Visual Voices in Print | J. Sybylla Smith in conversation with Lydia Panas, Amy Touchette & Karen Marshall

Visual Voices in Print

Three Ways to A Book |  A Photo book Bookmaking Panel

Join us online in the Griffin Zoom Room Thursday June 16th at 7pm Eastern / 4pm Pacific for a conversation moderated by J. Sybylla Smith and the creative powerhouses, Karen Marshall, Lydia Panas and Amy Touchette.

This event is FREE for Griffin Members $10 for Non Members. For more information about becoming a member of the Griffin Community see our membership benefits.

Three contemporary photographers share their unique journey of shepherding an idea into an object. How did each nurture a concept and develop a project? What creative choices did they encounter? When did they know a book was the platform for their work? How did they find collaborators? What design decisions did they make? What points of compromise came up? What do they wish they knew before that they now know about bookmaking?

In a round table presentation and discussion, J. Sybylla Smith will talk with Lydia Panas, Amy Touchette and Karen Marshall share their recent publishing experience.

Lydia Panas Sleeping Beauty published with MW Editions

Lydia Panas is a visual artist working with photography and video. A first-generation American, she was raised between Greece and the United States. Through a combination of psychoanalysis and feminism, her work looks at identity and what lies below the surface, investigating questions of who we are and what we want to become. Exploring the roles of power and trust on both sides of the camera, she describes what it feels like to be a woman, a human, and the complex range of emotions we have the capacity to feel. All her work is made in the fields, the forests, and the studio of her seventy-acre farm in Pennsylvania. The connection she feels to this land and her family is the foundation of her work.

Amy Touchette Personal Ties: Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn published with Schilt Publishing, 2021

Amy Touchette is a photographer based in Brooklyn who explores themes of social connectedness through street portraiture. Trained at the International Center of Photography, she began her artistic career as a writer and painter, earning a BA in Literature and Studio Art and an MA in Literature. She is represented by ClampArt in New York City and Little Big Galerie in Paris, France.

Karen Marshall Between Girls published with Kehrer Verlag, 2021

New York photographer Karen Marshall documents social issues. By focusing on the psychological lives of her subjects, she has worked on a series of visual stories that contemplate familial relationships and convey ideas about people and place within the cultural landscape.

Each photographer had considerations and challenges to navigate – and did so successfully.
The photobook publishing world has exploded with myriad options in the past 15 years. Design, printing, and distribution processes are evolving rapidly. These knowledgeable and intrepid photographers will give us insight into how they journeyed the uncharted landscape of bookmaking today.

About J. Sybylla Smith –

I am a visual activist captivated by the power of photography to create individual and collective change in exhibition and book form. As an independent curator I’ve curated solo and group exhibitions featuring the work of over 100 international photographers. My work has been exhibited in museum, gallery, festival and in non-traditional settings across the U.S. and in Japan, Mexico and Columbia.

I collaborate with emerging to seasoned professionals to illuminate, elevate and amplify their work. We focus on exploring content, identifying impactful images and developing a powerful presentation in image and text.

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From a concept, through a project, and into a book, this round table panel will address how each photographer confronted creative choices, obstacles and solutions.