Ravages of Time is an Artist Book created by black and white photographer Tom Lascell in collaboration with Drew Luan Matott, a paper and book artist. It is comprised of a series of twenty-four black and white photographs, plus cover and end pages, depicting the power of weather and time on man made structures and artifacts. Completed in the autumn of 2008, the artist book features both accordion and gate fold pages designed to be viewed one page at a time in a traditional manner, or by pulling out one of four accordion arrays, to view a 'gallery' or sequence of six images at a time. Viewers are also able to experience other arrays for viewing by selecting their own unique page fold options. The 8" x 8" x 1" square format is meant to be viewed closely in hand; the tactile feel of the handmade book and the unique page turns are as important as the images themselves. The images are from original silver gelatin prints, scanned to digital at SUNY College at Oneonta. A limited edition of thirty was printed on Stonehenge 100 pound paper in Canton, NY. The text was printed on a Universal Letterpress III at BluSeed Studios in Saranac Lake, NY and hand bound by the artists at St. Lawrence University in Canton, NY. The books are numbered and signed by the artists on the colophon. Price is $250.

Because of its unique design and construction, copies are intended for college libraries and 'book art' archives to be accessible to aspiring book artists. A limited quantity are available for sale to individual collectors. For more information or to purchase a copy of Ravages of Time, contact the artists at:

or by mail at:

Tom Lascell
5 Pleasant Street
Canton, NY 13617

A book proof and several of the original prints that inspired the collaboration were shown in exhibit at the BluSeed Gallery in Saranac Lake, NY in June of 2007. A proof was also exhibited at Northern Kentucky University and at the University of Alabama in October 2007, and was included in a book arts exhibit at SUNY Oneonta in January, 2008. A proof was also shown at the Suffolk, VA Museum juried book arts show in May of 2008.

The completed book has been shown in book arts exhibits at 23 Sandy Gallery (2009), Cuesta College (2009), Asheville Bookworks (2009), the Abecedarian Gallery (2009), Kalamazoo Book Arts (2010), the Green Door Studio (2010) and Arts on Elston Gallery (2015).

Copies reside in the permanent collections at:

Joan Flasch Artist Book Collection,
   The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Bailey/Howe Library, University of Vermont
Richard F. Brush Collection, St. Lawrence University
Special Collections, University of Illinois, Urbana
Wells Book Arts Center, Wells College
Somerset College, Queensland, Australia

Click on image for detail