As its title suggests, Negative/Positive begins with the negative, a foundational element of analog photography that is nonetheless usually ignored, and uses this to tell a representative, rather than comprehensive, history of the medium. The fact that a photograph is split between negative and positive manifestations means that its identity is always simultaneously divided and multiplied. The interaction of these two components was often spread out over time and space and could involve more than one person, giving photography the capacity to produce multiple copies of a given image and for that image to have many different looks, sizes and makers. This book traces these complications for canonical images by such figures as William Henry Fox Talbot, Kusakabe Kimbei, Dorothea Lange, Man Ray, Seydou Keïta, Richard Avedon, and Andreas Gursky. But it also considers a number of related issues crucial to any understanding of photography, from the business practices of professional photographers to the repetition of pose and setting that is so central to certain familiar photographic genres. Ranging from the daguerreotype to the digital image, the end result is a kind of little history of photography, partial and episodic, but no less significant a rendition of the photographic experience for being so. This book represents a summation of Batchen’s work to date, making it be essential reading for students and scholars of photography and for all those interested in the history of the medium

Negative of a Group Photograph brings together three decades of poems by the leading Iranian poet Azita Ghahreman. Born in Mashhad in 1962 and based in Sweden since 2006, Ghahreman is the author of five highly acclaimed collections. Her poems are lyrical and intimate, addressing themes of loss, exile and female desire, as well as the changing face of her country. Negative of a Group Photograph runs the gamut of Ghahreman's experience: from her childhood in the Khorasan region of south-eastern Iran to her exile to Sweden, from Iran's book-burning years and the war in Iraq to her unexpected encounters with love. The poems in this illuminating collection are brought to life in English by the poet Maura Dooley, working in collaboration with Elhum Shakerifar. Farsi-English dual language edition co-published with the Poetry Translation Centre.

Screen printing is simple enough for a child or beginner, but it is also a favorite printing process of experienced artists and craftspeople. It allows for a wide range of creative possibilities. It is less inhibiting than other printing processes. And, contrary to most other methods of printing, it does not require the user to make the mental translations of a reversed image. The extreme versatility of the medium has opened completely new possibilities for design and expression in both serigraphy (art prints) and textile designs. The Schwalbachs' book clearly explains how to employ silk-screen printing in both of these areas: producing a serigraph and making a fabric print. It also sets down all of the steps involved in constructing a printing board and frame, keying the screen, preparing inks or dyes, and printing the color runs — plus a list of various problems that might turn up and their solutions. Other facets discussed include the best ways of cleaning up, handling the completed print, and working with different resists — paper, blockout, washout, photo-emulsion. There is even a special print project for the beginner, using a cardboard frame and school tempera paint. Nearly 200 diagrams and photographs, including 19 in full color, make a clear text even clearer and offer examples of completed prints. The Schwalbachs taught silk-screen printing for many years at the University of Wisconsin. They know how to communicate the essence of this craft in the best manner possible. With their book as a guide, anyone can quickly master the techniques of silk-screening printing.