The Collaborations of Laurie Toby Edison and Ctein


Important notice: Laurie and I have decided to bring this project to an end, so the pieces listed for sale here are the last copies of these works that will ever be available. The runs are closed, hence the size of each edition is much smaller. For example, although a piece may be numbered as "3/24" on the matte, the actual run is 3. In some cases only one copy was ever printed and assembled, making it a unique work. The edition numbers listed below are the actual runs, not how the piece is labeled. Accordingly, prices have been raised and these works are only available on a first-come, first-served basis.

This project represented a significant departure for both Laurie and me from our usual art, being the first time either of us worked with another photographer. You can read the story behind this project here. These collaborations were produced in very limited numbers, with editions running from 1 to 4. The prices currently range from $5,000 to $10,000 but are subject to change without notice.

The entire set of 18 collaborations (only fourteen are shown here because the other four are sold out) is available in reproduction as a limited-edition boxed monograph for $995 (price subject to change without notice). Click here for more details or here to learn about my other monographs.


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Crater Lake -- 1990 (by Laurie Toby Edison & Ctein) (117K JPEG)
~ #2 in an edition of 2 ~

Crater Lake, shortly after a summer thunderstorm, glows in the light reflected from receding storm clouds, the focus of Laurie's photograph. Ctein's print holds the way rain brings out delicate bands of soft reds and greens in the walls of the crater.

25" wide by 13" high, framed. $5,000

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Mt. St. Helens -- 1990 (by Laurie Toby Edison & Ctein)
(83K JPEG)
~ #4 in an edition of 4 ~

A plume of steam drifts from Mt. St. Helens, seen through a stand of bare trees that were stripped by the blast from the volcano. Blues dominate the panoramic dye transfer print, which is flanked by two B&W prints by Laurie.

44" wide by 14" high, framed. $10,000

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Craters of the Moon Hills -- 1984 (by Laurie Toby Edison & Ctein)
(117K JPEG)
~ #2 in an edition of 2 ~

Virtually identical in composition, yet vastly different in emphasis, these two photographs of the lava and cinder hills were made only minutes apart from almost the same location. Neither Ctein nor Laurie realized what the other had done until they compared prints years later.

25" wide by 14" high, framed. $5,000

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Spirit Lake -- 1990 (by Laurie Toby Edison & Ctein) (79K JPEG)
~ #1 in an edition of 1 ~

This large triptych places one of Laurie's silver gelatin prints (on the left) against two of Ctein's dye transfers. All three photographs direct attention to the contrast between the brilliant, sunlit lake and the dark, muddy shoreline. Monochrome tones dominate all three photographs.

32" wide by 27" high, framed. $10,000

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Monterey Kelp -- 1990 (by Laurie Toby Edison & Ctein) (89K JPEG)
~ #3 in an edition of 3 ~

The blue-greens and yellows of Ctein's photograph call attention to the complex play of light off of the kelp, with the water presenting a serene background. Laurie's focuses on the pattern of light on water, making the kelp as a secondary note.

This is also a rare self-portrait in silhouette of the photographers.

15" wide by 25" high, framed. $5,000

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Badlands Gullies -- 1984 (by Laurie Toby Edison & Ctein) (140K JPEG)
~ #2 in an edition of 2 ~

Pale green scrub dots the yellow and ochre strata of the badlands. Laurie's photograph illustrates the delicate tones of the deepest shielded gullies. In contrast, Ctein portrays strong, sunlit walls punctuated by inky black shadows.

23" wide by 15" high, framed. $5,000

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High Tension Lines -- 1991 (by Laurie Toby Edison & Ctein) (165K JPEG)
~ #2 in an edition of 2 ~

Laurie's formal composition interprets the tower and cables as a regular network of dark lines against a pale sky. Ctein's dye transfer print contrasts steel grey and rust red beams against an intense deep blue sky. Insulators create counterpoints of tone, shape, and strong color.

26" wide by 16" high, framed. $5,000

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Cannery and Cormorants -- 1990 (by Laurie Toby Edison & Ctein) (135K JPEG)
~ #1 in an edition of 1 ~

Laurie's photograph focuses on the relationship between the abandoned cannery and Monterey Bay, with the cannery's harsh lines reflected as delicate rippling blurs in the Bay. The cormorants, barely visible in Laurie's silver-gelatin print, are at the heart of Ctein's dye transfer, their dark rounded forms in stark contrast to the angular pale-blue-grays and browns of the girders and corrugated panels.

25" wide by 16" high, framed. $5,000


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Three Trees -- 1991 (by Laurie Toby Edison & Ctein) (97K JPEG)
~ #2 and #3 in an edition of 3 ~

Laurie's photograph concentrates on the dark bare limbs of the trees; the surroundings are reduced to a pale backdrop for them. Ctein's print is about brilliant bands of color -- aqua, cyan, russet, yellow and green; here, the trees and fence are just the textural counterpoint.

38" wide by 14" high, framed. $7,500


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Monterey Aquarium Tank -- 1990 (by Laurie Toby Edison & Ctein) (85K JPEG)
~ #1 in an edition of 1 ~

Light penetrating water is the theme of both photographs.

The B&W photograph renders a ghostly curtain of sunlight that almost obscures the delicate shapes and tone of the kelp fronds. The color photograph explores how this curtain illuminates water, kelp and schools of fish in contrasty blues, greens, and orange-yellows.

17" wide by 22" high, framed. $5,000

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Lake Shasta Houseboats -- 1991 (by Laurie Toby Edison & Ctein) (106K JPEG)
~ #1 in an edition of 1 ~

Ctein's dye transfer print centers on the sinuous, ruddy curves of the lake shoreline and road grading in contrast with the soft greens and blues of the water and forest, accented by the houseboat docks. Laurie's B&W print balances the bright, angular forms of human habitation against a darker, more distant shoreline.

28" wide by 15" high, framed. $5,000

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Reactor Cooling Tower -- 1992 (by Laurie Toby Edison & Ctein) (85K JPEG)
~ #2 in an edition of 2 ~

The reactor tower almost blends into a stark, black landscape in Laurie's B&W photograph, the steam plume a dark mirroring of the cumulus clouds in the sky. Ctein's two dye transfer print flank Laurie's; they show the aircraft warning lights bathing the tower and plume in brilliant hellish red and orange hues, standing out against deep blue-purple clouds.

35" wide by 15" high, framed. $10,000

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Mt. Shasta -- 1991 (by Laurie Toby Edison & Ctein) (93K JPEG)
~ #2 in an edition of 2 ~

Mt. Shasta floats, Kilimanjaro-like, over the grasslands of Northern California, barely visible as a ghostly gray in Laurie's silver-gelatin print. Delicate, mirage-like blue dominates Ctein's dye transfer, above dark green and yellow scrub.

28" wide by 15" high, framed. $5,000

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Obelisk -- 1992 (by Laurie Toby Edison & Ctein) (122K JPEG)
~ #2 in an edition of 2 ~

Two sides of the same stone monument, both photographs contrasting it to the surrounding palm fronds, but in very different ways. Laurie's print places the obelisk in the foreground while rendering both as sunny, light gray against inky shadows; texture separates the subjects. Ctein's dye transfer submerges the obelisk in cool, blue-gray shadow, dominated by bright and saturated yellow and green fronds.

26" wide by 15" high, framed. $5,000




You can email Ctein at ctein@pobox.com


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