With contributions by Robin Kelsey, Jennifer Quick, and Jessica Williams

Featuring interviews and conversations with Deborah Bell, James Casebere, Robert Gober, John Schabel, Gary Schneider and John Erdman, and Lorna Simpson

Published in 2018

Providing an expansive and revelatory look at the collaborative artistic relationship between photographers and printers, this book focuses on the work and practice of Schneider/Erdman, Inc., a Manhattan-based printing business owned by Gary Schneider and John Erdman from 1981 to 2001. Well-known within the New York art world, Schneider and Erdman printed works by artists such as Richard Avedon, Matthew Barney, and Nan Goldin. In addition to a thorough overview of Schneider’s technical mastery of printing methods and materials, Analog Culture also sheds light on the importance of the close personal relationships between photographers and printers within the art-making process. The striking works reproduced in the volume are enhanced by exclusive interviews with Schneider, Erdman, and their collaborators, offering an unparalleled behind-the-scenes view of New York’s art community in the late 20th century.

The related exhibition, Analog Culture: Printer’s Proofs from the Schneider/Erdman Photography Lab, 1981–2001, is on view at the Harvard Art Museums from May 19 through August 12, 2018.

Jennifer Quick is the John R. and Barbara Robinson Family Associate Research Curator in Photography at the Harvard Art Museums; Robin Kelsey is Dean of Arts and Humanities and the Shirley Carter Burden Professor of Photography in the Department of History of Art and Architecture at Harvard University; and Jessica Williams is a Ph.D. candidate in the history of art and architecture at Harvard University and former Agnes Mongan Curatorial Intern in the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Harvard Art Museums.

The printer’s proofs came to the Harvard Art Museums through the generosity of Schneider and Erdman, who have long understood the value of the photographs as a teaching collection. The acquisition was also made possible in part by the Margaret Fisher Fund. Further support for this project was provided by the Widgeon Point Charitable Foundation; the Harvard Art Museums Mellon Publication Funds, including the Carola B. Terwilliger Fund; the John R. and Barbara Robinson Family Fund for Photography; the Agnes Gund Fund for Modern and Contemporary Art; the M. Victor Leventritt Fund; and the Richard L. Menschel Endowment Fund. Modern and contemporary art programs at the Harvard Art Museums are made possible in part by generous support from the Emily Rauh Pulitzer and Joseph Pulitzer, Jr., Fund for Modern and Contemporary Art.

Purchase at Touchnet