Screen Grabs: Glamour of the Gods

 

The images above are iPad screen grabs.

Format: iPad app

Price: $6.99

Links: iTunes and MAPP Editions

Comment: Photographs from the archive of the John Kobal Foundation in London.

  

Five Questions to Rory Blain, Director, Sedition

Hi Rory, can you tell us briefly about Sedition?

Sedition is the leading platform used by the world's most renowned contemporary artists to distribute art digitally to connected devices and screens. We offer works by Damien Hirst, Shepard Fairey, Tracey Emin, Jenny Holzer, Yoko Ono, Elmgreen & Dragset, Bill Viola among many others. Our mission is to change the art world by making art affordable and universally accessible.

Transfiguration by Matt Pyke. Full HD video at Sedition. © Matt Pyke & Realise Studio

I've been following Sedition with great interest for a while. Recently you opened up the platform so that artists can announce their interest, and if invited, submit works for approval. This made it possible for me to launch the 133 Seconds edition on your platform. For that I’m thankful, because now a new output medium is available to me. Is this is how you partly see yourself, as a new output medium?

Yes, we see it as a new opportunity for artists to distribute their work – the internet offers an opportunity to reach a vast new audience, and at a much more affordable price. It is very easy for anyone to put their work up on a blog, social media or Youtube, but there is no way for artists to control the distribution and to ensure the highest quality for their followers and collectors. For artists interested to submit work to Sedition, please visit: http://www.seditionart.com/submit.


For digital artworks or video art, I think cloud-based collector platforms, as your own, will be part of the future. The move away from hard-drives and discs seems logical, as that's the direction the whole world is slowly moving in. If Sedition will be THE platform remains to be seen, but your platform is certainly the first major one. What are your thoughts on the future and how do you think you can improve?

We feel people do not need to have their work on a local desktop, but rather make it available anywhere, anytime and on any device, whether it’s a TV, smart phone, tablet or computer. We are constantly looking for ways to improve and will never be finished! There are too many projects to list but the first is to expand the kind of work we can offer. Currently we support hi-res images and videos, so something we want to develop is the ability to support generative or interactive artworks.


As an artform, photography has always been seen and collected as prints and books. With cheaper, better quality and higher resolution displays, photography is looking better than ever on the screen. You’re selling photographs in digital format, so what role do you think photography will play on the screen?

Today, photography is primarily digital and cameras are only getting better with higher resolution images – this improves the viewing experience of photographs on the screen. The hardware is also improving such as Smart TVs and iPads retina displays, which also help in creating the best experience for displaying photographs on screen.

Entrance by Wim Wenders. High-resolution image, 3000x2318px at Sedition. © Wim Wenders

Three works I like at Sedition are Entrance by Wim Wenders, Track Record by Darren Almond and Flight Patterns by Aaron Koblin. Can you tell me three of your favorites?

It is difficult to select only three as we like them all! If I would have to pick just three, I would choose: Damien Hirst’s ‘For Heaven’s Sake’, Lee Lee Nam’s ‘Dreamscape 2’, and Matt Pyke’s ‘Transfiguration’.

Screen Grabs: From Above by Rebecca A. Senf

iPad (iBooks) screen grabs of page 1 and 31 of From Above. Click to enlarge.

Format: Ebook compatible with multiple devices

Price: Free

Links: Hol Art Books and Phoenix Art Museum

Comment: Exhibition catalogue for the show "From Above, Aerial Photography from the Center for Creative Photography" at the Phoenix Art Museum.

FYI: The exhibition is open until September 22, 2013.

Screen Grabs: NYLPT by Jason Evans

The images above are iPhone screen grabs.

Format: App for iPad and iPhone

Price: $5.99

Links: iTunes and MAPP Editions

Screen Grabs: Shashasha / Fragments by Daido Moriyama

iPad screen grabs of the Shashasha app and its in app purchase Fragments by Daido Moriyama.

Format: iPad app (apps for iPhone, Android and a web application are under consideration.)

Price: Free app / In app purchases are $0.99

Links: iTunes and Shashasha

Remix PDF

iPad screen grabs of Remix. Photo from Byron Wolfe's Everyday.

