Vaune Trachtman: NOW IS ALWAYS | Tusen Takk Press
Vaune Trachtman's award-winning series of photogravures is brought together in this exquisite book, which melds archival negatives, handwriting, and contemporary photography in an intimate, beautifully sequenced collection.
The images in NOW IS ALWAYS were originally printed as photopolymer gravures and are reproduced here for the first time in book form. The book contains 45 images, with a breathtaking gatefold presentation of the triptych Strand.
The book includes a foreword by Major Jackson, one of the leading voices in contemporary literature, and an essay by the artist about her background, influences, and process.
Printed at Trifolio in Verona, Italy. Published by Tusen Takk Press.
NOW IS ALWAYS received Trifolio's 2025 Special Prize, alongside award-winning titles from the Museum of Modern Art, the Aperture Foundation, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- First Edition. All copies signed by the artist
- Hardcover, 10 × 8 inches (244 mm × 192 mm)
- 100 pages (24 in text block, 76 in image block)
- Paper: Arena Natural Rough, 200
- Swiss binding with square spine, cloth-over-board
- Foil stamping on the front, spine and back and with a vertical printed belly band on the back cover
"Vaune Trachtman's NOW IS ALWAYS reveals once again the wisdom that the past is not even past, as William Faulkner famously uttered, but an ever-present force in which images merge but do not obliterate each other."
– From the Foreword by Major Jackson
A Collector's Edition of NOW IS ALWAYS is also available.
Od Review
"The affect is almost hallucinatory, which may have something to do with the book's very fine gravure reproductions, the way they lift and recede simultaneously from the heavy paper. But also, like all myths, even the simplest elements do things they shouldn't be able to do. Light seems capable, somehow, not just of shining but of flowing, crashing, floating, winding, breaking. And darkness assumes the role light has deserted. It glows."
Read the full review by Collier Brown.
Lenscratch
"Her plate reproductions showcase her commitment to the non-toxic direct-to-plate photopolymer gravure process illuminating how technique and materiality become a means of holding the past."
Read the full review by Aline Smithson.
What Will You Remember
"Trachtman's book is an extraordinary object."
Read the full review by Suzanne Révy.
Book of the Week at Vermont Center for Photography
Vaune Trachtman is an artist specializing in photography and printmaking, whose work honors historic processes without relying on toxic chemicals. Formerly a master printer of silver-gelatin prints and asphaltum-based photogravures, she began rethinking her materials after feeling that traditional methods were compromising her immune system. She now creates photo-polymer gravures with little more than light and water.
Her work has been exhibited throughout the country, and she has been recognized by the Critical Mass Top 50, The Print Center's ANNUAL International Competition, the Denis Roussel Awards, Rfotofolio, and Fresh, and she was shortlisted for the international Hariban Award. She lives and works in Vermont, in a former textile mill overlooking the Connecticut River.
Learn more about Vaune, view more of her work, and inquire about purchasing prints.
Major Jackson is the author of six volumes of poetry, including Razzle Dazzle: New & Selected Poems and The Absurd Man, as well as a collection of essays, A Beat Beyond: Selected Prose of Major Jackson. A native of Philadelphia, he is the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Chair in the Humanities at Vanderbilt University and one of the most influential poets and literary voices writing today. Learn more about Major's work.
Tusen Takk Press is an independent publisher devoted to producing carefully made books by visual artists, with a focus on photography and artist-led projects. Founded by photographer Geoffrey Peckham, the press is dedicated to connecting artists with audiences worldwide and to publishing work that makes the intangible tangible. Learn more about Tusen Takk Press.
David Skolkin is one of the foremost art-book designers working today. He is a co-founder of Radius Books and has designed books for institutions including the Aperture Foundation, Magnum Photos, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He is based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. See more of David's work.
Trifolio, SRL is widely acknowledged to be one of the finest art-book printers in the world. Based in Verona, Italy, and led by Massimo Tonolli, Trifolio is known for its exceptional reproduction capabilities and ability to produce complex, carefully crafted books in close collaboration with museums, publishers, and artists. See more of Trifolio's books.
Storymatic Studios is devoted to storytelling and creative expression, and is proud to be handling fulfillment and secure checkout for NOW IS ALWAYS.
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