Matthew Carson, ICP Associate Librarian & Archivist, organized the panel Animating Archives in Photobooks, moderated by ICP faculty member Bernard Yenelouis, for the Contemporary Artists' Book Conference at the NY Art Book Fair.

Archives and photography have always had a dynamic relationship and the using of an archive as a narrative structure has been an increasing phenomenon in photobooks in recent years. Archives are often moribund if not banal, but once they are launched into motion by the actions of artists they come alive with almost endless possibilities and permutations. The photo-based artists’ use of the archive is often fragmentary, allusive and at times even poetic. In this session we explore the restructuring of the archive in the work of the artist Susanne Kriemann and the London based group the Archive of Modern Conflict. Presenters include Susanne Kriemann (Berlin) and Kalev Erickson (London).

Matthew Carson is a Librarian and Archivist at the International Center of Photography. In 2013 he was a co-curator of the book component of the ICP Triennial: A Different Kind of Order. In 2015 he was one of the organizers of Shashin, a Japanese photography symposium and festival held in New York. He is a photography enthusiast, writer, and bibliomaniac. He is also a co-founder and Director of the 10×10 photobook organization.