Aperture PhotoBook Club | Aperture Events

Alejandro Cartagena: Ground Rules

Brianna Rettig — Wed, 22 Oct 2025 21:20:06 +0000

Ground Rules is the first comprehensive, fully bilingual survey charting the career of the prolific photographer Alejandro Cartagena. Celebrated for his photobooks Carpoolers (2014) and A Small Guide to Homeownership (2020), Cartagena is known for his formally engaging and socially incisive images that span the politics of the US-Mexico border, suburban sprawl, and the increasing wealth disparities in North America.

For our December 2025 Aperture PhotoBook Club gathering, Aperture’s executive director, Sarah Meister, joined the artist alongside assistant curator of photography at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and curator of Alejandro Cartagena: Ground Rules, Shana Lopes, and the book’s talented designer, Ricardo Báez.

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This event was originally streamed on December 1, 2025. Support for the 2025 Aperture PhotoBook Club is generously provided by FotoFocus.

Coreen Simpson: A Monograph | Aperture PhotoBook Club

Brianna Rettig — Fri, 19 Sep 2025 20:54:07 +0000

Coreen Simpson—photographer, writer, jeweler—has done it all. Working for publications such as Essence, Unique New York, and The Village Voice, from the late 1970s onward, Simpson covered New York’s art and fashion scenes, producing portraits of a wide range of Black artists, literary figures, and celebrities. Her iconic jewelry, the Black Cameo, has been worn by everyone from the model Iman to civil-rights leader Rosa Parks.

For our October 2025 Aperture PhotoBook Club gathering, we discussed Coreen Simpson: A Monograph, the artist’s long-awaited volume and the second title from our Vision & Justice book series. The photographer joined Sarah Meister, Aperture executive director; Michael Famighetti, Aperture editor in chief; Iesha E. Coppin-Forde, Aperture assistant editor; and Adam Turnbull, one of the book’s designers.

This event originally took place on October 21, 2025. Support for the 2025 Aperture PhotoBook Club is generously provided by FotoFocus.

Richard Misrach: Cargo | Aperture PhotoBook Club

Brianna Rettig — Fri, 11 Apr 2025 16:03:02 +0000

Eerie, sparse, and undeniably beautiful, Richard Misrach’s images offer a timely meditation on the profound impact of global trade on the environment. Cargo presents the acclaimed photographer’s sublime meditation on the often-unseen patterns of global trade and commerce.

For our August 2025 Aperture PhotoBook Club gathering, Aperture’s executive director, Sarah Meister, joined Richard Misrach alongside the book’s designer, Masumi Shibata, and the book’s editor, Noa Lin.

Join the Club to receive news on upcoming gatherings and discounts on featured photobooks.

This event was originally streamed on August 12, 2025. Support for the 2025 Aperture PhotoBook Club is generously provided by FotoFocus.

On Small Books: With Jason Fulford, Kris Graves, and Carmen Winant | Aperture PhotoBook Club

Brianna Rettig — Fri, 11 Apr 2025 15:58:42 +0000

In “Image Worlds to Come: Photography & AI,” the writer Megan N. Liberty poses an interesting question to an illustrious crew of thinkers: “Is the age of oversized photobooks over?” We decided to continue this ripe conversation in the May 2025 Aperture PhotoBook Club gathering.

Jason Fulford, Kris Graves, and Carmen Winant sat down with Aperture’s executive director, Sarah Meister, to discuss some of their favorite tiny, small, and undersized photobooks, and to parse out the particular appeal of these petite publications.

Join the Club to receive news on upcoming gatherings and discounts on featured photobooks.

This conversation originally took place on May 6, 2025. Support for the 2025 Aperture PhotoBook Club is generously provided by FotoFocus.

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Image: Carmen Winant, Instructional Photography (SPBH Editions, 2022)

An-My Lê: Small Wars | Aperture PhotoBook Club

Brianna Rettig — Wed, 02 Apr 2025 16:14:56 +0000

The twentieth anniversary edition of artist An-My Lê’s acclaimed first book, Small Wars, examines the legacies of US military power, and explores issues surrounding landscape, memory, and the representation of violence and war.

For the June 2025 Aperture PhotoBook Club gathering, Aperture’s executive director, Sarah Meister, joined Lê alongside longtime peer and friend Stephen Shore to discuss Small Wars, the arc of an artist’s career and the ongoing relevance of this work.

