Paper Cities

Kelly Strayhorn Theater and Spaces Corners
Pittsburgh, PA
October - December, 2018

Paper Cities presents a selection of 21st century photobooks that feature an international city as their subject or as a prominent backdrop, exemplifying the unique narrative possibilities of the book form. These works invite the reader to travel inside a vast array of urban landscapes, communities, homes, families, and dreams of the authors and their subjects. Through corridors that are both real and imagined, the reader is led on an immersive journey into known and unknown worlds, encouraging curiosity, empathy, and a better understanding of ourselves and the worlds around us. 

Paper Cities was supported by a research microgrant from Kelly Strayhorn Theater and Carnegie Museum of Art to explore the visual evidence of what cities look like today, how they’ve been depicted by artists from around the world, and what we might be able to learn about them through the simple act of looking. We surveyed over 100 artists and publishers to identify the most notable books from the past 20 years, gathering photobooks from over 40 different international cities. Our research was presented at Keyword: International Symposium in October 2018 and a selection of over 50 books was exhibited as a reading room at Spaces Corners in Troy Hill.