*Signed copies available through Aperture.

Opening night at Paris Photo is a smashing success with many friendly faces stopping by the Aperture booth!

Sondra Gilman, Celso Gonzalez-Falla, Aperture board of trustees chairman and Aperture’s own Kellie McLaughlin

Artist Eikoh Hosoe, Aperture Executive Director Juan Garcia de Oteyza and Aperture Publisher, Lesley A. Martin

Eikoh Hosoe

Josef Koudelka

Paris Photo is the largest photography fair in the world, visit the Aperture booth ED02 to see our latest books, stunning limited-edition prints and you never know who else…..

More to come tomorrow!

Book Signing with Michal Chelbin, Aperture Booth, Paris Photo:

Thursday, November 13, 5:00 p.m.