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 page laser printed magazine, 8.5” x 11”
The Overpass skatepark is a DIY skate park under I-195 in New Bedford, MA.
Available upon request
Oak Street
Images by Jeff Smudde, 2018
11 images, 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 images, 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 images, 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.