We unpacked the mystery boxes on July 26th 2025.….This was a free open to the public event held at the new Fitz Books location so folks could come and go through the night. We also raised some funds that night for The Trevor Project‘s 5-for-1 match.
Wait, what’s going on?
We’re unpacking these photobooks one box at a time tonight.
You are welcome to pull things out, browse, discover, share and tell.
How careful do I have to be with these?
Just normal-careful: keep it nice enough for the next person. We’re not a research institution and anyway it’s better for something to get worn out from use than preserved by lack of use.
Where did these books come from?
These books are a gift from Christopher and Justine Valentine, two photographers originally from Rochester now based in Oregon. They were in Buffalo last winter to clear out storage and asked me if I was interested in keeping some of their book collection. I told them about our plans for Gatheringspace and we agreed these books would become part of an ad-hoc library available to Buffalo’s artistic community.
We don’t know exactly what’s in these boxes, we’ve left them sealed until tonight.
Are these books for sale?
No.
What’s next for these books?
All books here tonight will be kept at the gatheringspace studio. Anyone interested in the historic or contemporary form of the photobook can schedule a time to visit, browse, even photograph or scan portions. We plan to catalog everything here and publish the list for reference.
WE HOPE THIS INSPIRES…We also have experience in book binding, design, and photography and would be glad to work with you if you have a publication idea you’re working on.
Read Joel’s mini-essay, ON PHOTOBOOKS, here.
(Our Photobook Library List is coming soon…sometime…. soon.)
