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UM YEAH ARTS
Ed Templeton: Wayward Cognitions
Text by Stijn Huijts.
Twenty years of photography from the prolific icon of the Beautiful Losers generation
Wayward Cognitions is a collection of photographs by Ed Templeton (born 1972), chosen from his archives spanning 20 years. For this volume, Templeton selected photographs that do not fit into his usual manner of organizing by theme or subject. In past publications he has arranged his work in straightforward groupings such as Teenage Kissers, Teenage Smokers, or photographs shot from a moving car (as in his book The Seconds Pass). In Deformer he presented the photographs under the theme of suburbia. Wayward Cognitions represents the in-between moments that arise when shooting in the streets without theme or subject. "It's about looking, people watching, finding pleasure in the visual vignettes we glimpse each day," says Templeton. When those moments are removed from the context in which they were shot, dynamic stories can be told or imagined in book form. The photographs in Wayward Cognitions were printed by Templeton in his darkroom; he then created the layout and design himself, building the book from scratch in his home studio.
Featured image is reproduced from Ed Templeton: Wayward Cognitions.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
The New York Times
Jamie Bradley
Teenage kissers. Teenage smokers. These are the very distinct themes by which the photographer Ed Templeton has organized his work. But for his newest book of photographs, “Wayward Cognitions” (Um Yeah Arts, out in October), Templeton dispenses with categorization and instead culls a loose collection of images from his 20 years of travel as a professional skateboarder and artist. They capture the kinds of fleeting moments that are the hallmarks of classic street photography. Templeton shot all of the images on film, printed them in his home darkroom, scanned them and then laid them out for the book. “Part of me laments the fact that I am doing all of this work myself,” he says. “The computer part is soul-crushing amounts of time in front of a screen. I say I wish I could just make the prints and hand it off to be made by designers. But then I realize, ‘who am I kidding? I’m a control freak.’ If you want it done right, do it yourself. And if it’s bad you only have yourself to blame.” Here, T gets an exclusive first look at his labor of love.
"Say your goodbyes. You will not survive," writes Stijn Huijts in Ed Templeton: Wayward Cognitions. "The announcement that opens this book states the only certainty we have in life: that of our mortality. In this light, Wayward Cognitions can be seen as a photographic memento mori... But the book is also an ode to mankind, who despite everything continues bravely on his way and keeps developing all sorts of strategies for averting existential doubt. This, too, is written down, concealed somewhere in one of the photos: Never let hope elude you. That’s life’s greatest fumble." Templeton will be signing copies of this influential artist's book, alongside Deanna Templeton signing The Swimming Pool today at 2PM at the SF Art Book Fair. continue to blog
"Wrightwood, USA" (2008) is reproduced from Ed Templeton: Wayward Cognitions, launching with a book signing this Thursday, December 18, from 6-8PM at the MOCA store, Grand Avenue, Los Angeles. In his essay, Stijn Huijts writes, Wayward Cognitions can be seen as a collection of pictures that express wonder about an everyday reality that, as a Dutch author once remarked, is actually much crazier than anything the wildest imagination could dream up. It is clear that Templeton has developed an unerring photographic eye for recognizing those un-everyday qualities of the everyday. It is a sort of wonder that is typical of the view of artists, as well as of the way young children approach the world." continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 8 x 10.75 in. / 160 pgs / illustrated throughout. LIST PRICE: U.S. $45.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $60 GBP £40.00 ISBN: 9780985361129 PUBLISHER: Um Yeah Arts AVAILABLE: 12/31/2014 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of stock indefinitely AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: WORLD
Twenty years of photography from the prolific icon of the Beautiful Losers generation
Wayward Cognitions is a collection of photographs by Ed Templeton (born 1972), chosen from his archives spanning 20 years. For this volume, Templeton selected photographs that do not fit into his usual manner of organizing by theme or subject. In past publications he has arranged his work in straightforward groupings such as Teenage Kissers, Teenage Smokers, or photographs shot from a moving car (as in his book The Seconds Pass). In Deformer he presented the photographs under the theme of suburbia. Wayward Cognitions represents the in-between moments that arise when shooting in the streets without theme or subject. "It's about looking, people watching, finding pleasure in the visual vignettes we glimpse each day," says Templeton. When those moments are removed from the context in which they were shot, dynamic stories can be told or imagined in book form. The photographs in Wayward Cognitions were printed by Templeton in his darkroom; he then created the layout and design himself, building the book from scratch in his home studio.