I recently asked some publishers if I could use screen grabs of their digital photobooks in a slideshow. The idea was to make a remix edit, placing the books in new and different contexts beside each other. Creative editing for me, and a way to promote some digital books. Instead of making a slideshow I decided that making a PDF was better. Look at your own pace or as a slideshow. It's also the way I edit/showcase some of my own projects.

Thanks to the publishers/artists who agreed. Titles included:

As it is again by JoAnn Verburg (Location Books)
Same Same by John Vink (4Rivers)
Everyday by Byron Wolfe (One Tree Press)
DPR House, MCK Architects by Outcast Editions (Outcast Editions)
Ken Schles: A Digital Resource by The Photobook Club (The Photobook Club)
Bronx Boys by Stephen Shames (FotoEvidence)
Psychometry by Carol Golemboski (Carol Golemboski)
Random Strangers by John Ryan Brubaker (Turn Out Press)
Maps for Getting Lost by John Ryan Brubaker (Turn Out Press)
Untitled by Larry Clark (Nieves)


Remix

1496 x 2048 px pdf, 26 pages, 23 photos.

Download (16 mb)

The PDF's size is optimized for viewing on the iPad with iBooks.

Screen Grabs: An Image a Day by Ansel Adams

The images above are iPhone screen grabs.

Format: iPhone App

Price: $1.99

Links: iTunes and Hachette Book Group

The Afronauts by Cristina De Middel - Preview and book/app comparison

I've been able to preview the upcoming "The Afronauts" App by Cristina De Middel and Ubicuo Studio for two days. The book the app is based on got a lot of attention, sold out quickly and is now out of reach for most people. Cristina didn't want to print a second edition of the book, and instead decided to make an app to make the work more accessible.

Many are familiar with the book so I decided to post some comparison samples between the book and the app.
As you can see, the book is on the left and the app to the right. Two of the images to the right features two images/pages of the app, and are divided by a thin black line. Click the photos to enlarge.
I would like to thank Tom Claxton of Claxton Projects for letting me use his beautiful photos of the book.

The app will be compatible with both iPad and iPhone, and will launch on April 17th costing €5.99.

Photos of the book © Claxton Projects. Photos of the app are iPad screen grabs.

Carol Golemboski's Psychometry clamshell box

Carol Golemboski recently released the Psycometry iPad App. She has also produced a custom clamshell box to fit an iPad with the app installed. Below she explains the idea behind it.

"I had an idea to create a “traveling iPad” that I could load with the Psychometry app and send to galleries for display. It also serves as a good vehicle to introduce the app at art fairs such as the AIPAD Show at the Park Avenue Armory in New York, where it will be on display in the Robert Klein Gallery booth from April 4th-7th.

The box is designed to resemble a beautiful clothbound book when closed, and allow viewers to experience the app when open. I came across the website of Kristin Dunn Bookbinding and Design and thought her “Portfolio Box for iPad” provided the perfect starting point. I worked with Roxanne Davison, lead designer at Brainchild Blueprints, to provide instructions for Kristin to create this custom clamshell box. It not only opens like a book, but can be propped up to view in an upright position. It was the perfect solution to link my digital photobook to a physical photobook."


About the App

Psychometry is an interactive artist’s book that entices viewers to explore the haunting imagery of photographer Carol Golemboski. This dynamic iPad app uses new media to illuminate Golemboski’s psychologically charged still life imagery. Interactive features highlight her unique darkroom process, which combines photography and drawing in ambiguous and provocative ways. Studio tours, location shots, essays, video interviews, and process demonstrations give viewers insight into the mind of the artist. This innovative app exemplifies the possibilities for artists and designers using the iPad platform as a vehicle for publishing interactive books.

EPhotoBookList

 
EPhotoBookList.com is a welcome addition. The need for a shop/library to sort and collect digital photobooks in one place has always been there. It was actually one of the reasons this blog was started. Searching for photography apps and ebooks online, or in the App Store and iBookstore, is like searching for a needle in a haystack. 

EPhotoBookList is still a very young website, but with more members, more listed publications and feedback from its users, I hope it can grow and improve.