Passing Place: A Photobook Case Study
Online Talk with Sandy Carson and Jennifer Yoffy
Thursday, January 28, 2021, 7pm EST
Free and open to the public
Registration required

Join Aurora for an online discussion about the making of Passing Place by Sandy Carson, published November 2020 by Yoffy Press. From creative choices to economic necessities, Carson and Yoffy will talk about all stages of the project’s development from initial idea to final publication. Following I’ve Always Been a Cowboy in My Heart, Passing Place is their second publishing collaboration.

To register for the talk and receive a Zoom link, please click here.

To order Passing Place, click here.

Passing Place is an intimate portrait of both Sandy Carson’s mother and the ex-mining village he grew up in the West of Scotland after emigrating to America at a young age. This photographic memoir deals with separation, space, and the invisible family bonds that exist despite physical distance incurred by geographical displacement. The name is inspired by one-lane rural roads with wide spots that are common in Scotland, allowing vehicles to pass each other and continue on their journey.

These photographs and memories, made on annual visits home since 2001, are a testimony to Carson’s upbringing and a gentle reminder that absence creates longing and nostalgia across the miles. Carson was drawn to make a record of everyday domestic rituals and routines during the rare times he and his mother spent together, to distill time with her portending passing in 2016.

By uniting his photographs with the ephemera and family photos left behind by his mum, Carson is striving to fill the void by retracing their lives, embracing the formative years they spent together, and absorbing the ones they lost.

Yoffy Press transforms bodies of photographic work into objects of art through an innovative and collaborative approach to photobook publishing.

Sandy Carson is a self-taught documentary and commercial art photographer, film maker, musician and cyclist who grew up in Scotland, now based in Austin, Texas. He studied communications before dropping out to tour the UK and Europe playing in punk bands and making fanzines. After moving to the States in the '90s to pursue cycling, he traveled the world for 20 years as a professional BMX rider, where he honed his skills a photographer. His work is an intersection of two careers that have been the recipient of numerous awards. His work is published and exhibited nationally and internationally. Sandy's long-term photography projects and documentary works are represented by INSTITUTE.

Jennifer Yoffy is a publisher, photographer, and arts advocate based in Atlanta, Georgia. She is the founder/publisher of Yoffy Press, an independent publisher dedicated to pushing the boundaries of photobook publishing.

Please email any questions you have for the panel to info@auroraphoto.org.

Sandy Carson from Passing Place