A rare glimpse into the Californian photographer’s little-known handmade and limited-edition photobooks

Although known primarily as a Western landscape photographer, Mark Ruwedel (born 1954) has acknowledged that he fits somewhere in between a host of sometimes competing, sometimes complementary inspirations. Ruwedel has cited a highly varied range of artistic influences: 19th-century photographers such as Carleton Watkins; 1970s New Topographics photographers such as Lewis Baltz and Robert Adams; Earthworks artists such as Robert Smithson and Michael Heizer; and even the Surrealists Man Ray and Andre Breton. Ruwedel’s one-of-a-kind handmade and limited-edition artist’s books–most from the Stanford Libraries’ Special Collections–are thought-provoking and often humorous visual essays on his inspirations and influences. Shown together for the very first time in this exhibition catalog, these artist’s books, albums and portfolios provide multiple opportunities to investigate diverse aspects of 19th, 20th and 21st-century art and photographic practices.