Special edition of 37.2431° N, 115.7930° W by Adam Ianniello and Taylor Galloway / Smog Press

Smog Press is a Los Angeles-based independent art book publisher founded in 2021 by Adam Ianniello and Taylor Galloway. I have followed Taylor’s photography work for a while now and was happy to discover that he and Adam had formed their own photobook outfit. I have since followed along as Smog Press has published small editions of thoughtfully designed photobooks that each have their own personality and at the same time all share a common sense of subtlety and meaning. I was happy to learn more about Smog Press and get to glimpse into their process.

37.2431° N, 115.7930° W by Adam Ianniello and Taylor Galloway / Smog Press

What was the first book you published, and what did you learn from that experience?

37.2431° N, 115.7930° W was the first book we published, a joint book, made in and around the area of Rachel, NV – the backyard to the military installation Area 51. It was on this trip we realized we wanted to start an imprint. From working together on our own project we were able to iron out the kinks of what our workflow would look like – where we would print and our approach to working in the medium of the photo book. Finding a local printer in Los Angeles was the missing link for us. This discovery allowed us to be more intimate with our projects and create a relationship with a print shop, which enabled us to test new papers and ideas on whim while in the production and design phase of each project.

What is your mission as a publisher?

Our mission has always been to work with our friends and get their work into the world at an affordable price for the consumer, at no cost to the artist. We aim to help each photographer we work with during each step of the process – from the edit and sequence to the design of the book and materials chosen.

How big is your organization?

Smog Press is just two people – Adam Ianniello and Taylor Galloway.

Cover of Memorare by Brian McSwain / Smog Press

What difficulties do you face as a publisher?

We’re still so new to this world, so a lot of what we do has been learning on the fly. Each project we have taken on has been a learning experience and none of these projects have followed the same path – there is no formula. Post COVID has been tough to adapt to. Materials lost or on infinite backorder and costs going up have all created roadblocks in the production process for us. We always keep in mind the reason that led us to create the imprint and want to stay true to that sentiment – there are always to work around these issues and for us at times this need to adapt has led to materials and ideas we wouldn’t have encountered.

Memorare by Brian McSwain / Smog Press

Are there any publishing projects that have been particularly meaningful to you?

Every book we have made has been meaningful to us. Helping these artists, our friends, see their projects through from conception to the page is the biggest reason we wanted to create Smog Press. We have had the privilege to learn from each person we have worked with. Healing has become an overarching theme to Smog Press and the process of making our books. Brian McSwain’s Memorare transformed from b-sides of a larger body of work to an homage to his mother and her enduring faith, revealing a thread within the landscape that helped Brian deal with the loss of his late mother. Linda Moses’s To Know You (Now and Then) was redefined for the book form, initially realized as an exhibition. The work from this series over the course of us working to make Linda’s book furthered her collaboration with her parents and really allowed all of us to spend time with the work and let it evolve in a way we didn’t see during the initial sequencing. Time can be a great tool.

Special Edition of To Know You (Now and Then) by Linda Moses / Smog Press

To Know You (Now and Then) by Linda Moses / Smog Press

What upcoming projects are you excited about?

We’ve just released two new titles: ‘so many beautiful reasons’, by Kyle Myles and ‘Family Tree Removal’, by Jordan Baumgarten that we are very psyched to put into the world. Both of these books feature long form text, something new for us – a short story from Joseph Grantham in ‘so many beautiful reasons’ and an essay written by Jordan in ‘Family Tree Removal’. Each of these books is about a tending to the land at its core, yet one deals with growth and the other the process of dealing with loss. We continue to be inspired by and grateful to these artists for trusting us with their work.

Family Tree Removal by Jordan Baumgarten / Smog Press

How many books do you publish a year, and how do you choose which projects to publish? Do you have a specific focus?

There’s no schedule or planned releases, we tend to work project to project. When the work is ready, it’s ready. This past year we released three titles and the year before two titles. We let our intuition guide us. The beauty is that we’re doing this for fun and are never in a rush. Doing small, intimate runs of books has allowed us this freedom. Our focus with Smog is maintaining truth and integrity to the artists we work with.

Family Tree Removal by Jordan Baumgarten / Smog Press

How can an artist get their work in front of you? Do you have any advice for photographers?

Currently we are only working with artists we contact directly. This is because we are such a small operation. That’s not to say we don’t look at submissions that come our way via e-mail and Instagram. We take the time to review each body of work sent over to us. Advice we can give to photographers is to ask yourself does this work need to be a book? Can this work live on the wall? Are you being true to yourself in the conversation with the medium? We always want artists to be making the work for themselves first.

What is the typical timeline of a project, from the beginning to the finished product?

It varies project to project and so many variables come into play. Some projects have taken only a couple months to make it to press, others have taken over a year.

so many beautiful reasons by Kyle Myles / Smog Press

How collaborative is the design process with the artist?

The artist is involved in every step of the design process: from the sequence to the paper choices to the cover design. This can be from either side of the relationship. With Kyle Myles’s ‘so many beautiful reasons’ Kyle came to us with a design in mind based off of a photo album he handmade for his mother for her 60th birthday. The cover of ‘Family Tree Removal’ came from a conversation with Jordan Baumgarten about the DIY lettering on the types of vehicles that are used to carry out these tasks in his neighborhood of Kensington in Philadelphia. We love to keep the conversation open around the design. Sometimes these design choices happen very quickly, other times we go through multiple rounds of proofing.

How is the financial side of the project structured between publisher and artist? Does the artist contribute to production cost?

Smog Press does not require anything from the artist to cover production costs. Each project funds the next.

What support do you give artists in terms of marketing or distribution? Do you attend book fairs?

We’ve been lucky to work with a lovely network of bookshops and galleries around the country that stock our books. As far as marketing and distribution we handle all of that for the artists we work with. We’ve been lucky enough to attend and table at Printed Matter’s LA Art Book Fair, the SF Art Book Fair, Print Pomona Art Book Fair.

so many beautiful reasons by Kyle Myles / Smog Press

Smog Press is a Los Angeles-based independent art book publisher founded in 2021 by Adam Ianniello and Taylor Galloway. Smog Press specializes in small edition photography and design books.

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Contributing Editor:

Tracy L Chandler is a photographer based in Los Angeles, CA.

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