"Bev Grant: Photography 1968-1972" Book Fundraiser
One of the most stunning visual accounts of the birth of the modern cultural revolution has lain dormant in a shoebox for 50 years. It’s time to change that-- and we're asking for your help.
In the late '60s and early '70s, Bev Grant used her camera to document events in and around New York City. This moment of tremendous cultural upheaval collided with her own increasing awareness of her oppression as a woman, and of a larger system of oppression. The resulting body of work takes the viewer on a first-person journey through the eye of the countercultural storm. 
Bev Grant’s photographs offer a glimpse into many of the activist groups at the time, including The Young Lords, The Black Panther Party, W.I.T.C.H (Women’s International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell) and anti-war organizations. Bev and her camera made their way inside many of these organizations, giving us a view from the inside as a sympathetic observer and active participant. Her photos show kids being fed breakfast by the Black Panthers, The Young Lords working to get basic services (like garbage collection) in their communities, women working together preparing for a protest at the 1968 Miss America pageant, and much more. Bev captured these communities in action, and crucially, her work bears witness to the intersections between all these groups and the struggles they faced.
Then life went on, and as Bev became known and celebrated as a musician, the negatives were boxed and left dormant for half a century.
In 2017, Bev revisited this moment in her history, and began digitizing her archive-- the response was immediate and electric. Her images have proven crucial cultural documentation and have been published in the New Yorker/the Cut, The New York Times, New York Magazine, Musée, Frieze, Vice, Smithsonian, and OSMOS Magazine – as well as featured in films, on CBS, and PBS. Her first solo exhibition was at OSMOS in NYC in 2018.
This will be the first book dedicated entirely to Bev’s photographic work, which will help to instill these images as part of the cultural canon of the 1960s/70s-- a moment that is, perhaps now more than ever, a crucial time to review and reflect on.
As many of these struggles continue and are brought ever closer to the mainstream consciousness, Bev’s images make us aware of the direct connection between todays’ struggles and the struggles of generations past.
We are counting on your help to bring this book to life, and to bring these images to a new generation of cultural revolutionaries, artists, and historians-- the direct descendants of the people and movements Bev turned her camera on. As Bev’s generation ages, we believe that their story and contribution must be archived and available for future generations.
Please join us in making this book a reality and help us to expose these powerful images to a wider audience. We are providing a range of thank you gifts for your support. There's more on that at the bottom-- read on.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
This is the first book on Brooklyn-based photographer Bev Grant's extensive archive of photographs made from 1968 to 1972, when she was on the frontlines as a feminist and political activist. Grant began taking photographs as part of her participation in demonstrations with the Women’s Movement, such as No More Miss America in Atlantic City and The Jeannette Rankin Brigade in Washington, DC. As a member of the film collective New York Newsreel, she gained access to spaces and groups including the Young Lords Party, the Black Panther Party and the Poor People's Campaign.
“When I sat in on a workshop given by Students for a Democratic Society at Princeton University in 1967, I had no idea of the impact it would have on the rest of my life. The workshop topic was women’s liberation. It was an awakening, a dawn of consciousness that gave me a framework to understand my life and a path that I continue to follow.”
Edited by Cay Sophie Rabinowitz
Introduction by artist William Cordova
Text by author and historian Johanna Fernandez
Graphic Design by Quinn Sherman
ABOUT THE PUBLISHER:
Totally independent and self-supporting since 2012, OSMOS has published 30 bound volumes in circulation; all our publications are distributed by DAP/artbook.com to the most discerning targeted retailers (museums, book stores, galleries and curated outlets as well as globally to amazon, barnes & noble, et al.). We curated and produced more than 80 exhibitions and events with artists ranging from the well-known: Duane Michals and Kay Rosen to the forgotten and re-discovered: Gretchen Bender and Darrel Ellis and the newly discovered Sandy Williams IV and Brian Kokoska among others.
In the past decade OSMOS has published 10 books with artists such as Leslie Hewitt and Eileen Quinlan, Wardell Milan, Nilbar Gures, and Marcelo Krasilcic, alongside the regular publication of OSMOS Magazine. We have produced an on-going program of exhibitions and events for a wide ranging public, from art collectors and art historians to school children and activists.
WHERE YOUR MONEY GOES:
We need to raise at least $15,000 to cover the following expenses:
scanning and restoration of the negatives = $2000
design= $3000
editorial direction and assistance = $3000
printing = $10,000
shipping and distribution = $2000
TIMELINE FOR PUBLICATION:
Editorial and design completion March 30, 2021
Send files to print April 3, 2021
Advanced copies shipped April 27, 2021
Books delivered to American Labor Museum in support of Solo Exhibition, Haledon, New Jersey May 1, 2021
Books distributed to booksellers: July, 2021
ABOUT THE GIFTS:
We want to thank you so much for being a supporter of Bev Grant and this project, and we are excited to provide gifts to let you know how much we appreciate you.
When you donate, please drop us a note and let us know your shipping address so that we can send you one of the following, appropriate to your donation level. Please note that you MUST send us an email at: osmos.assistant at gmail.com containing the relevant information (detailed below) to receive your gift. All gifts are subject to availability.
$5—digital delivery: Set of 3 Bev Grant Photo Archive digital desktop wallpapersand phone wallpapers. Images are sized for digital display on your devices. Please provide your email for this delivery.
$20—A hand-written thank you card from Bev inscribed on a card featuring an archival image. Please provide your mailing address for this gift.
$50—Long sleeve white tee shirt featuring an iconic image from Bev's archive. Please specify unisex basic tee size XS-XXL and mailing address.
$60—The Book! A copy of the book. Please provide your mailing address for this gift.
$100—A copy of the book, and a long sleeve white tee featuring Bev's iconic image. Please specify unisex basic tee size XS-XXL and mailing address for this gift.
$100—One 8x10 photograph (open edition pigment print) from Bev's archive. Choose from 3 available images below. Please specify image number and mailing address for this gift.
$ 500—A copy of the book and all 3 open edition prints.
$ 1000—One 8x 10 photograph (limited edition, archival silver gelatin) from Bev's archive, and a copy of the book. Please contact us for more information and availability if you are giving at this level and wish to receive this gift.
$500 by March 31—Early Bird Sponsor— have your name listed in the book as a supporter, and receive a copy of the book. Please contact us for more information and availability if you are giving at this level and wish to receive this gift.
$1000 by March 31—Early Bird Patron: have your name listed in the book as a supporter, and receive a copy of book, all 3 8x10 photographs (open edition, pigment print), and a tee shirt. Please contact us for more information and availability if you are giving at this level and wish to receive this gift.