Dates:

October 18 - October 21, 2024

Plan on arriving by October 17

Synopsis

Our goal with this workshop is to help you create the building blocks of your own, unique process in a varied and small photobook market.

We aim to examine your emotional foundations and expectations and how this will influence your approach and style when it comes to editing, design, and promotion.

We will discuss technical and aesthetic aspects, as well as theory and philosophy. There will be room to discuss the context and narratives within the projects, but we want to focus on the “why” and “how” of bookmaking.

While there will be a general curriculum, we want to insist on addressing primarily your individual needs as much as possible. The curriculum we do provide will be a gateway to having more specific conversations about what you want.

This workshop will result in a collective publication by all participating artists and instructors.

Cost of attendance

$945 total

*See “Payment” section below for details and payment options.

*Fee is for attendance only. Attendees are responsible for all travel expenses, including local transportation, food, and lodging. Please see “Lodging and Transportation” section below.

Deadline to apply: May 16, 2024

Mt. Ogden by Tommy Nease

What is an “artist’s book?”

From the Smithsonian: “An artist’s book is a medium of artistic expression that uses the form or function of ‘book’ as inspiration. It is the artistic initiative seen in the illustration, choice of materials, creation process, layout and design that makes it an art object.”

Why attend this workshop?

• If you have a project that you would like to self publish, but you’re not sure what route to take or how.

• If you are someone that wants to be more self reliant and are curious of what that looks like.

• If you want to begin using the book as a way to influence how your projects develop.

• If you have project and don’t know how to begin seeing it as a book.

• If you want to design books for yourself or others.

What you need to attend this workshop

You will need to bring at least twenty work prints that will be used for editing, sequencing, and taping into book dummies. These prints should be no larger than 6 inches long and will need to be able to be touched and possibly damaged.

We also Ask that you bring either a thumb drive or hard drive of your files in the event we work with Indesign. Please bring only a copy of your original drive as a precaution agaist loss or damage.

We encourage you to also bring final prints, inkjet or darkroom, to demonstrate style or scale. You may also bring book dummies or marquettes you’ve made, or previously published material. We encourage bringing one or more of your favorite books of another artist, visual and/or literary, that demonstrates what you admire when it comes to design and presentation. We will bring some of our favorites as well.

If you also write poery, paint, draw, or do any visual, auditory, or literay arts, please bring samples of this work, if you see it functioning in conjunction with your photographs.

North Ogden, Wasatch Mountians

About our location

From our Gods at Google: “Ogden is a city north of Salt Lake City, in Utah. It’s a gateway to ski resorts like Snowbasin, Powder Mountain and Nordic Valley.”

Ogden, Utah is where photographer and printer Tommy Nease curently resides. We were drawn to Odgen primarily for it’s access to recreational activity, public transport, and its sheer beauty. It’s 45 mintues north of the Salt Lake City International Airport. There is an abundance of amazing food, a thriving and cozy local art scene, coffe shops, pubs, easily walkable infrastructure, and regular public transportation to nearby hiking and skiing in the Wasatch mountain range.

Ogden has quite an extensive history. From the Shoshone Native American tribe, to the beginning of the transcontinental railroad, there is plenty to learn about if you’re interested.

Lodging and Transportation

Loding and transportation will not be included in the cost of attendance. Accepted applicants will receive recommendations for lodging, however, being that there is a plethora of local options, we encourage you to find what is best for you.

Public transportation, car rental, and ride sharing are all readily accessible from the airport and around Ogden. This will be the responsiblity of attendees to acquire.

Attendees will be responsible for payment of their meals.

Ogden is quite walkable, so if you find lodging nearby you may not need transportation. Carpooling will also be an option for meal breaks and dinner.

Willard Peak, Tommy Nease

Instructors

Harrison Miller lives and works in Knoxville, Tennessee. He created and has self published multiple artist books through Underlife Editions, which was established in 2021. Through Underlife, he has worked to design and promote the work of his peers. He has designed books for other artists outside of Underlife, as well as one of Trespasser Book’s most recent publications, “Paraíso,” which contains the work of fellow Underlife collaborator and teacher, Emiliano Zúñiga Hernández.

As a photographer, Harrison is drawn to landscape and portraiture. Rather than chasing a particular subject, he’s more interested in universal themes, and more particularly conveying a sense of region and timelessness through the beauty of form, shape, and texture.

Emiliano Zúñiga Hernández is a Costa Rican photographer who graduated from Veritas University. He studied Anthropology for a year at the UCR. He is certified by the Climate Compliance Conference program from Richmond Vale Academy, Saint Vincent & The Grenadines. Between 2016-2019 he was president and co-founder of the non-profit association Costa Rica Initiative, a healing center focused on facilitating working methods with the intention of freeing participants from deep-seated fears, self-judgments, limiting beliefs and self-sabotaging behaviors. On the other hand, the author creates personal photographic projects that seek to establish a relationship between the symbolic and the documentary.

In 2020 he self-published his first photobook "En La Montaña.” In 2021 his first collaborative publication "no service” was self-published, with distribution help from Underlife Editions. In 2022 he created the folio "Lapso de Vigilia,” which was co-designed by Harrison Miller, and published by Underlife Editions. In 2023, his first monograph, “Paraíso,” was published by Trespasser Books.

Since 2023 Emilano has been teaching workshops in Costa Rica with filmmaker Paz Fabrega. “Bajo Tierra” is their ongoing workshop, where a group of students meet with Emiliano and Paz weekly in the effort to bring constancy to their collective committment to growth and execution. 

Tommy Nease is a photographer who finds inspiration in the stark contrasts of the landscape. His work is most recognizable because of his experimental darkroom printing tchniques, which allows for the experience of chaos and euphoria that is contained in his perspective. Through his lens, he explores themes of resilience and connection to the natural world. When he's not behind the camera, Nease can be found on the front lines of wildfires, where his experiences as a firefighter inform his art.

In 2023, Tommy’s book “Half a Chisel to the Earth,” was published in a limited edition of 50 copies by Underlife Editions.

About the application process

The free application will have a brief questionnaire, a section for a project statement, and a file upload section where you will be allowed to upload a maximum of 20 files. The files can contain visual or literary works, or even photographs of your book dummies and experiments. We welcome many approaches here, although we ask that the bulk of your submission contain photographs.

We will be selecting a minimum of 8 people to attend.

You are being asked to apply to this workshop so we can identify who we can help most, given the limited space and time. Please email us if you have any questions or concerns about this process or event.

We welcome people from all stages of life and backgrounds.

Payment

Selected attendees will have the option to pay either half of the tuition ($472.50) as a deposit, or to pay the full amount.

If attendee pays half the amount, the second half must be collected before September 1, 2024.

Cancellation/ Withdrawl

The deadline to withdraw from the workshop is August 18, 2024. This gives us time to notify a replacement applicant. A withdrawl fee of $200 will be deducted from your refund.

In the event we do not meet the minimum enrollment or if the workshop must be cancelled for any reason, attendees will be refunded in full.

Please also note, we cannot be held responsible for any unrefunded traveling expenses if the workshop is cancelled or postponed. Please purchase travel insurance if necessary. 

For questions or concerns, please email underlife.editions@gmail.com

Important dates

Application deadline: May 16, 2024

Deadline to withdraw: August 18, 2024

Arrive in Ogden on or before: October 17, 2024

Workshop dates: October 18-21, 2024