Kickstarter

Time and Space on the Lower East Side
Presentation of the Completed Book and Slide Talk

Monday, April 2 • 7:00 PM
Duo Theater, 62 East 4th Street (between 2nd Avenue & the Bowery)

Co-sponsored by Fourth Arts Block and the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation

I am pleased to announce that the book will be presented at the Duo Theater on East 4th Street almost exactly where the cover photograph of the book was taken.  I will be doing a slide talk that steps you through the images in the book, and I will talk about the process of creating the book. It was a long road, one that took a great deal of perseverance as well as support from those of you who donated to the cause. 

I now have one copy of the book in hand--it is everything I hoped for and more--and should have a limited number of books available for sale on the evening of April 2. The full shipment, coming by boat, will not arrive in New York until a week or so later. 

I hope to see many of you at the inaugural event. I am still working on a book launch party, which you will, of course, be invited to. I am grateful to the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation for sponsoring and publicizing the event, and to FAB (Fourth Arts Block) for doing the same, and for arranging the use of the theater. 

 Yesterday I saw the first set of proofs from the printer--they look amazing. The color is spot on with no loss of vibrancy. Having looked at lots of photo books and done my own color prints for some 30 years, I have to say I've rarely seen printing this good. 

My publisher Bill Diodato and I went over each image individually and picked out about 20 for minor adjustments in density (light/dark). We'll look at one more set of proofs and then go to the final printing. 

The image below shows the finished cover design with yellow and magenta accenting added on the front, back, and spine. The limited edition slipcovers will have the same magenta and yellow.

We also received a blank dummy from the printer to get a feel for the size, materials and workmanship. The sewn binding was beautifully done and the pages lie very flat. Holding the dummy also confirmed my sense that 9x12 inches is a good size for these images. It is spacious enough to provide plenty of detail, but not too large for comfortably holding in one's lap.

At this point we are on schedule for an early March arrival of the books, but I may not have a hard date until we approve the second round of proofs. I should have another update in a few weeks.

Final cover design of Time and Space on the Lower East Side

Time and Space on the Lower East Side is now complete and on its way to the printer in Germany. My publisher tried to get a printer in New Yorke, but none offered the price/quality proportion desired. It's a sad testimony to American competitiveness that we have to go abroad for something that is ultimately done on widely available machines operated by  a small group of skilled technicians. Somewhat cheaper prices were available from Asia, but dealing with the distance and communication difficulties did not seem worth the trouble.

The design of the book is loosely based on the prototype I did with Blurb--the same image using the shadowed area for type. But Warren Mason of Measure Design made it much more elegant. We dropped the magenta type in favor of a yellow accented "Lower East Side." However, the magenta has reappeared with a vengeance on the slipcover of the limited edition of the book.

Slipcase for the limited edition of Time and Space on the Lower East Side

The slipcase will be cloth covered with the type stamped into the material. The hardcover book, which will contain an 8x10 print will slide into the slipcase. These will be numbered and signed 1-100. I am hoping to make these available for sale on the website photo-eye and a few selected bookshops. The starting price will be $250. Due to the overall cost of production, the trade edition will be priced somewhat higher than $50--so those of you who donated to Kickstarter will be getting a nice discount.

I expect to get a production schedule soon and can then project a likely date for release of the book--both the regular trade edition and limited edition. I am guessing that I will have a small number of books sent by air in early January, and the rest of the press run will arrive  in late February shipped by boat. Hopefully, I will be looking at, and approving, proofs this month. As soon as I have the production schedule together, I will begin planning for the a book launch and other PR related activities.

Stay tuned for periodic updates.

Brian

Yesterday, I ended my successful Kickstarter campaign. In the end I raised over $11,000 which will be used to publish Time and Space on the Lower East Side. Going into it I wasn't sure how this thing would turn out, and in fact, at the half way mark, I was very nervous and only 34% of the way to my goal. 

But in the last two weeks dozens of people came through. I would like to specially thank those who donated $500 or more. They will be named in the acknowledgments page of the book. The late push was also helped by blogs like EV Grieve, Curbed, and The Lo-Down as well by several people who did posts on their Facebook pages. Thank you.

The reality is that I went into this book adventure on blind faith without enough money to cover projected costs. You have filled the gap, and we are now moving forward at full speed. The book is in the final stages of layout, and I hope to have an approximate publishing date soon. I will also be sending out surveys through Kickstarter asking for shipping addresses and other pertinent information relating to your donation rewards. 

Last night I presented a slide show of my Lower East Side project to 40 or 50 photography freshmen at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. I looked out at their young faces and said that I imagined they might have a hard time conceiving of doing a project that would take 30 years to fulfill. And, of course, that wasn't my intention when I began photographing the LES at the age of 25. 

But I've always been in the game for the long haul. I didn't expect to spend decades photographing the Berlin Wall, its demise, and what came after, nor the World Trade Center, its demise, and what is now emerging after. But here I am with a book tracing the arc of history over three decades in one of America's most important neighborhoods, a gateway for millions of immigrants, and gateway for countless young people like me who came to New York with sky high hopes.

Thank you again, and we'll be in touch.