History and

Future:
The Artists
Photo-Book
J.J.R. de Smalen

University of Amsterdam
Art / Writing
mw. prof. dr. C.M.K.E. Lerm-Hayes
1

When I first did the book on gasoline stations,

people would look at it and say, Are you kidding or
what? Why are you doing this? In a sense, thats
what I was after: I was after the head-scratching.
Ed Ruscha

It is the year 1963, the release of the first

artists book published by ed ruscha is a fact.1 (fig
1) It is the start of a new episode in the history of
art, that of the artists book. Twentysix gasoline
stations is an artwork in the form of an book. It
differs from former photobooks because the book with
the photographs is the artwork itself. The book has
become a new medium to discover. The book is used as
a medium to show photographs. In the case of ed
ruscha it contains twentysix gasoline stations. About
this work Johanna drucker wrote:
Ruscha's books combined the literalness of
early California pop art with a flat-footed
photographic aesthetic informed by minimalist
notions of repetitive sequence and seriality.
[...] Thirty years later, with a quarter of a
century of mainstream artworld activity between,
the

aspect

of

shock-effect

and

humor

has

diminished somewhat. But in 1963 this work read

against the photographic landscape of highly
aestheticized image-making.2
Drucker makes clear that the shock-effect of his work
is much bigger than it is nowadays. The medium is now

O'hagan, Sean. "Self-publish or Be Damned: Why Photographers Are

Going It Alone." Thegardian.com. The Gardian, 4 June 2010. Web. 17
Nov. 2014.
2
Drucker, Johanna. The Century of Artists' Books. New York City:
Granary, 1995. 76. Print.

Fig 1: Ruscha, Edward. Twentysix Gasoline Stations.

1963. paper binded to a Book. 7 x 5 1/2 inch.

Fig 2: Ruscha, Edward. Some Los Angeles Apartments.

1965. paper binded to a book. 7 x 5 1/2 inch.

evolved in a public accepted medium in which artists

can chose to transfer their artistic idea.
In a world full of uncertainties things have to
be defined. In the case of this essay it is important
to understand definition of an artists book. Philip
Pacey does the same in his essay Artists Books and
Book Art. He defines an artists book as following:
Artists Books are understood to be books or
booklets produced by the artist using mass
production

methods

and

in

(theoretically)

unlimited numbers, in which the artist documents

or

realizes

Autobiography,

art

ideas

letters

or

or

artworks.

collections

of

writings - as well as the art book format are

disregarded

insofar as they

perpetuate

conventional literary forms.3

In this essay, I will use this definition in order to
cause no uncertainties on the definition of an
artists book, and by that an demarcated multiple
which is an artists book.
The first part of this essay will give a brief
insight in the history of the artists book in
general. This brief history will highlight the major
changes in the field of the artists book and
publication. This brief history will stop at the
3

Pacey, Philip. "Artists' Books and Book Art." 1977. Booktrek:

Selected Essays on Artists' Books (1972-2010). Ed. Clive Phillpot.
Zurich: JRP/Ringier, 2013. 47. Print.

digital era and from than on the essay will become

more art critical in a way that it will question the
new

technologies

in the field of the artists

photo-book and publications.

It will describe my

idea of the use of the new digital mediums in the

field of the artists publication. It will determine
the limitations of the digital medium and by that
questioning the future of the artists publications
in a digital form.
In many writings the 1960s is seen as a starting
point for the new medium of the artists book. The
early versions of the artists book, around the 1960s
were found in the field of the conceptual and minimal
artists. They used the format of the book as an
extension of their more traditional gallery works.4
The work twentysix gasoline station can bee seen in
the light of this new emerging medium. Another
example is the artists book by ed ruscha some los
angeles apartments which can be seen in the same
tendency as twentysix gasoline stations. (fig 2) It
is a simple format, linked to his previous work. It
contains a simple cover and simple layouts of the
pages that contain photographs. But this concept of
artists book will change within ten years.
In the 1970s, institutions, often subsided by
the federal state or local grants, gave artists the
opportunity

to

publish

their

own

democratic

White, Tony. "From Democratic Multiple to Artist Publishing:."

