Thames & Hudson presents: The Art of the Photobook

Courtesy of the Artist E.A. KAHANE
The Art of the Photobook brings together artists and publishers to explore how photographic work moves from idea to sequence to object. Spanning self-publishing, editing, design, binding, and circulation, the discussion considers what gives a photobook its presence as both a creative medium and a collectible, accessible form.
Panel members are E.A. KAHANE , Ana Casas Broda and Chris Boot moderated by Freeny Yianni.
E.A. KAHANE is an American artist whose photographic practice transforms images into immersive encounters that expand photography beyond its traditional boundaries. Central to her work is the photobook COME JOIN THE PARADE. (“25 Years From My Third Floor Window”), a long-term project that brings together twenty-five years of photographing the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade into a sustained visual study of spectacle, rhythm, and community.
E.A. KAHANE’s practice is rooted in a lifelong engagement with curiosity, travel, and place. Whether capturing Central Park, African wildlife, Italian landscapes, car races, or New York parades, her images reveal a recurring sensibility where beauty, movement, and human connection intertwine. Her installations integrate light, sculpture, video, and custom-designed elements—including light boxes, furniture, murals, and silkscreen—inviting viewers to step into the images rather than simply observe them.
Her most recent project, HEART OF THE RACE: Master Mechanics of the Mille Miglia, honours the skilled mechanics of the historic 1000 Miglia race. Inspired by Irving Penn’s Small Trades, it combines formal studio portraits with on-the-road imagery and premiered as an expanded public installation at Museo Mille Miglia and MoCA Centro per le Nuove Cultura in Brescia, Italy.
Ana Casas Broda (SPAIN | MEXICO 1965), has lived in Mexico since 1974. She studied Visual Arts, History and Photography in Mexico, Spain, Austria and the United States. Since 1983 she has had numerous solo exhibitions in Mexico and abroad. Member of the Sistema Nacional de Creadores FONCA 2008-2011. Published two photobooks: Álbum, by Mestizo, Spain, 2000; and Kinderwunsch, by La Fábrica, 2013, winner of the Best Art Book Award by the Spanish Ministry of Art, Culture and Sport in 2014. Álbum was presented as a solo exhibition at Centro de la Imagen, Mexico, in 2001-2002, at Casa de América, PHotoEspaña festival 2002, and at several other international venues. Kinderwunsch opened at the Círculo de Bellas Artes, PHotoEspaña festival 2015, and was later presented at FOTOHOF, Salzbug, Austria, 2016, at the Museo Regional de Querétaro, Mexico, 2017 and at the Museo de la Ciudad de México, 2019. She has also participated in numerous group exhibitions and publications, including HOMETRUTHS, book and exhibition curated by Susan Bright, presented at Photographers Gallery, London, UK, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, 2015, Belfast Exposed, festival in Ireland, 2015. Since 1990 she has been organising activities on photography, educational programmes, meetings, festivals, etc. She was assistant to Manuel Álvarez Bravo in 1986. In 2012 she founded Hydra + Fotografía with Gabriela González Reyes and Gerardo Montiel Klint- As co-curator with Gisela Volá she realised “Borrador de un cuerpo intervenido” Arte x Arte, Buenos Aires Argentina, 2017, Hydra x FOAM, Netherlands 2017, among many others.
Chris Boot’s career as an editor in photography began in 1984, with south London community activists the Photo Co-op, during which time he gained a first class honors degree in photography from the Polytechnic of Central London. After working for Magnum Photos, (including as director of its London and New York operations), and as editorial director at Phaidon Press, Boot set up his own publishing imprint, Chris Boot Ltd., in 2001, editing and publishing forty books including by Keith Arnatt, John Davies, Luc Delahaye, Martin Parr, Joy Gregory, Sunil Gupta, Jacqueline Hassink, Tim Hetherington and Mikhael Subotzky. Between 2011 and 2021, Boot led the New York not-for-profit publisher Aperture as its executive director. He is now back in London.
Freeny Yianni is a curator and owner of CLOSE Gallery. CLOSE represents artists, runs exhibitions, residencies and education programs. Yianni’s home gallery and studios are set in Somerset, her gallery has been established since 2009. She is a Greek Cypriot and has lived most of her life in the UK. Yianni is an important figure within the history of contemporary art of the 1990’s to the present day. She has been responsible for nurturing artists careers from the onset and seeing them flourish in the cultural arena. Yianni’s ethos for her gallery concentrates on a contemporary art program in a unique way, developing artists legacy’s through astute direction, and a bespoke approach, whilst engaging art programs in collaboration with inspiring partnerships with museums, galleries and cultural institutions. Yianni sees art as a vehicle to transformation.
Ticket Price: £10 with
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