Photo essay and synopsis by Brian O’Neill ·
Printed Matter Inc. was established in New York in the 1980s in response to the growing interest surrounding artist books, zines, and artist driven publications. Their art book fairs have now become must-do destinations for art publishers, collectors, and enthusiasts. The inaugural fair in New York was in 2006, and 2013 saw the fair come to Los Angeles. In recent years, a fair has been held in each location at different times of year, as the interest in artist books and photobooks has continued to grow.
This year, Printed Matter LA was held from May 7-10 at the Art Center College of Design along Raymond Avenue in Pasadena. Simultaneously, the International Center for Photography held their Photobook Fest from May 8-10. Unlike the photography centric Photobook Fest, Printed Matter maintains a broader mission around the dissemination and appreciation of art books. While many of the rooms at the Art Center College of Design featured books of images and photographs, there were also publishers offering books entirely of text, unique editions of books in which sections of painting and other materials had been assembled, Risograph printed graphic design centered books, and many more. While the hosting of major, simultaneous photo-related events did not please some of the attendees and exhibitors at the fairs this year, and it stretched some small and independent publishers thin even if they could afford to send representatives to each, the appetite for art and photobooks is real and was on display during the first weeks of May.
The 2026 rendition of the LA Printed Matter fair featured more than 250 exhibitors across 24 countries. While it is difficult to know for sure the number of people visiting the fair, the organizers at the event in Pasadena were estimating that 3-4,000 people attended per day. The event was so lively that as each day came to a close (hours were 11AM to 7PM, except for opening night which lasted from 6-9PM) the organizing team had to insist (chase would be too strong a word) on closing the doors to non-exhibitors.
Indeed, there was a lot to appreciate at this year’s event. Attending each day of the event, a few notable exhibits and exhibitors stood out, especially from the perspective of photographers and photobooks.
Before opening night on May 7, 2026 outside the Art Center College of Design
May 8, 2026 – Tung-Lin Tsai was representing Unpress, tabling in Room K, tucked into a second-floor gallery at the back of the Art Center amidst many zine publishers. Founded in 2022, Unpress is a publishing project started by Howsem Huang, Sinistra Pan and Tung-Lin Tsai. They have quickly made an impact in major art book fairs around the world. With a penchant for risograph and non-standard printing processes (Tung himself began his career as a photo technician and is an avid film photographer), the press has a range of fascinating book projects. Tung was featuring two projects in particular at the fair, one by James Wicks called Plants as Roadblock as Graffiti, which is a Risograph printed book that unpacks urban plants in Taiwan and their relationship to planning and mobility. The other, which Tung is holding in this photograph, is his own book, How to Fold a Paper Airplane. An unassuming, yet unique object for its use of risograph printing, precise binding and folding, the project is a meditation on larger geopolitical themes that face the Asian Pacific region. “Unpress” is a non-standard English term that refers to the act of releasing or canceling the pressing, squeezing, or compressing of something, returning it to its original state, and with each new book, Unpress seems to find interesting ways to address tensions at the intersections of bookmaking, photography, and social life.
May 9, 2026 – Photographer and musician Bandon Ichiro Tani of Two Pants Editions, with his latest project, A Dead Tree in Our Yard, A Vibrant One on the Highway, designed by Leafy Yun Ye.
May 7, 2026 – While the Art Center is known for its Hillside Campus and the architecture there designed by Craig Ellwood, the Printed Matter LA Book Fair took place at the South Campus on Raymond Avenue in Pasadena. This facility was an air craft testing facility during the Second World War, then renovated by Santa Monica based architecture firm Daily Genik. Set amidst an urban landscape that includes the nearby Glenarm powerplant and Los Angeles metro system, the facility it is a long, but voluminous space, offering a maze-like experience to the fair-goers.
May 9, 2026 – Photographer Sangram Biswas was signing copies of his Urbana Americana, published in 2026 with Champaign, Illinois based publisher Immaterial Books – here with Immaterial Books Assistant Curator Brian O’Neill.
May 9, 2026 – The second floor of the facility offered several interesting elaborate galleries that provided a contrast to the vibrant agora-like quality of the other sections of the fair. Three Star Books and Paint it Black shared space in Room 241 where viewers were invited to peruse unique books.
May 9, 2026 – Inside the On Set show, Three Star Books presented John Armeleder’s LEFT, which catalogues fragments of paint, and assembled materials in book form.
May 9, 2026 – Inside the On Set Show, Three Star Books presented Cyprien Gaillard’s Night Life. As curator Christophe Boutin explained with a smile, “it was a hard book to make, because we had to get the printer to agree to break their machine.” The project was initially conceived as Gaillard was photographing in Sri Lanka in 2012 and tore a poster from a wall that particularly impressed him. The texture evoked something of the materiality he wanted for a book of his night photos – a lightweight, almost brittle paper – but also the sensuous quality of the city of Kandy, with all its humidity. The journey of bringing this book into existence is interesting in its own right and can be found here.
May 9, 2026 – Adam Marnie, Founder, editor, curator, and publisher of F Magazine, here in the main room of the Art Center. F Magazine is based in Houston, Texas and focuses on limited edition art books and magazines, often at very accessible prices. Some of the recent books include a meditation on ecology and biodiversity by Haley Mellin, as well as the latest magazine In Memoriam, which focuses on deploying the form of the obituary across a diversity of artists to reconsider it as an aesthetic space.
May 9, 2026 – Long time photographer and book maker Mike Mandel was tabling in Room B with many of the other photobook publishers, offering some new works and classics, like Evidence, as well as original copies of Myself.
May 10, 2026 – Chen Chu tabling for Chinese publisher Jiazazhi. Jiazazhi has been around for years, often producing works with a documentary photographic emphasis. They recently published Alec Soth’s I Know How Furiously Your Heart is Beating, and they were featuring works including a fascinating take on family photography 214: Touch, as well as Anaïs Martane’s book of Chinese musicians and artists in between their performances and daily lives – They Said Who Will Listen to Your Songs.
May 10, 2026 – Interior Spread of 214: Touch.
May 10, 2026 – Many of the usual suspects were in attendance, including Mack and Self Publish Be Happy Editions.
May 10, 2026 – The Aperture table was busy.
May 10, 2026 – Composit Press was exhibiting their new books, including Jordan Putt’s Field Book about Tucson Arizona. Composit is a collaboration between artists and students at the Oregon State University Art Department. Students work with artists to draft designs, often going through multiple iterations and competing amongst themselves to create the ultimate design best suited to the artist and work.
May 10, 2026 – The Long, voluminous, and packed space of the Art Center.
May 10 2026 – On the second floor of the main room there was a Chicano Print exhibit featuring the history of zine and artist books of Mexican American artists and photographers. The room featured a documentary with some of the prominent figures in the movement, but also a number of original posters and books, many featuring unique hand bindings, and drawings. As the name of the exhibit suggests, the ties to the Chicano movement, with its emphasis on empowering workers, combatting racism and ethnic discrimination as well as promoting solidarity in the face of various forms of violence, illustrated the long-standing commitment of print to social thought and transformation.
May 10 2026 – Inside the Chicano Print room.
May 10 2026 – Inside the Chicano Print room.
May 10 2026 – Inside the Chicano Print room.
May 10 2026 – Inside the Chicano Print room.
May 10, 2026 – in between the main building and the rooms housing smaller photobook publishers and zine printers, there was a dance party.
May 10, 2026 – Inside one of the Zine/Small Press rooms.
Past reports on the fair can be found here and here.
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