In March, I had two photo books published by Café Royal Books: The Velvet Underground, New York 1965–66 and Play Space, North Kensington 1967–1969.
Craig and his family who run the publishing house print weekly books of photographers’ work. They are all 36 pages, A4 folded and stapled, nicely printed on acid-free paper, and cost only £7 each. Many of them are street documentaries of towns and cities, and others feature various communities and pockets of culture especially in Britain and Ireland with some in New York and beyond.
Since they began in 2005, they’ve published more than 700 books which have been collected by MoMA NY, Tate, Cambridge University, and more. Café Royal prints 300 copies, gives 50 to the photographer, no money changes hands. I love the whole thing. Together, the books all make an incredible social history of Britain. I’ve bought about 45 different ones because they are fantastic.
Imagine doing 700 books, on acid free paper, using his local printer, sold cheap, over one a week for 12 years, mostly from photographers’ unpublished work, otherwise dusty and forgotten — it is a monumental achievement. I’m fortunate to have two of my works among that number, on sale now.
