Being Steidl

From Jim Lewis's short but incisive article about Gerhard Steidl:

Being Steidl is a calling, of sorts, and it has made Steidl himself a somewhat odd, and somehow endearing, man. Small, dark-haired, with thick glasses and dressed in a white lab coat, he comes across as part White Rabbit, always harried and usually late, and part Boss Man, supremely confident, decisive and in control. Like many single-minded people, he's almost childlike in his absorption: make a small joke and there will be a slight hitch in his response while he tries to reconcile the levity with his forward momentum....

Everything in his life is devoted to making the best books he can, and as many of them as possible.

Good reading about the man who is currently the preeminent publisher of photography books in the world.

(Here's a link to a picture of Gerhard.)

Mike

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Original contents copyright 2011 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved.

Featured Comment by Eamon Hickey: "What an artful piece of writing that is—always a special kind of pleasure to see a lot of story packed into a small box of words."

Featured Comment by Julian: "After reading the article, I went to my modest collection of photography books and pulled out my copy of The Americans and, sure enough, there were the head and tail bands. I wouldn't even have noticed them if it wasn't for the article. That book has always somehow seemed to be of a higher quality than most of the other books I possess so it was fascinating to read about the care and devotion that went into its production. In today's world where people are cost-conscious often to the point of lunacy, it's good to know there are people who still care about producing a quality product. My copy will be treasured all the more now."

Featured Comment by Geoff Wittig: "That's a wonderful article. Books in their own small way are an artform just like paintings or sculpture: tangible objects whose physical form and aesthetics can augment their content, or sabotage it. Famed American book designer and typographer Bruce Rogers (1870–1957) obsessed about every detail of his books, from the hand-feel of the paper to the specific color of the ink (i.e. blue-black rather than warm black) to the aroma of the finished product. And he meticulously 'tuned' the choice of font and page design to reinforce the author's intent. For all that, most of his books were affordable trade volumes rather than pricely limited editions. It's great to know a few stalwart souls out there are keeping the flame alive."

Featured Comment by Konstantin: "I used to work for Steidl, back in the late '90s before I moved to London. I used to do rights for the fiction and nonfiction books but I was also responsible for international sales re photography.

"At that time the photography list was smaller but really exquisite. The fascinating thing about the production was and still is that everything happens in one place. The printery is downstairs, scans and post production first floor, layout, marketing, typesetting and everything else second floor.

"Photographers used to come and stay for days or weeks if necessary and I believe nothing has changed in that respect. It was normal to meet them: Jock Sturges, Gilles Peress, Juergen Teller, Fazal Sheikh, Peggy Sirota, Paolo Roversi, Nan Goldin, just to name a few. Steidl did all the printing for Scalo while they were still around.

"Gerhard Steidl is a fascinating character, totally dedicated, in love with his books, a true craftsman, nuts about what he is doing, full of enthusiasm, a perfectionist."

Comments

[Peter Mellis]

Great article. My favorite people are articulate craftsmen, even if obsessed, anal and probably a bit mad.
I spent most of a forty year career working in publishing (magazines and books) and, while I am not against progress/evolution, I am more than a bit depressed by current trends in the industry. Glad to see that people like this are still around and hope that there will be more to come.

[Joe]

I pulled down a couple of Steidl books and examined them closely, and I could not for the life of me figure out where or what the "head and tail bands" are. So a little googling turned up this image: http://bit.ly/hljnOf

Turns out that some but not all of my Steidl books have them, and I found them in at least one other publisher — a Thomas Roma book from PowerHouse books...

Now that I know what they are, I'll never be able to NOT look for them!

[Paul C.]

Great article. Your readers may also enjoy the documentary "How to make a book with Steidl". It has already been shown on TV here in Germany. I'm not sure about its availability elsewhere. There is, however, a trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8McHbjaxpbA.

[Ken Tanaka]

Yes, indeed, this article coincides perfectly with first-hand observations noted to me by others. Producing the finest anything requires balls-to-the-wall self-sacrificing devotion by somebody. Nowhere is that truer, however, than the production of art books. This ain't Blurb, man.

[Will]

On this subject, any word on the reprint of Outside Inside?

[fernando]

this reminds me that, although the Bruce Davidson Outside/Inside box may be out of print for a whimsical while, there were two copies at list price at the Bosak Museum. Unfortunately, this is in Brussels, so I am not sure how useful of an information it is.

[BrianW]

Gerhard Steidl seems to have a lot in common with Manfred Eicher, of the ECM record label.