Brian Taylor

 Limited Editions | Handmade Books, Silver Gelatin Prints, and Archival Pigment Prints with Watercolor

Born in Tucson, Arizona, Brian received his B.A. Degree in Visual Arts from the University of California at San Diego, an M.A. from Stanford University, and his M.F.A. from the University of New Mexico where he studied with Beaumont Newhall and Van Deren Coke.

As a practicing artist, Brian is known for his innovative explorations of alternative photographic processes and handmade books. His work has been exhibited internationally in numerous solo and group shows, and is included in the permanent collections of the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris; the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and the International Museum of Photography, George Eastman Museum, Rochester, NY, among many others.

Brian taught as a Professor of Photography at California State University, San Jose for 40 years, and served as the Chair of the Department of Art and Art History. After university teaching, Brian served as the Executive Director of the Center for Photographic Art from 2015-2019. Now happily back in his studio, Brian continues to lecture and teach workshops for arts organizations across the country from Stanford University to the Penland School in North Carolina.

Open Books

“I create photographically illustrated books springing from my fascination with the book format and a love of texture in art. My imagery is inspired by the surreal and poetic moments of living in our fast-paced, modern world. I'm fascinated by how daily life in the 21st Century presents us with incredible experiences in such regularity that we no longer differentiate between what is natural and what is colored with implausibility, humor, and irony.

These hard cover books are hand bound with marbleized paper and displayed fully opened to a photographically illustrated two-page folio spread. Each book is framed in a wooden shadowbox and presented as a wall piece. I like the idea of making art that contains some imagery which can be sensed but not seen. The underlying pages contain my photographs, snapshots, and work prints that "gave their lives" for the imagery visible in the open spread. These images lie beneath the open pages like history.” ——- Brian Taylor