Art Documentation: Journal of the Art Libraries Society of North
America 31.1 (2012): 45. Web.

multiples.5 An example of an institution that made it

possible for artist to publish and distribute their
work is printed matter in New York City. Printed
Matter was founded in 1976 by both Lucy Lippard and
Sol LeWitt.6 Sol was already active in the book
making and Lucy was fascinated by the genre, the
corporation was vast.7 They made it able for artists
to sell and publish their books in a place which was
oriented on the artist point of view.8 It was also
the first step in the building of an archival
collection of artists books. Artists were asked to
donate three copies of their work, one for a handling
collection, one for the archival collection and one
to sent to exhibitions.9 This second generation of
self publishing artist differ from the first movement
of the 1960. They were more self conscious by what
they are doing. The artist knew he was master of the
final product and self publishing made it a practise
which was separated from the critics, art historian
and other mediators what made the final form of the
democratic multiple divers and were more creative
than the artists books of the 1960s.10 Although the
1960s conceptual underpinnings had a big influence on
many artist during the 1970s and was a catalizator

White 47.
Philpot, Clive. "From N.E. Things Co. to Anything Goes?."
Booktrek: Selected Essays on Artists' Books (1972-2010). Ed. Clive
Phillpot. Zurich: JRP/Ringier, 2013. 18. Print.
7
Philpot 19.
8
Philpot 19.
9
Philpot 19-20.
10
White 46-47.
6

for

the

use of the book medium. For example,

Downsbrough produced 18 booklets in the 1970; Sol

LeWitt published more than 20 multiples; Richard long
produced

14

artists books and Lawrence Weiner

produced 25 booklets.11

This selection of famous

artists illustrate the popularity of the book medium

in the 1970s. This popularity had to survive a major
decrease caused by the anti art ethos of Reagan in
the 1980s, who made major cuts on artists fundings
which evolved in a reducement of self publishing
artists.12
This reducement was luckily not strong enough as
the

increment

caused

by

the

upcoming

computer

technology of the mid 1980s which gave artists the

opportunity to self design and publish their books
with the help of user friendly software what evolved
in a big increase of artist publishing artists
books.13

The new format of the artist book is no

longer strictly a democratic multiple but more an

artist publishing because it was no longer seen in
the cultural context of the beginning of the concept.
14

The use of computers opened a new chapter in the

history

of

the

artists

books,

multiples

and

publications. The world wide web will have a major

11

Philpot, Clive. "twentysix gasoline stations that shook the

world." 1993. Booktrek: Selected Essays on Artists' Books
(1972-2010). Ed. Clive Phillpot. Zurich: JRP/Ringier, 2013. 159.
Print.
12
White 50.
13
White 51.
14
White 52.

10

influence on artist publications and will open the

doors to the digital era.
Now the doors are opened to the time we are in
living in now, the digital era, the opportunities for
the self publishing artists are almost unlimited. The
world

wide

web

made the world smaller. Online

printing shops are easy to access by the use of the

internet, this made it easier and cheaper to publish
a artist publication. Not only the printing of the
book is made easier, the distribution can be done
online as well as the promotion. These technologies
opened the world for artist who want to publish their
own work. The new emerging technologies play a key
role in the field of the artists book because the
potential

of

dissemination is vast.15

These new

technologies have a major influence on the concept of

the artist book. But this amalgamation of the artist
book medium within the online sphere is partly
against the conceptual underpinnings as a reaction
against mass production and commercialisation because
the book is no shared in specific shops and fairs
which makes it less collectible.16 These technologies
make the artists book concept less a democratic
multiple and less an artists book as seen in the
1960s concept.

