Big Open Publishing
Purveyor of Limited Edition Fine Art Photography Books
THESE UNITED STATES
Photographs by Steven G. Smith
First Edition, 2026 · Coming Nov. 2026
Limited Collector’s Edition of 300 copies
PREORDER
$60.00
Big Open Publishing L.L.C. is an independent publisher dedicated to thoughtfully
conceived and beautifully produced books of fine art and documentary photography.
THESE UNITED STATES
These United States is a limited-edition coffee-table book on American culture, conceived as both a fine art photography book and a contemporary historical document. The photographs were made across the country during a period of cultural, demographic and civic change.
The book relies heavily on visual narrative and sequencing. Rather than dividing America into geographic or ideological categories, photographs from different regions and communities are placed in conversation with one another. Gesture, color, form, humor and everyday human experience create connections from one photograph to the next.
The result is less an inventory of America than a visual journey through it, exploring what it means to be American in the 21st century.
FIRST EDITION, 2026
Limited Collector’s Edition of 300 copies
Copies 1–50 signed and numbered
9 × 12 inches, landscape
94 interior pages
Full-color photography
Printed and bound in the United States
ISBN 979-8-90727-898-1
Published by Big Open Publishing L.L.C.
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ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER
Steven G. Smith is a documentary photographer, cinematographer and 2025 Andrew Carnegie Fellow whose work has explored American culture and the human experience for more than three decades.
Smith shared in the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for the Rocky Mountain News coverage of Colorado’s wildfires. He is an eleven-time recipient of the Pictures of the Year International award and received a National Endowment for the Arts American Master Artist Grant. His work has been exhibited at institutions including the Smithsonian Institution, National Constitution Center, Gilcrease Museum, Frost Art Museum, Missouri History Museum and The Durham Museum.
He is also the author of Under the Dark Sky: Life in the Thames River Basin, published by Wesleyan University Press in 2018.
Smith approaches photography as a way of paying attention. His work is grounded in curiosity, observation and respect for the people and places he photographs.
These United States continues that practice on a national scale.
ABOUT BIG OPEN PUBLISHING
Independent. Artist-led. Made for the printed page.
Big Open Publishing was established to produce fine art books where the integrity of the work determines the book's form.
The press is particularly interested in long-form photography, documentary practice and projects that explore people, culture and place.
We believe in the permanence of the printed photograph and in books made to be returned to, collected and lived with. We believe the photographic book is more than a container for images. At its best, it is an art object, a visual narrative and a lasting record of a particular place and time. We create our books with close attention to the details, photography, editing, sequencing, typography, printing and the physical experience of turning the page.
Big Open Publishing L.L.C.
Purveyor of Fine Art Photography Books.
© 2026 Big Open Publishing L.L.C.
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