There's more
than one way to stage a gallery show. Just conduct it on the Web and
let viewers take home the art for free.
A Bay Area photographer
is testing a new formula by which artists can get their work out into
the public eye, and maybe make some money, too.
James Radke
invites art aficionados to his Indentured Press gallery, where they
can download up to 50 of his digital photographs. The photos, which
visitors must print themselves, are available for free, for a limited
time. Then, for 50 bucks, collectors can mail Radke the printouts
and he'll bind them, along with informational text, into a numbered,
first-edition book.
"Everybody's
part of the printing of this monograph, an experiment in interactive
digital publishing," said Radke, a 42-year-old photographer based
in Oakland, California, who is known among fellow photographers for
his photos of jazz musicians, and whose work has been included in
the Polaroid Corporation's permanent collection. "Ironically, this
process harkens back to when monks would hand-make every copy of a
'published' book."
Those who order
the book get their printouts bound together with special tape used
primarily for binding legal documents. Radke adds heavy acetate covers
and dates each copy.
The 50 images
offered on Radke's site were shot using an Olympus 600L digital camera,
which was provided by Olympus America. Visitors will need Adobe Acrobat
Reader to download the photos, which document Radke's commute between
his home and the Center for Electronic Art in San Francisco, where
Radke studies Web design.
"There is no
point of departure other than my daily commute and the images I respond
to," said Radke. Of the series' title, Digital Photographs from the
Web, he said, "I don't think that by titling the series this way I'm
putting the technology first. It does just happen that I'm putting
the images online, though."
The snapshots
themselves are spare, yet poetic. One is an image of a shadowy figure
ascending a cement staircase. Another captures a neat row of commuters
reading on a train. Yet another focuses on steam rising, phantomlike,
from a city street. The series, shot over seven months, has the feel
of a visual diary composed in a photographic version of haiku.
Radke believes
that he's the first to publish an artist's monograph in this manner.
But if it's such a good idea, why hasn't it been done before?
"I don't think
anyone's done this before because no one wants to be ripped off,"
said Radke, who makes the images available at 200 dots per inch. "The
images I make available are equal to any art monograph you can find.
At 200 dpi, they could be used commercially. And if I find out anyone
does use them commercially, I'll just send them a bill."
Radke wants
collectors to print and hang the digital photographs in their homes.
He likes this concept of free advertising. Of course, he wants potential
collectors to keep coming back for more. To encourage repeat visits
to the Indentured Press site, Radke has been unveiling each of the
photographs gradually since the beginning of May, posting only five
a week.
Once all 50
are uploaded, the images will stay online for a year and 10 days.
After that, the digital photographs will no longer be available on
the Web and Radke will cease making the hand-bound books. If at the
end of the limited-time offer, the Web site and the hand-bound monograph
have proven popular, Radke will approach a traditional book publisher.
By then he will
have hard evidence that his art has an audience. "Personally, I'd
rather have people seeing original prints on the wall," said Radke.
"But, you know, this is another way for people to see them."
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