marc joseph
Anderson/Melville

C-print mounted on aluminum, 2008
Image: 50.8 cm x 61 cm
Unique, Special print for Presentation House Gallery
Image courtesy the artist

Estimate: $3,000

Approximating the work of an archivist, Marc Joseph’s photographic projects are visual records that probe often hidden aspects of American culture. Growing up in Ohio in the 1970s, Joseph was first exposed to art, writing, and music in the smaller, eccentric book and record shops in downtown Cleveland. Thus began his permanent fascination with books and records—both as public artworks and formative private experiences. As he has said: “We all collect with our eyes, whether we know it or not.” Produced by esteemed German publisher Steidl, monographs such as New and Used collect Joseph’s richly detailed photo observations of hardcovers, paperbacks, LPs, CDs, and cassettes that are boxed, shelved, binned, and stacked. Joseph’s critically acclaimed first monograph, American Pitbull, also published by Steidl, is an original study of the infamous canine pedigree, rich with metaphor and exemplary of the detail that can be uncovered in things, in this case, an animal. He has had exhibitions in the U.S. and abroad.