Photo by Howard Chu


On the far side of the room are shelves piled high with artists’ books. Some are in padded courier cases ready to go out to potential clients, and while we talk, two couriers arrive to carry them off. White-gloved employees, poised like surgeons over prints, are assembling more portfolios. This stash of thick tomes is A&C’s backbone. “The artists are the agency,” Joe emphasizes. Each of his artists “specifically caters to a niche, so they can’t compete with one another,” he says.

And how does someone go about getting on A&C’s roster? Joe says you have to “know what your vision is. Have a specific viewpoint on the world; don’t be a generalist. Whether I agree or disagree with the way [an artist] sees the world, I’ll believe it enough to make it work in the market … If [the contents of a photographer’s book] all speak the same language, I’ll sell it.”