Sad Bird Books
Sad Bird is where I put together my own bound works. Most are short-run or unique editions, serving as maquettes, zines, and curated pieces. Presently I am not accepting submissions for making bound works, but keep an eye on my social media for when things open up again.
Perennial (MFA Maquette Edition)
Images by Jeff Smudde, 2021 to 2023
Text by Walker Downey, 2023
61 plates, 108 pages, 11” x 11”
Printed by Edition One, Richmond, CA
Edition of 5
The Overpass
Images by Jeff Smudde, 2022
40 plates, 40 pages, 8.5” x 11”
The Overpass skatepark is a DIY canvas of obstacles, hand-poured concrete and rails, paintings and graffiti. This skatepark brings both seasoned skaters and kids just getting into the sport. This skatepark, despite not being an official park in the city, has remained here over a decade, changing as it would, self-policed and respected by neighbors and skaters alike. This series was made as a way to reconnect with my skateboarding past in high school and early college.
Oak Street
Images by Jeff Smudde, 2018
11 plates, 24 pages, 6” x 9”
A single roll of medium format film shot on Oak Street in Normal, IL. A nighttime exploration of a central Illinois neighborhood that represents the quietness of a college town, the light and form present when everyone has turned-in for the day.
I CAN HEAR THE ROAD CALL
Various photographers, curated and designed by Jeff Smudde, text by Jeff Smudde, published August 21, 2020
46 plates, 52 pages, 8.5” x 11”
The second submission-based zine by Sad Bird focuses on the theme of the road trip, how despite being typically treated as an American past-time, is not bound by political borders. The idea of the road trip has attracted photographers for generations, especially since the success of Robert Frank’s famous “The Americans,” and further pioneered in color photography by the likes of Stephen Shore, William Eggleston, Joel Sternfeld, Joel Myerowitz, and many others.
Nothing is Interesting and Everything is Normal
Various photographers, curated and designed by Jeff Smudde, text by Jeff Smudde. Published November 12, 2019
118 plates, 124 pages, 8.5” x 11”
The first submission-based zine by Sad Bird, Nothing is Interesting and Everything is Normal is about the ordinary in many definitions. Photographers who submitted defined ordinary for themselves, and used photographs that exemplify their definition of ordinary. After all, once you put a frame around something ordinary, it suddenly becomes extra-ordinary.