15

Verity, Adam. "Print/Screen: Current and Future Dissemination of

the Self-Published Artists Book." Photography and the Artist's
Book. Ed. Theresa Wilkie, Jonathan Carson, and Rosie Miller.
Edinburgh: MuseumsEtc, 2012. 92. Print.
16
Verity 94.

11

The last tendency in the world of artists publication

is that of the publication in a digital form. There
are a variety of digital mediums on which books and
publications can be shown. We all know the new
mediums as ipads, tablets and ereaders. These new
technologies seemed to open a new world for the self
publishing artists. As they before were bound to a
paper form of publishing they now are able to publish
digital content. By letting loose the concept of
publishing in paper form the artist is no longer
attached to medium specific limitations.
But there are some major downsides of making
artists publication in a digital format. First,
within

the

control.17

online

sphere

there

is

no quality

The internet is accessible for almost

everyone and by that, everyone is able to put on the

internet whatever he or she wants. The second part of
the

discussion

on

online publications is about

archiving. Many artists online publications are

getting lost because the libraries, museums and
collectors are not having the same interest in
archiving

online

publications

as

they

have

in

archiving paper books.18 Or they dont know yet how

to archive these digital publications.19 This lack of
archivability is a major subject for discussion
nowadays. Institutions, as The Internet archive are

17

Verity 96.
Verity 98.
19
This was mentioned after my presentation on this essay by
Bettina Brach, the curator of the Weserburg Museum .
18

12

trying to archive as much content on the internet as

possible because, otherwise all the content on the
internet will become lost in its own black hole of
information. They compare the lost of the internet
with the burned down library of Alexandria:
The Library of Alexandria - an ancient center of
learning containing a copy of every book in the
world - was eventually burned to the ground.
[...] Without cultural artifacts, civilization
has no memory and no mechanism to learn from its
successes and failures. And paradoxically, with
the explosion of the Internet, we live in what
Danny Hillis has referred to as our "digital
dark age."20
In the genre of the artists books and publications
the paper book form will not stopped to be produced
and are still popular in the digital era nowadays. In
the

following

conversation Christophe Cherix

is

questioning if this new popularity of artists books

is due to a form of nostalgia for a lost era or due
to the fact that there is still a future for books in
the computer age.21 Clive Phillpot is answering this
as following: I would simply say that if books,

20

"Read More." About the Internet Archive. Internet Archive, 31

Dec. 2014. Web. 22 Jan. 2015. <https://archive.org/about/>.
21
Phillpot, Clive, Lionel Bovier, and Christophe Cherix. "A
Conversation between Clive Phillpot, Lionel Bovier and Christophe
Cherix." Booktrek: Selected Essays on Artists' Books (1972-2010).
Ed. Clive Phillpot. Zurich: JRP/Ringier, 2013. 7. Print.

13

booklets pamphlets have a future, then artists will

continue to have a use for these structures.22 But
he is not very positive about the future of books:
there are countless examples of lurid fetishistic
growths on the body bibliographic, while unassuming
booklets [...] are completely overlooked.23 Cherix
has his own idea of the future of artists books in
relation

to

the

new

evolution

in

production,

distribution and reception: The result is a much

more diverse fields in which artists and publishers
can suddenly cross boundaries [...] With this [...]
prints and books remain an essential part of making
art today.24
This discussion on books in paper form versus
digital publications is one of many on the subject of
digital vs analogue. Nowadays a self publishing
artist can make the choice to publish its photographs
in book form or in the digital sphere. Experience
wise there is a big difference between the two. An
book is close to the photograph. It is made of paper
and contains a flat surface. If we compare it to a
digital form we can only say it is something fictive,
it is no real matter. In my opinion the technologies
do more harm than good to the genre of the artist
book because it is coming loose from the medium
specificities of the printed version in the same way

22
23
24

Phillpot 7.
Phillpot 7.
Phillpot 9.

