PAST COMMUNITY

Photobook Fundamentals with Lesley A. Martin

Join Lesley A. Martin, Executive Director of Printed Matter and co-founder of the Paris Photo Aperture PhotoBook Awards, for the first session of BAXTER ST’s Publication Practicum.

On June 24, 5–7 PM at 154 Ludlow St, Lesley will be in conversation about the editorial and collaborative process of making photobooks, why artists’ books and photobooks matter today, and the basic components of what makes a book “work.”

ABOUT LESLEY A. MARTIN

Lesley A. Martin is executive director of Printed Matter. Prior to that, she was the creative director of Aperture, founding publisher of The PhotoBook Review, and co-founder of the Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards. She has edited more than one-hundred and fifty books of photography, including An-My Lê’s Small Wars; Illuminance by Rinko Kawauchi; LaToya Ruby Frazier: The Notion of Family; and Zanele Muholi: Somnyama Ngonyama. Martin has curated several exhibitions of photography, including The Ubiquitous Image; the New York Times Magazine Photographs, co-curated with Kathy Ryan; Aperture Remix, a commission-based exhibition celebrating Aperture’s sixtieth anniversary; and most recently, I’m So Happy You Are Here: Japanese Women Photographers Since the 1950s, co-curated with Pauline Vermare and Mariko Takeuchi. She received the Royal Photographic Society award for outstanding achievement in photographic publishing in 2020, and has been a visiting critic at the Yale University Graduate School of Art since 2016.

ABOUT THE BAXTER ST PUBLICATION PRACTICUM

The BAXTER ST Summer 2026 Publication Practicum is a free, six-part series for photographers and artists who want to learn how to make photobooks.

Each week, a guest speaker or facilitator from the photobook world will discuss their work and answer questions from Practicum participants. Sessions will span the full spectrum of the photobook process: from conception to production to getting a book on store shelves. Whether you’re an experienced bookmaker or just beginning to explore the possibility, there’s something for you. 

Practicum hosts will include Lesley A. Martin, Alex Lin (Studio Lin), Christina Grillo (Trifolio), Michael Dayton Hermann, Miwa Susuda, Martha Naranjo Sandoval, and Andreas Laszlo Konrath (SHRIMP ZINE). 

Sign up for the sessions most interesting and relevant to your practice – that might be all six, or just one. Bring your questions, experiences, and an openness to connect with fellow participants and the session host over a shared love of bookmaking. Sessions will have a limited capacity to encourage dialogue.

The Publication Practicum is free and open to photographers and artists of all backgrounds and experience levels.

Support for Community Programs at BAXTER ST is provided by the Mellon Foundation.