Join the Club to receive news on upcoming gatherings and discounts on featured photobooks.

This conversation originally took place on June 9, 2025. Support for the 2025 Aperture PhotoBook Club is generously provided by FotoFocus.

Tina Barney: Family Ties | Aperture PhotoBook Club

Brianna Rettig — Thu, 19 Dec 2024 18:42:20 +0000

Tina Barney’s keenly observed portraits offer a window into a rarified world of privilege. With sixty large-format works imbued with a spontaneity and intimacy, Barney’s monograph Family Ties reminds us of what we hold in common.

For our February 2025 Aperture PhotoBook Club gathering, Aperture’s executive director, Sarah Meister, joined Barney in an eye-opening and generous conversation on the artist’s career and newest photobook.

Join the Club to receive news on upcoming gatherings and discounts on featured photobooks.

This event took place on January 23, 2025. Support for the 2025 Aperture PhotoBook Club is generously provided by FotoFocus.

Arielle Bobb-Willis: Keep the Kid Alive | Aperture PhotoBook Club

Brianna Rettig — Fri, 23 Aug 2024 17:36:29 +0000

Keep the Kid Alive, Arielle Bobb-Willis’s first book, invites audiences into a brightly imaginative world, filled with dynamic colors, gestures, and unusual poses of the artist’s own creation. Transforming the streets of New Orleans, New York, and Los Angeles into lush backdrops for her wonderfully surreal tableaus, Bobb-Willis makes unforgettable images that expand the genres of fashion and art photography.

For our December 2024 Aperture PhotoBook Club gathering, Aperture’s executive director, Sarah Meister, joined Arielle Bobb-Willis as well as the book’s designer Rush Jackson, and the curator and gallery founder Hannah Traore.

Join the Club to receive news on upcoming gatherings and discounts on featured photobooks.

This event was originally streamed on December 10, 2024. Support for the 2024 Aperture PhotoBook Club is generously provided by FotoFocus.

Robert Frank: The Americans

Interactive — Fri, 23 Aug 2024 17:35:55 +0000

Join the Aperture PhotoBook Club to discuss Robert Frank’s The Americans (Aperture, 2024). Aperture’s executive director, Sarah Meister, will be joined by Lucy Gallun, photography curator at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, alongside photographers Miranda Barnes, Paul Graham, and Andre D. Wagner. Aligning with the centennial of Frank’s birth and the highly anticipated return of this iconic title to Aperture’s catalog, the group will discuss these indelible images and the enduring legacy of arguably one of the most influential photobooks of the twentieth century.

This virtual public program is free and open to all. A recording of the event will be made available on the Aperture YouTube channel.

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The Aperture PhotoBook Club brings together a constellation of artists and individuals engaged with photobook-making for conversations that inform and inspire photo-loving audiences around the world.

Join the Club to receive news on upcoming gatherings and discounts on featured photobooks.

Dayanita Singh on Design

Brianna Rettig — Thu, 11 Jul 2024 15:09:57 +0000

On the occasion of Aperture’s latest, “The Design Issue,” join the Aperture PhotoBook Club to discuss our collective understanding of design’s role in photobook making with legendary artist and photobook maker Dayanita Singh. Aperture’s editor in chief, Michael Famighetti, and executive director, Sarah Meister, will join to discuss Dayanita’s unique role in the field.

This online public program is free and open to all. Register here. A recording of the event will be made available on the Aperture YouTube channel.

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Join the Club to receive news on upcoming gatherings and discounts on featured photobooks.

Ed Templeton: Wires Crossed

Brianna Rettig — Wed, 01 May 2024 16:18:32 +0000

Join the Aperture PhotoBook Club to discuss Wires Crossed (Aperture, 2023). Photographer Ed Templeton and Aperture’s executive director, Sarah Meister, will be joined by Richard Gregg, Aperture’s director of book sales and operations, who will discuss the lifecycle of a photobook here at Aperture. The book’s production manager, Thomas Bollier, will also join to discuss the production process and his creative collaboration with Ed.

This virtual public program is free and open to all. A recording of the event will be made available on the Aperture YouTube channel.

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Join the Club to receive news on upcoming gatherings and discounts on featured photobooks.

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Ed Templeton: Wires Crossed was made possible, in part, with generous support from RVCA / Artist Network Program.