About HAYWIRE PRESS

Haywire Press sells Lee Friedlander books, special editions and portfolios from the artist’s personal stock. It is a partnership between Friedlander and his grandson, Giancarlo T. Roma, who manages the business.

In 1970, Friedlander established Haywire Press as a self-publishing company to publish his first monograph, Self Portrait, and later Lee Friedlander: Photographs (1978), and Flowers and Trees (1981). Friedlander, who grew up on a farm in Washington state, named Haywire Press after the material used on farms to mend fences, bale hay, and fix just about anything. He saw the company as a sort of cottage industry, with him producing the books and his wife, Maria, selling copies door-to-door to bookstores in New York City.

Reestablished in its current iteration in 2015, Haywire Press carries on the family tradition.

ABOUT THE SPECIAL EDITIONS

The special editions listed on Haywire Press constitute a unique element of Friedlander’s oeuvre. Created contemporaneously with its corresponding trade edition, each special edition contains a copy of the trade title in an exquisite, original binding, as well as a selection of prints--vintage prints, in the majority of cases--from the book, housed in a custom case.

These special editions are tributes not only to the titles they accompany, but also to the craft of bookbinding. A true passion project for Friedlander, he would often purchase the materials for the binding himself in the Garment District of New York City, and throughout his travels. To design and construct these intricate volumes, Friedlander enlisted master bookbinder George Wieck, who ultimately bound nearly all of the editions. Friedlander gave Wieck minimal aesthetic guidance during the process, affording him considerable creative control in designing them. Their collaboration, and in large part the production of the editions, ended only with Wieck’s passing.

While Friedlander is known for his prolific output of books, these special editions, limited in size, represent a rare piece of his body of work, and indeed one that is close to the artist’s heart. Now, for the first time, they are being offered widely for sale.