14

as photography did after the introduction of the

digital camera.
Relevant are the medium specificities of the
book medium. The book medium can be used as a
narrative device. After each page one turns over a
new part of the book gets revealed. This sequencing
is used by many photographic artist. The book is used
to relate pictures that were taken at different
places and at different times.25 An example of this
kind of narrativity is the artists book Cover to
Cover by Michael which is a photographic narrative
which relating several events in the day of its main
character, the author Michael Snow.26 (fig 3) Cover
to Cover is an artists book which is focussing on
the mechanisms specific to the medium of the book
more than to its content, it made use as a book as
narrative device: the pictures used in cover to cover
form a coherent whole, the surrounding pictures can
intervene the meaning of individual pictures what
makes theme orientate the reading of them and make
them seen as an passage of time and as an continuum
due to his lack of an climax and is assemblage from
its begin to end27

A digital medium would not have

the same experience as reading a book in paper form,

25

Neudrfl, Elisabeth. "Conseptual Documentary Photography in the

Artists Book as a Tool of Analysis." Photography and the Artist's
Book. Ed. Theresa Wilkie, Jonathan Carson, and Rosie Miller.
Edinburgh: MuseumsEtc, 2012. 92. Print.
26
O'Rourke, Karen. "The Artists Book and Photography: The Example
of Michael Snows Cover to Cover." Revue Franaise D'tudes
Amricaines 8 (1979): 217. J-store. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.
27
O'Rourke 221.

15

Snow, Michael. Cover to Cover. 1975. paper

binded to a Book. 7.1 x 0.6 x 9.1 inches.

Evans, Walker. American photographs. 1938. paper

binded to a book. 0.8 x 9.2 x 8 inches.

16

nobody would disagree with this. Axperience wise

there are some interfacial features on the digital
mediums that brings the experience close to reading a
book but scrolling between the pages or swiping over
the screen is not the same as turning a page and see
what the next page will reveal. Maybe this is due to
the fact that all this technology is still in his
childhood?
Another medium specific feature of an book is
when you open a book there are always two pages
visible. This two page view of an book can be used by
artist to show differing or even opposing subject
matter to add meaning to the photograph on both the
opposing pages, a concept that can be seen in Walker
Evans photobook American photographs.28 The two page
feature many digital mediums lack because the average
screens of ereaders and other devices as tablets are
just too small for this so they just show one page
that is readable.29
Not only the medium specificities of the book
are important to the perception of an photo-book,
also the medium specificities of an photograph are
important to determine the efficiency of the digital
medium. In an analysis of the essential medium
specificities of an photograph we can determine two
things. As the word photograph says, it is a drawing

28

Neudrfl, Elisabeth 195.

Maybe in the future the technologies will become more suffician
in a way they will be able to copy the medium specifics of a book.
29

17

with light.30 The photograph is an fixed reproduction

of light on a flat surface. The lens of the camera
transfers the light of an object to the light
sensitive part, the film. It makes a two dimensional
representation of the photographed object. Another
essential specificity is that it can be reproduced by
an mechanical technique. The representation of light
on

the film can be reproduced by the use of

mechanical techniques. If we compare this to a

photograph shown on a digital screen. A photograph is
then just a random representation on a flat surface.
The representation is not fixed as it is on the paper
form and to reproduce it one can just copy paste it
and it is reproduced. My point is here, when an
artist

is

publication

publishing
in

his

digital

artists
form

he

photographic
or

she

is

undermining the medium specificity of an photograph

as it was intend to be. The experience is no longer
fixed and it loses its value because it is becoming
something immaterial.
In the digital era artist are confronting the
question of publishing in the digital sphere or in
the traditional codex format of a book. In the field
of photography there are major differences in the
perception of both mediums. The codex format is
something existing in the real and the digital format
is something fictitious, we cant touch it and it is
only a coded version of something that was once real.

30

Photo means light, Graph means drawing.

