WHO
David Stretell.

WHERE
33 Bond Street, New York.

WHAT
Dashwood Books, a bookstore entirely dedicated to photography.

WHEN
Around four years ago I decided to quit my job as an agent and editor at Magnum Photos with no real plan ahead. I had just had enough of working for other people. I enjoyed six months off without any focus - or worry for that matter - before taking a trip to Japan where I happened upon a bookstore called On Sundays in Aoyama that sold a series of Japanese books that I had never seen before. Fairly obscure, but all beautifully produced. It occurred to me that there was no such location in NYC.

HOW
The only guide I use is my taste. Also I was used to working with the photographers at Magnum on book projects so I had some idea of the book industry and knew the increased interest in photography books in general. I thought with a fairly modest business plan, a place of this nature in New York could be successful.
Over the years, I´ve noticed certain trends. Certainly, with advances in technology, books are cheaper to produce and therefore a great many more photography books are out there to be chosen from. Maybe 20 years ago, even a small bookstore of my size could carry pretty much every monograph of any consequence. Today that would be impossible -and in my mind undesirable, as with more titles being produced there is also more garbage to wade through, which makes a place where the interesting books are handpicked for you that much more appealing. The big chance to come will be on-demand printing, which is still in its infancy and allows to produce books or zines without any publishing companies to compromise their vision.

WHY
Books can inspire in any number of ways - just the simple act of holding a beautiful book in one´s hands. Particularly suited to a reproductive art form like photography, books are such a finished expression of art. There are so many nuances incorporating elements beyond the photography itself. It´s incredible they types of people who feel the same way.
With more and more artists self-publishing or producing books with small publishers intended for the collector´s market, there have been a lot of interesting books not generally available in the United States. My main aim has been to provide a venue for these publications, as well as quality contemporary photograpy books of all types from all over the world. I have begun to build libraries for collectors of rare books dating back to the 1960s, and more recently developed a publishing company authoring new limited-edition book projects with contemporary photographers.