Giving photographers Carte Blanche
With the help of some of the biggest names in Canadian photography, MaryAnn Camilleri is launching what she calls a 'suicidal endeavour' — the country's first arts publishing house

Samantha Grice — National Post
June 21, 2005

MaryAnn Camilleri was only supposed to be in her hometown for the summer. The Torontonian had been living in New York City for the past 10 years and had come home to spend time with her ailing mother and to look into compiling a book showcasing the talents of Canada's finest photographers.

But within two months, she had called the person who was subletting her Manhattan apartment and asked if they'd like to keep it. And she embarked on a mammoth project -- a not-for-profit arts publishing house, the first of its kind in Canada.

"I had planned only to do the book, but as I was going through the community seeking submissions, people were saying to me, 'Have you noticed there is no arts publishing house?' and I thought, 'Wow, there really is none,' " Camilleri recalls.

In New York, Camilleri had worked with such major players in art-book publishing as Phaidon, powerhouse and Abrams, and she set out to create the same here.

"I realized there was an abundance of Canadian talent and no significant person really doing anything to help propel it," she says. "I decided to give Canada an arts publishing house."

The Magenta Foundation's debut publication is that original photographic compendium Camilleri first set her sights on one year ago. Carte Blanche, which is slated for release next April, will be a large format, glossy book showcasing Canadian photographers in six categories: documentary, emerging, editorial, photojournalism, commercial and fine art. Carte Blanche will also serve as a database of Canadian photographers.

Camilleri's call for submissions was answered by more than 1,000 photographers. And since the submission closing date at the end of January, 17 jurors, culled from arts professions across Canada, have sifted through the work. Last week, the final and much anticipated list of 226 photographers was announced. Included are such respected names as Christopher Wahl, Yuri Dojc and Douglas Coupland, who is also writing the book's foreword.

Maia-Mari Sutnick, the curator of photography at the AGO, along with Ann Thomas of the National Gallery of Canada whittled submissions in the fine art category down to 80.

And while Sutnick says there are a number of Canadian photographers who have been successful at getting their work published, considering the amount of quality work being produced, she says there should be more. "For all the excitement and diversity of visual expression, the publishing isn't where it should be."

Photographer Vid Ingelevics is one of the artists whose work will appear in Carte Blanche's fine art category. "Certainly people in the arts in Toronto are interested and amazed that this happening because there has been such a meagre history of publishing Canadian art," Ingelevics says.

"I think for many people in photographic arts, and in visual arts in general, an exhibition is a really limited way to have your work distributed. It's useful in terms of people seeing the actual prints, but in terms of distributing it internationally, books are the only way. And they are superior to Web sites, where the images are degraded," he says.

And while Ingelevics is pleased to be included in Magenta's debut book, he is truly excited that this is not a one-off event, as a publishing house represents a long-term commitment. "That's really how history is created through going back again and again [through books] and seeing how things change," he explains. "We have huge gaps in Canadian photographic art publishing. I'm looking at my bookshelf right now and the last book I have was published in the mid-'80s and there has been so much good work that has come and gone since then."

It's that enthusiasm from the Canadian photographic community that fuelled Camilleri to start the project she describes as a "suicidal endeavour."

"Right at the beginning, Magenta attracted people who were willing and wanted to build a publishing house from the ground up," she says. "What publishing does for any artist's career is help validate them. And it also gives validation to the collector, the dealers, the galleries and the people who rep them. Books are an integral part of an artist's career."

And while Carte Blanche is 100% Canadian, Magenta's ultimate mandate is to produce both homegrown and international publications. All the profits from book sales will go toward promoting and publishing the work of artists aged 13 to 25.

"The overwhelming support, not only from the Toronto-based art community, but nationwide, enabled me to move Magenta forward confidentially," says Camilleri. "This community, its artists and the exciting future that lies ahead for Canada is the reason I knew this was a fight to take on."

© National Post 2005