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| Nazraeli Press | |
|---|---|
| Name | Nazraeli Press |
| Founded | 1989 |
| Founder | Phil Baker |
| Country | United States |
| Headquarters | Portland, Oregon; later Tucson, Arizona |
| Publications | Photobooks, monographs, limited editions |
| Topics | Photography |
Nazraeli Press is an American independent publisher specializing in fine art photography books, monographs, and limited-edition volumes. The press is noted for producing high-quality, collectible publications and collaborates with international photographers, galleries, and museums. It has influenced contemporary photographic publishing through distinctive series, ambitious design practices, and relationships with artists, curators, and collectors.
Nazraeli Press was established in 1989 during a period of renewed interest in photobook production alongside institutions such as Museum of Modern Art (New York City), Tate Modern, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and independent publishers like Aperture (magazine), Steidl Verlag, and MACK (publisher). Early projects reflected dialogues with exhibitions at venues such as The Photographers' Gallery, International Center of Photography, and regional museums including Los Angeles County Museum of Art and J. Paul Getty Museum. During the 1990s and 2000s Nazraeli expanded its catalog amid contemporaries like Taschen, Phaidon Press, and Rizzoli, contributing to the growing market for artist books associated with fairs and events such as Paris Photo, Photobook Festival Kassel, and Rencontres d'Arles.
The press was founded by Phil Baker, a publisher and collector whose activities intersect with curators and advisors from institutions like Whitney Museum of American Art, Guggenheim Museum, Smithsonian Institution, and Victoria and Albert Museum. Leadership often collaborated with photographers represented by galleries including Gagosian Gallery, Hauser & Wirth, Pace Gallery, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, and Cheim & Read. Editorial direction and production management have involved figures connected to university programs and schools such as Rhode Island School of Design, Yale School of Art, School of Visual Arts, and Royal College of Art.
Nazraeli developed multiple signature series that positioned it within the collectible photobook market alongside series by Aperture Foundation, Steidl and MACK. Its series strategy included numbered and unnumbered editions that paralleled practices at Limited Editions Club, Folio Society, and small presses tied to museum catalogues like those of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The press produced monographs, themed volumes, and collaborative artist projects, often timed with exhibitions at venues such as Tate Modern, MoMA, Centre Pompidou, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and university galleries.
Nazraeli published books by a broad roster of photographers whose careers intersect with figures and institutions across the photographic world. Notable collaborators included Andreas Gursky, Richard Misrach, Joel Meyerowitz, Garry Winogrand, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Diane Arbus, Lee Friedlander, William Eggleston, Nan Goldin, Sally Mann, Sebastião Salgado, Ansel Adams, Cindy Sherman, Robert Adams (photographer), Paul Strand, Edward Weston, Imogen Cunningham, Gordon Parks, Walker Evans, Diane Arbus, Duane Michals, Robert Frank, Elliot Erwitt, Bernd and Hilla Becher, August Sander, André Kertész, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Man Ray, Brassaï, Arnold Newman, Bill Brandt, Yousuf Karsh, W. Eugene Smith, Lee Miller, László Moholy-Nagy, Josef Koudelka, Helmut Newton, Mario Testino, Mary Ellen Mark, Larry Fink, Stephen Shore, Herman Leonard, Martin Parr, Alex Webb, James Nachtwey, Elliott Erwitt, Tony Ray-Jones, Ralph Gibson, and Martha Rosler. Specific Nazraeli titles have accompanied museum retrospectives and gallery exhibitions by institutions like MoMA PS1, Walker Art Center, and ICA (London).
Production values emphasized archival printing techniques, paper selection, and binding comparable to museum catalogues and fine-press practices found at Taschen, Steidl, and Aperture. Niched editions used specialized printers and craftspeople associated with studios servicing projects for Metropolitan Museum of Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, and conservators versed in standards of Getty Conservation Institute. Design collaborations drew upon designers with backgrounds at universities and studios that have served galleries including Hauser & Wirth, Gagosian Gallery, and publishing houses such as Phaidon Press.
Distribution channels mixed direct sales to collectors, partnerships with galleries like Gagosian Gallery, Hauser & Wirth, and Pace Gallery, and placements in museum shops at the Museum of Modern Art (New York City), Tate Modern, and Getty Center. Limited-edition strategies followed collectible frameworks used by Limited Editions Club and specialty monograph programs at Aperture Foundation and Steidl. Print runs varied from small numbered editions for collectors to larger trade editions stocked by independent bookstores such as Printed Matter, Inc., mainstream retailers, and academic libraries including Library of Congress, New York Public Library, and university collections.
Critics and curators from publications and institutions including Artforum, The New Yorker, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Frieze (magazine), and Aperture (magazine) have reviewed Nazraeli publications within broader surveys of photobook culture. The press influenced market expectations for collectible photographic editions alongside peers such as Steidl, MACK, Taschen, and Aperture Foundation, shaping collector practices at fairs like Paris Photo and influencing academic syllabi at programs such as Rochester Institute of Technology, Pratt Institute, and Boston University. Its legacy is noted in institutional acquisition patterns at museums including Museum of Modern Art (New York City), Tate Modern, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and regional contemporary art centers.
Category:Photography publishing houses