FotoFest Biennial 2026
MANUAL: Books Among Books
Public Art of the University of Houston is a participating space in the FotoFest Biennial 2026. Come experience this exhibition of works by the artist duo MANUAL.
Exhibition Details
On View: March 7 – May 10, 2026
Hours: 9 – 5 PM (Monday – Friday)
Location: William R. Jenkins Architecture, Design, & Art Library, Located inside the Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture and Design, University of Houston, 4200 Elgin St, Houston, TX 77204
About the Exhibition
Pioneers in digital photography, Suzanne Bloom and Ed Hill collaborated as MANUAL since 1974. Two years later, they joined the faculty at the University of Houston, where they taught until Hill’s retirement in 2005 and Bloom’s in 2012, influencing generations of students.
The photographs in this exhibition are drawn from Book Project, begun in 2010. Employing digital manipulation within the historical genre of still life, these works remind viewers of both the importance of books and their vulnerability to neglect. Using wordplay and humor, Bloom and Hill describe the project as a form of “romantic engagement” with the literary canon rather than an act of reading.
In their own words:
“Essentially, with this project, we are operating within the classic genre of still life, although it feels much more as though we are staging discrete dramas on a very small stage. Solo or ensemble (a single book or many), with or without additional costumes, props, or flats, these images are each intended to remind us that books—the workhorses of autodidacts and patient love objects of bibliophiles—are sensitive to our neglect or disregard. They have been and still are created for and by human intercourse. What we may be doing in this extended project is just a different form of ‘romance’ with the book than is reading and researching.”
This small group of photographs is discreetly installed among the stacks of the William R. Jenkins Architecture, Design & Art Library, inviting discovery in dialogue with their physical counterparts.
Learn more about the FotoFest Biennial 2026 here.
Contact Michael Guidry for questions: mguidry2@Central.UH.EDU.
PARKING
Paid parking for visitors to campus is available at Elgin Street Studios, located at 4224 Elgin Street. The Garage is located a 5-10 minute walk from the workshop location in the University Arts Distict.
Pay-by-text visitor parking is available across campus. Payment can be made via credit card and cash. Current visitor parking rates are available on the UH Visitor Parking Rates page