Pie Jesu Domine

Dona eis requiem

Last week, Mark White, of Eye on I: Projections of a street photographer, posted a story about a zine that he’d just finished, made from Cyanotypes of of the Taos Mission Church, in Taos, New Mexico.

I asked Mark if he had any copies left, and he said that he had one left; I immediately put in my order for the last one.

This weekend, the zine arrived, and I took it into work, today, to shoot it.

Taos, is a lovely town (if you can standing all the humming). In the shadow of Wheeler Peak, it’s a damned picturesque place, and a great place to build a mission-style church, in this case, the Taos Mission Church.

I really like the layout of Mark’s zine. Mark calls this a, “Leporello” layout. There are two prints that face each other, for a total of six, on the front side of the zine, with four prints on the reverse.

As Mark mentioned in his article, HERE, each of the prints is just a bit different than all of the other’s, even the prints of the same photo, due to the nature of the Cyanotype process. Each zine is unique among it’s brothers, a true original. Quite Japanese, really.

Here are the pics on the reverse.

My favourite shot in the zine is the second, the backside of the church, showing the monolithic nature of the design. It brings to mind the Mayan pyramids, in Mexico.

But, beyond the cool photography, I want to point out a few things that all artists should include in their work, or at least think about including, when they make a project like this (for sale, or otherwise).

First, if you can, let you customer know that you are willing to give them a peak behind the scenes of how you made this unique work; Mark does that with a panel on the back of the zine, detailing what you are looking at, as well as the process that goes into the Cyanotype printing process.

The blurb does not need to be wordy, it does not need to be exhaustive in its detail, it needs to be concise, and Mark does this part well.

What I really do like about this back page, though, is this:

I cannot tell you how important it is for an artist to sign, and date, the work. In my line of work, it makes provenance of a particular artwork SOOOOO much easier. The 1/4, indicating the first edition of this set of four, is also a nice touch.

When I am old(er), and can no longer afford to pay for my room and board, I can sell this at auction, and make a killing. By that time, Mark, will be a world-famous photographer, with his early work being highly sought after by collectors. The fact that he signed this zine, marked the edition as one of four, and dated the month and year it was made, will provide iron-clad provenance, the collector’s will bid like crazy, and it will bring me tons of cash. All because of that signature in the lower right-hand corner.

Mark, also included a personal note, on the back of one of his other prints, and signed it (bless him!). Personal notes, signed by the artist, are like catnip to collector’s, just watch the Antiques Roadshow, for examples.

So, in compact and beautiful package, Mark has created my retirement fund, and while I will hate to auction this off in 30 years, I will do so knowing that the entire world will be anxious to bid on the VERY FIRST Mark White Zine.