18

To ratify this theory the semiotics of pierces have

to be understood. In Peirce's semiotic theory there
is the basic tripartite of sign types: icon, index
and symbol.31 For those who are not familiar with
this theory here is an short summary out of Hatt and
Klonks Art history a critical introduction to its
methods:
The icon is a sign that works by resemblance;
that is, a sign that is not so much decoded as
understood to refer to an object in the world.
[...] The index is a sign which does not
resemble the object, but provides evidence of
its existence or presence. [...] The symbol
[...] is a mark or word or image whose meaning
is conventional.32
If we apply this theory to a photograph of an object,
the photograph becomes both iconic, as it is an
resemblance of the photographed object, and it is
indexical, it is a trace of the object that is or has
been in the real world.33 This is the indexical
relation between the object and the real world, in
the same way that smoke can be an indexical proof for
fire. The indexical relation between the object, the
real, and the icon, the print, makes a photography
31

Hatt, Michael, and Charlotte Klonk. Art History: A Critical

Introduction to Its Methods. Manchester: Manchester UP, 2006. 209.
Print.
32
Hatt 209.
33
Hatt 210.

19

something different than other figurative arts. This

indexical relation is not only particular linked to
the making process of an photograph but also to its
function in society. When we see a picture in the
newspaper we all assume that the photograph is real,
the photograph is the indexical proof of the event
and by that a reliable representation.34
In

the

photograph

age
has

of

mechanical

been

seen

reproduction

as

an

reliable

representation of something in the real, it is an

indexical proof of an object and by that a reliable
presentation. But when this photograph is made by an
digital camera it becomes coded and by that an
unreliable presentation because digital image is by
definition manipulated.35 The same happens with the
use of a digital medium as a screen. By coding the
digital image it becomes unreliable. The inherent
manipulativity is the essence of this unreliability.
When an photograph loses its indexical proof by
representing it on a digital screen, it can no longer
seen

as

an

photograph

because

photograph

distinguishes itself from the figurative arts by its

indexicality which it loses when it is digital
represented.
reproduction

By
is

cause
no

of

this

the

digital

longer loyal to the medium

specificity of the photograph. This unloyalty to the

34

Coumans, Anke. "Untitled Document." Visuele Communicatie of Hoe

Wij Beelden Interpreteren. Hogeschool Voor De Kunsten Utrecht,
n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2015.
<http://kmt.hku.nl/courses/Anke/Hoofdstuk3_1_2.htm>
35
Ibidem

20

medium specifics of an photograph makes an digital

screen an insufficient medium for an artist to
publish or represent its photographs in.
After the release of the first artists book
published by ed ruscha in 1963 many things have
changed

the

concept

of

the

1960s.

The

second

generation in the 1970s were more self conscious by

what they are doing and self publishing made it a
practise which was separated from the critics, art
historian and other mediators what made the final
form of the artists book what now has become the
democratic multiple. The upcoming computer technology
of the mid 1980s gave artists the opportunity to self
design and publish their books with the help of user
friendly software but by this the artist book is no
longer strictly a democratic multiple but more an
artist publishing because it was no longer seen in
the cultural context of the beginning of the concept.
This shift of the concept was continuing under the
influence of new technologies as the world wide web
that made it easier for artists to promote, print and
distribute their books but this made the artists
book less collectible.
The last tendency in the world of artists
publication is that of the publication in a digital
form. There are a variety of digital mediums on which
books and publications can be shown. By letting loose
the concept of publishing in paper form the artist is
no longer attached to medium specific limitations.
21

But there are major downsides on publications in a

digital format: There is no quality control and the
publications

are

hard

to

archive.

