Seattle based photographer Paul Edmondson, known for his minimal landscapes of the American West, is drawn towards the places where humans and the natural environment intersect.
Edmondson was raised in Washington D.C. and studied anthropology at Northern Arizona University. After working as a Forest Service archaeologist in Southeast Alaska, he embarked on a solo sea kayak of the Inside Passage from Ketchikan to Seattle, where he's lived since. Influences include abstract expressionist painters, his mother and the ordinary.
Paul Edmondson has won multiple PDN Photo Annual awards for his photography. His work is held in international corporate and private collections.
Visiting my local library recently, I was captivated by the rows of bound periodicals. Their tattered and worn pages resonated with a sense of nostalgia, reminding me of the analog life I once lived. BOOK/MARKS is a photographic exploration of this pre-digital era, delving into the delicate yet resilient essence of books, magazines, and newspapers in a world that has predominantly shifted online.
Although it may not be immediately apparent, this body of work echoes the central themes of my landscape photography, illustrating how human interaction gradually transforms the world. The books and periodicals, once uniform in their machine-printed perfection, acquire uniqueness and character through the marks left by their readers—folded corners, worn spines, coffee stains, mends, and the simple act of being reshelved.
I also see marks of personality reflected in their titles. Names such as Printers' Ink, Electric Railway Review, and Country Gentleman not only evoke a sense of the period they belong to, but also highlight how our collective interests have the power to forge communities. These titles serve as a testament to our human desire to connect and categorize our experiences and passions.
Each photograph in this series is an homage to these humble carriers of knowledge and the timeless human touch that imparts to them an individual life beyond their pages.
