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Salem, Oregon, USA
Barnett (503) 467-6602 Solomon (503) 880-1300
Books
Book authoring and support services
Barnett & Solomon have published on their own behalf, as well as for their clients. Their publishing services include research, writing, book design and publishing. In 2015, FotoMacher – Examining Lives with Jewish Eyes was produced to accompany Frank's fine art photography exhibit at the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education. Their 2016 publication, All American Toy Co. – All American Toys for All American Boys, was the basis for their exhibit at the Oregon Historical Society Museum, that ran from September 10, 2019 through January 26, 2020. A revised edition of that title received the Independent Publishers Award, 2020 Silver Medal in Popular Culture. In 2016 they also published Photography In My Bones – Half a Century of Images by Frank Barnett that was the 2017 recipient of the Independent Publishers Award, Silver Medal in Photography. In 2019 Barnett & Solomon created an installation of vintage Salem photographs for Doneth & Sturdivant Wealth Advisors, and published an accompanying book that documented the firm's photography installation. Presently, Barnett & Solomon are preparing their next exhibit, The Odyssey of the Historic Jantzen Beach Carousel – from Leavenworth, Kansas, to Portland, Oregon – 1921 - 2012, scheduled to open November 18, 2022, at the Oregon Historical Society Museum.
All American Toy Co.
All American Toy Co. - All American Toys for All American Boys
2020 Recipient of the Silver Medal in Popular Culture
from the Independent Publishers Awards
In 1947, the year All American Toy Company was founded by Clay and Beth Steinke in Salem, Oregon, an unusual chapter in the annuls of toy manufacturing in the United States was begun. Few companies in any industry can boast of 70 years of survival, and fewer still can point with pride to making their products entirely in the U.S.A. – an assertion that is particularly relevant given today's preoccupation with globalization. All American Toy Co. has accomplished this and much more.
Here is an historic account resulting from interviews with former employees, gathering and analysis of historic documents, original drawings and industrial designs, and many never-before-published photographs. Photographer Frank Barnett spent seven months in a photo studio set up in the warehouse of Salem Tools whose owner, Patrick Russell, owned All American Toys for more than two decades. There he photographed the entire model truck collection while Martha Solomon conducted interviews, did research, and drafted the text for the book. The book led to an exhibit at the Oregon Historical Society Museum that ran from September 10, 2019 through January 26, 2020.
Photography In My Bones
Photography In My Bones - Half a Century of Images by Frank Barnett
From Checkpoint Charlie, the Berlin Wall and New York Harbor in 1964, to his photomontage, Object of Desire in 2014, Frank Barnett has been creating award-winning images that are now available in book form. The book itself became an award winner in 2017 when the Independent Publishers Awards recognized Frank's work with the Silver Medal In Photography.
"Just as Richard Avedon photographed his dying father, Barnett created emotionally charged images of both his late wife's father and mother in their final hours. As Dad Lay Dying, an unforgettable image of the man in a nursing home, his eyes shut, his mouth agape, an oxygen cannula underneath his nostrils, lent new meaning – and more than one meaning – to the term still life."
Paul Haist,
Photographer, Editor and Publisher
The Doneth & Sturdivant Collection
The Doneth & Sturdivant Collection of Vintage Salem Photographs
Curated and Digitally Restored by Frank Barnett & Martha A. Solomon
The newly constructed offices of Doneth & Sturdivant Wealth Advisors were built where the Oregon Pulp and Paper Company, at one time the city's largest industry, operated on the bank of the Willamette River. Partners Jason Doneth and James Sturdivant chose to decorate their fourth floor offices with vintage photographs of Salem, and especially images taken in the neighborhood, such as the Salem Brewery Association, the Marion Hotel, and photographs of the river and its riverboats. Photographer Frank Barnett meticulously restored the images and Martha A. Solomon researched and wrote the accompanying historical narratives for the book and plaques that were installed next to each framed historic photograph. This coffee table book that accompanies the curated installation is 13 x 11 inches.