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| © Sofía López Mañán |
Gomma Magazine has announced the eight winners of their Call for Entries for MONO, Volume 1:
Daisuke Yokota
Maki
Tricia Lawless Murray
Francesco Merlini
Jan von Holleben
Jukka-pekka Jalovaara
Sofía López Mañán
Stephane C.
We're using Gomma's announcement as an opportunity to sit down with Luca Desienna, Chief Editor of Gomma, to talk with him about MONO, as well as to showcase some of the images that will be presented in the book.
Gomma was formed in 2004 by four artists aspiring to create a new publishing space for both photographers and visual artists that was free from the limitations that come with requiring profitability. Gomma Magazine launched shortly afterwards in 2005 as a high quality photography magazine showcasing renowned artists such as Antoine D'Agata and Daido Moriyama along with promising talents. The printed magazine ceased publication, but an iPad app is due to be released soon and the website has expanded to become an important hub and resource for photographers. A major site redevelopment with new interactive and networking possibilities for members is in process.
In 2011 Gomma Books Ltd. was incorporated by the Gomma team with the aim of publishing a limited number of high quality photography titles per year. MONO is one of the titles planned for the Gomma Books Ltd. 2012 catalog. MONO will be a 250-page hardback book showcasing whom they consider "the most talented contemporary black and white photographers" and a celebration of "that beautiful and timeless art medium that is black & white photography." It will be published in three volumes - Volume One will be published in November.
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| © Kim Thue, from "Dead Traffic" |
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| © Trent Parke |
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| © Marco Vernaschi, untitled, from the series "Placebo", 2011 |
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| © Roger Ballen, Mimicry, 2005, courtesy Roger Ballen |
fototazo: Where did the idea to make MONO come from?
Luca Desienna: As with almost anything that comes out of Gomma's brains, we decided to create MONO because we needed it!
We've been looking to buy something like it from a bookshop for quiet some time, but haven't found anything quite like it. So we decided to build it ourselves. I think it has to do with the gaps and the needs that we encounter along the way. If we needed it, then we believed somebody else out there would need it also.
f: What was the process of making the selections from submissions?
LD: The selection process has consisted of two different ways. On one side we've been selecting photographers that we know and admire and consider for their high quality work; on the other side we've been selecting photographers through a Call for Entries. We decided to open this photo contest because we were hungry of new faces and talents. We wanted to find some uncooked names.