Hartmann Books
Angelika and Markus Hartmann, are interested in photography and, as enthusiastic publishers, especially in the demanding photo book. They see our activity as a small component of the expanded contemporary canon of culture and media. Our interests range from art, politics, socially relevant discussions, literature, history, architecture and theatre to more marginal topics such as disturbing films, beautiful racing bikes and ski jumping …. Much of this (but not all) is reflected in our program. Each of our published books has its own form and layout appropriate to the topic and content. The program grows slowly and carefully. They concentrate on developing books for a demanding audience and publish only 10-12 titles per year for this niche, as we do not see the future of the art book in the masses and mainstream. Instead of half-yearly programmes, They prefer to think long-term.
Hartmann Books founded the publishing house in 2016 and since then (until the end of 2018 together with Nadine Engler) They have been carefully expanding it. Before that, both of us had been active in various publishing houses and other cultural institutions since the early 1990s. After founding Hartmann Projects (an exhibition and artists’ agency) in 2014, and through our first successful in-house publication, They came to the conclusion that the combination of relevant content of congenial design and high-quality production still makes a book one of the most sustainable and long-lasting media for conveying knowledge and art. Therefore the foundation of the publishing house was a logical consequence.
