Advertisement
Craig Atkinson: I used to paint big abstracts, and I suppose the "light-bulb moment" was deciding to stop painting. I returned to drawing and wanted a way of exhibiting the drawings that didn't rely on the gallery system. Books and zines, at the time, were my way to disseminate my work affordably and quickly. I didn't want to self publish under my own name, so Café Royal was started.You put out an edition every Thursday. Why one book a week?
Because I don't have time to do more!
The team is excellent, we work really well together. Very tight routine and excellent admin department. In reality, though, it's just me, in a small room. It is pressure but not really stress, not often anyway, because it's so enjoyable. I teach full-time and have two young children, so altogether it gets tight—there are no breaks!
Advertisement
It's only recently that I've considered how it's grown. I never had the intention of it becoming a "business," or something I could potentially do full-time. I see it as a way for me to promote great work by getting it seen and in collections and to make the books I'd like to collect. There's nothing hard, really, except for timing, but that becomes a system that, if kept to, doesn't cause many problems. It's great fun—if it weren't, I'd stop.
As my work has moved further into photography so has what I publish. The books initially were just an outlet where as now the books and my work meet in the middle, they kind of inform each other. So in terms of curatorial practice in relation to my own work, the two are tied.The majority of what I publish now examines social change in the UK in some way—aspects of which my work does too. Roughly one fifth of what I publish is my own work. My interests are brutalist architecture and estates, public places, and street photography specific to a location.
The titles that have sold the fastest are by John Claridge, Jim Mortram, and Brian David Stevens… So perhaps they are the ones. Once they're out of print they stay out of print. A second edition is sometimes (but rarely) produced, and really only at the request of the photographer. We have to agree there's a reason for it rather than just to sell more. For example, if something sells out in a day it limits the audience. It creates a buzz but long term it doesn't reach it's potential I don't think, so on occasion I might make another edition. No more after that though.
Advertisement
When I started to use a camera more, it was very much as a tourist. Then I found out that a place in Beijing that I'd shot for a book had been demolished. It was a place of cultural significance, gone, to make way for the Olympics. So the book became a record of something that no longer existed, and that really simple thing affected the way I saw photography and the way I wanted to engage with it. The term "change" is very broad. History shows change. Without showing a history what we have is just surface. I think it's good to remind people, to suggest, to pause, reflect, etc.Which Café Royal editions would you recommend?
I only publish work that I love, so to single out a few books is too difficult. Impossible. It's all of them. Steve McCoy's Housing Estates book stands out to me, but that's because, coincidentally, the housing estate is the one I grew up on. John Darwell's topographical work and John Stoddart's Liverpool work… I could give reasons for every book.
Recently I started Notes [at notes.caferoyalbooks.com]. The aim is to create a resource or reference of UK social documentary photography, and it will also provide contextual information for the books. Next year I'm working with John Stoddart, Ken Grant, Martin Parr, Daniel Meadows, John Darwell, Patrick Ward, Steve Clarke, Steve McCoy.The future? Time will tell. I'll stop when I no longer enjoy it, but right now I enjoy it more than ever. I still see the books as very small things, but slowly, somehow, I think they're making a difference.Follow Café Royal on Twitter and buy some of their books through their website.Follow Amelia Abraham on Twitter.