Don’t miss Thomas Allen’s exhibition Epilogue on view at Michael Foley Gallery in New York through October 10th. In this new series of work, the narrative is reduced to the final scene, often the scene of the crime and is Allen’s final foray using his unique process of cutting and folding the covers of vintage pulp fiction novels to create imaginative scenes filled with drama, suspense and sensuality.  The short clip below is an excerpt from his discussion with designer Chip Kidd in the fall of 2007 on the release of his Aperture book, Uncovered, where these images have been gathered and published for the first time.

Thomas Allen & Chip Kidd on Uncovered-Excerpt 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

Designed as a toy-like board book, Uncovered (Aperture, 2007) reflects the spirit of the project that is nostalgic, irreverent, and downright fun. Allen is in conversation with Chip Kidd, the internationally renowned graphic designer, author, comic book expert, and associate art director at Alfred A. Knopf, who wrote the foreword to Uncovered and has used Allen’s work in his award-winning design.

View related limited-edition print.

We wanted to give our devoted blog readers a little inside scoop and a sneak peak at the new Limited-Edition Photograph created by Thomas Allen expressly for Aperture. We will be releasing this work later in the summer. To create Suspended, 2008 exclusively for Aperture’s Limited-Edition Photographs program, American artist Thomas Allen selected the pulpiest of pulp paperbacks and then lovingly sliced out the cover figures, folding them into position and constructing the witty scene that he then photographs. We were thrilled that Thomas agreed to participate in our program ( a big thank you to Michael Foley of Foley Gallery, who represents Thomas Allen’s work in New York for also thinking it was a good idea ) , and even more thrilled that he decided to create a work expressly for Aperture. States the artist, “this image makes me laugh every time I see it. I found the book with the woman seated at a desk some time ago, but didn’t have a clue as to what to do with it. I didn’t find a “mate” until I began thinking about the limited-edition print ideas for Aperture. Truth be told, I found two books – one I used and this one:

but I felt it didn’t spark the tension like the one in the final print does-two coeds schooling us on the primal art of getting noticed.”

Allen enjoys taking on different roles in creating his photographs, ” in addition to being a photographer, I play talent scout, casting director, stage manager, lighting supervisor, and film editor.” He photographs these vignettes in shallow focus, with a four-by-five inch camera, rendering his prints with the dreamy effect reminiscent of the View-Master stereoscopic toy that inspired him from his childhood. Aperture proudly published his debut monograph Uncovered in 2007. This print will be coming to the Aperture website soon so be sure to sign up for notification online so you know when it will be available.