London page-turner

The London Art Book Fair
Whitechapel Gallery, East London, UK
25-27 September 2009

Bibliophiles: Is your bookshelf full of beautiful bound art books or aching for some finely printed delights in type and image?

To cradle a crafted and lovingly tailored book in your hands is to hold more than sum of its paper and ink parts. It is rather to experience a journey of the senses; a story being told by the smell of the pages and feel of the paper on your fingertips as you turn each page to reveal a new visual experience.

Multiply this experience by new releases of more than 80 of the world’s most influential publishers and 26 book-focused workshops and talks to find The London Art Book Fair, Whitechapel Gallery, East London, 25-27 September.

This was an experience like a first kiss: the rush of endorphins, the excitement of discovery, the satisfaction of holding something beautiful in your hands. Visiting room after room full of lush books laid out with care by row after row of publishers like Phaidon Press, Thames & Hudson and Tate Publishing Ltd, all just waiting to be explored for the first time.

Typographic and photographic delights waited at every turn with the opportunity to rub shoulders with the artists and writers. The smell of ink on paper and the discovery of it all was something else; and something I can’t wait for next year to do again.

Miles Langley
http://twitter.com/milesnz