RIAN DUNDON: PASSENGER

“Our setting is Portland, Oregon. The photographer is a 43-year-old, divorced American dad. His family and city are splintering, but any feelings of regret are curbed by the thrum of money and capital moving the wheels underneath. We are scattered between points of departure and arrival. All that’s left are pictures to hold the balance.”—Rian Dundon, Passenger foreword

Rian Dundon: Passenger consists of a succession of immersive full-bleed images by Portland, Oregon–based photographer Rian Dundon that were shot with the same point-and-shoot camera he used to capture civil unrest in Portland in 2020, many featured in his acclaimed 2023 book Protest City. This 96-page volume juxtaposes Dundon’s forensic depictions of scenes from a battered city with intimate—and at times, heartbreaking—photographs of friends and family. “Passenger is a departure for me—the pictures are more personal, more direct, and more vulnerable than those in my previous books,” Dundon notes. “It feels serendipitous to be working with Mirrorical, a brand-new imprint with a fresh perspective.”

“I have been obsessed with Rian’s work for years,” says Tod Lippy, Mirrorical’s founder and publisher. “He happens to be a brilliant photographer, but he is also a groundbreaking designer and publisher. His Out Here and Protest City series of staple-bound 8 1/2-x-5 1/2” chapbooks, produced quickly and inexpensively, are among my favorite artist’s books ever. My goal with Passenger was not only to bring Rian’s stunning new photographs into the world, but also to give him the opportunity to apply the unique vision with which he created these earlier books to a different, and significantly larger, format.”

RELATED EVENTS:

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, AT ICP PHOTOBOOK FEST:

Rian Dundon signed advance copies of Passenger at the Distributed Art Publishers (DAP) table at this event at the International Center for Photography in New York City.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, AT PRINTED MATTER, CHELSEA:

In this launch event, Rian Dundon and Mirrorical founder Tod Lippy discussed Passenger and explored its relationship to Dundon’s other work, focusing on the photographer’s acclaimed zine-making practice, which includes the publications Out Here and Protest City. Dundon also signed copies of the book after the presentation, which began at 6:00 p.m. MORE INFO

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, AT THE PORTLAND DARKROOM, PORTLAND, OREGON:

Rian Dundon will sign copies of Passenger at the Portland launch event for the book. DIRECTIONS

ABOUT RIAN DUNDON:

Based in Portland, Oregon, photographer Rian Dundon (b. 1980) is the author of the books Protest City (OSU Press, 2023), Fan (Modes Vu, 2015), and Changsha (Emphasis, 2012). He has taught documentary photography at the San Francisco Art Institute, University of California, and the International Center of Photography. His photographs have appeared in The Nation, The New Yorker, Mother Jones, and numerous other publications. Dundon, who holds an M.A. in Social Documentation from U.C. Santa Cruz and who was a 2020 Magnum Foundation fellow, currently teaches photography at Clark College in Vancouver, Washington.

Rian Dundon: Passenger

Published by Mirrorical; distributed by Distributed Art Publishers (D.A.P.)

ISBN 9798988264538

Perfect-bound with Smyth sew signatures, 14 x 8 1/2 inches, 96 pp.

U.S. $45.00

RECENT PRESS:

Matthew Trueherz, “Protest City Photographer Rian Dundon’s Next Project s a Quieter Ride,” Portland Monthly, September 25, 2024

“Blake Anderson in Conversation with Rian Dundon,” Lenscratch, August 30, 2024

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