But

as the

conversation between Philpot and Cherix showed there

is a future of the artists book. Philpot is seeing
an decrease in popularity in unassuming booklets in
general, thus also in artists books. But Cherix is
seeing a more diverse field due to new technologies.
Nowadays a self publishing artist can make the
choice to publish its photographs in book form or in
the digital sphere. Experience wise there is a big
difference between the two. As an art historian I see
the use of the digital technologies as a new medium
as an attack on both the medium specificity as the
conceptual underpinnings of the artists publication.
The medium specific aspect of a book as narrativity
is yet not possible on a digital medium as an ipad or
other tablets. Also the two page view which can be
used for opposing subject matter is not suitable for
digital devices nowadays. By publishing in a digital
form the artist undermining the medium specificity of
an photograph as it was intend to be. The experience
is no longer fixed and it loses its value because it
is

becoming

something

immaterial.

It

becomes

something coded which made it less reliable because

the

photograph

loses

its

indexical

proof

by

representing it on a digital screen, an attack on its

own medium specificity. Maybe I am just some analogue
purist who is searching for nostalgia but this
22

unloyalty to the medium specifics of an photograph,

and the limitation of the new technologies on digital
mediums made an digital medium an insufficient medium
for an artist publish their photo-books in. Even when
they could make some kind of digital book which would
give the same experience as an paper form book the
photographs distinguishes itself from the figurative
arts by its indexicality which it loses when it is
digital represented.

23

24

Bibliography
Coumans,
Anke.
"Untitled
Document."
Visuele
Communicatie of Hoe Wij Beelden Interpreteren.
Hogeschool Voor De Kunsten Utrecht, n.d. Web. 19 Jan.
2015.
<http://kmt.hku.nl/courses/Anke/Hoofdstuk3_1_2.htm>
Drucker, Johanna. The Century of Artists' Books. New
York City: Granary, 1995. Print.
Hatt, Michael, and Charlotte Klonk. Art History: A
Critical Introduction to Its Methods. Manchester:
Manchester UP, 2006. Print.
Neudrfl,
Elisabeth.
"Conseptual
Documentary
Photography in the Artists Book as a Tool of
Analysis." Photography and the Artist's Book. Ed.
Theresa Wilkie, Jonathan Carson, and Rosie Miller.
Edinburgh: MuseumsEtc, 2012. Print.

O'hagan, Sean. "Self-publish or Be Damned: Why

Photographers Are Going It Alone." Thegardian.com.
The Gardian, 4 June 2010. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.
O'Rourke, Karen. "The Artists Book and Photography:
The Example of Michael Snows Cover to Cover."
Revue Franaise D'tudes Amricaines 8 (1979).
J-store. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.

Pacey, Philip. "Artists' Books and Book Art." 1977.

Booktrek:
Selected
Essays on Artists' Books
(1972-2010). Ed. Clive Phillpot. Zurich: JRP/Ringier,
2013. Print.
Phillpot, Clive, Lionel Bovier, and Christophe
Cherix. "A Conversation between Clive Phillpot,
25

Lionel Bovier and Christophe Cherix." Booktrek:

Selected Essays on Artists' Books (1972-2010). Ed.
Clive Phillpot. Zurich: JRP/Ringier, 2013. Print
Philpot, Clive. "From N.E. Things Co. to Anything
Goes?." Booktrek: Selected Essays on Artists' Books
(1972-2010). Ed. Clive Phillpot. Zurich: JRP/Ringier,
2013. Print.
Philpot, Clive. "twentysix gasoline stations that
shook the world." 1993. Booktrek: Selected Essays on
Artists' Books (1972-2010). Ed. Clive Phillpot.
Zurich: JRP/Ringier, 2013. Print.
"Read More." About the Internet Archive. Internet
Archive, 31 Dec. 2014. Web. 22 Jan. 2015.
<https://archive.org/about/>.
Verity, Adam. "Print/Screen: Current and Future
Dissemination of the Self-Published Artists Book."
Photography and the Artist's Book. Ed. Theresa
Wilkie, Jonathan Carson, and Rosie Miller. Edinburgh:
MuseumsEtc, 2012. Print.
White, Tony. "From Democratic Multiple to Artist
Publishing:." Art Documentation: Journal of the Art
Libraries Society of North America 31.1 (2012): 45.
Web.

26

27

28