Matthew Genitempo’s book Jasper is the kind of publication where, every time I approach a table full of photobooks, I wish something as amazing will be there waiting there for me. It is thoroughly classic in its seemingly documentary approach, which is very welcome these days. The way that Genitempo captures this rural and clearly isolated stretch of the American landscape and the people who inhabit it is truly touching. It is rare to see such a delicate vision, where the landscapes are every bit as good as the portraits. I am very happy to have discovered work by somebody I did not know about. Just as important as the content, this book is produced as carefully as it is photographed.
Todd Hido (born in Kent, Ohio, 1968) wanders endlessly, taking lengthy road trips in search of imagery that connects with his own memories. Through his unique landscape process and signature color palette, Hido alludes to the quiet and mysterious side of suburban America — where uniform communities provide for a stable façade — implying the instability that lies behind the walls. His photographs are in many private and public collections, including the Getty, Los Angeles; Whitney Museum of American Art; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Notably, Pier 24 Photography holds the archive of all his published works. He has published more than a dozen books, including the award-winning monograph Excerpts from Silver Meadows (2013) and the innovative B-side box set designed to function as a companion piece. His Aperture titles include Todd Hido on Landscapes, Interiors, and the Nude (2014), part of The Photography Workshop series, and the mid-career survey Intimate Distance: Twenty-Five Years of Photographs, A Chronological Album (2016). His next book, Bright Black World, will be released this fall. Hido is also a collector, and over the last twenty-five years has created one of the most notable photobook collections, which will be featured in Bibliomania: The World’s Most Interesting Private Libraries (Random House, 2019). www.toddhido.com
