SPILL book arrives

Exciting times here in Seattle! Arriving at 1 pound, 10.1 ounces and 9.25 by 12.25 inches is an advance copy of SPILL, Daniel’s monograph of photos from the 2010 Gulf Oil Spill that is being published by GOST Books.*

Within it’s 62 FSC-certified pages are 27 photos from Daniel’s SPILL series and an essay by Barbara Bloemink. Thanks to the design talents of Stuart Smith, SPILL makes a stunning impression, allowing Daniel’s photos to really breathe; 23 of these photos are on full-bleed double-page spreads.

Best of all is that this book is that will be available to the general public, unlike Daniel’s first book. Keep your eyes peeled for details about purchasing a copy of your own, we’ll have these details finalized shortly.

For more details regarding the book, please read an earlier blog post about it’s production here. Cool stuff!

* Actually, we have a handful of copies on hand and are awaiting the rest from EBS printers in Italy. They should arrive by mid-October, fingers crossed.

SPILL book comes together

We are happy to announce that Daniel is in the final stages of book production for the SPILL monograph, a collection of fine art images from the tragic 2010 Gulf Oil Spill.

The first step was finding a publisher. GOST Books, of London, was excited to take on this project. Friend and GOST co-founder, Stuart Smith, designed Daniel’s first book, Rainforests: Lifebelt for an Endangered Planet. (Rainforests was the culmination of a commission from the Prince Charles Rainforests Project in 2009. Find out more about it here and here.)

Anderson Ranch executive director and modern art curator Barbara Bloemink authored a lovely essay about Daniel’s SPILL work, putting it in the broader historical context of artistic response to human interactions with the landscape. Daniel really appreciates Barbara’s participation in the project, as the contemplative essay prepares the reader for  deeper understanding of the message presented by the SPILL photographs.

During a trip to London for the Landmark exhibition, Daniel met with Stuart to consider an expanded selection of photos for the book, beyond the original twenty in the SPILL show.  Despite all the technology available today, sometimes the best way to edit a book is to use 4″x6″ proof prints and a carpeted floor.

In the years since the first display of SPILL in September 2010, a few photos have beocome favorites of Daniel’s, and he decided to include those in the book.

Once a layout design was finalized, Daniel and Stuart went to Verona, Italy to oversee the actual printing at Editoriale Bortolazzi Stei, one of the top art/photo/design book printers in the world. For producing some of the best books out there, they have a pretty unassuming office and plant.

Each page was scrupulously inspected prior to the final printing.

Dozens of adjustments were made.

Once the page met Daniel’s  approval, he would sign off on it.

Because of the nature of the book design – full bleed across the gutter – SPILL was a bit more complicated  to produce than Rainforests. Calibrating each printed sheet of 200-gram FSC paper was a task of monumental patience, but it was completed to a sublime result. If you’ve seen any of the gorgeous prints from the SPILL series in person, you’ll recognize the same extremely fine attention to detail that was used for the production of this book.

(note the Salgado book that was printed at EBS just before SPILL).