WORK : BOOKS & THINGS

Rizzoli Publishing | Sleep by Ted Spagna | Production | Editing | Book Design

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A bed with four decorative pillows and a white bedspread, with a mobile or hanging decoration above. To the right, part of a book or magazine cover titled 'SLEEP' by Ted Spagna.
A series of 16 photographs showing a couple in various poses, all wrapped in a striped blanket, laid out in a grid pattern.
Six photographs of a girl lying in bed, alternating between her with eyes open and closed, with a pillow and bedspread visible. Adjacent to the photos, there is a block of small-font text on a white background.
A series of twelve black-and-white photographs showing a person in a gymnastic or dance move, captured in different stages of a progression across a motion sequence.
Page from a scientific publication with images of a person in a lab coat and glasses, and graphs displaying data points and waveforms.
Multiple photos of a woman with red hair, lying in bed and using a laptop.
Series of photos showing a girl changing into a pink dress, lying on a bed, with various angles and stages of dressing.
Six children lying on beds or blankets, playing or resting in a room with red walls and furniture.
A collage of film photos on the left and a person sleeping in bed on the right.
Series of small, sequential photos of a person lying in bed, covering themselves with a white blanket.
Four black and white photographs of a person lying in bed, viewed from above in a small room with a patterned rug and framed pictures on the wall.
A woman sleeping on a bed with a striped blue, green, and white blanket, her head resting on a pillow, and a red digital clock showing 01:54:56.4 in the bottom right corner.
Multiple images of a woman lying in a hospital bed, covered with a blue blanket, appearing to be resting or sleeping.
Series of photos showing a woman lying on a bed in various poses
Series of 20 photos of a woman in a gray hat, red and brown coat, lying in bed reading a book, with a brick wall in the background.
Sequence of black and white MRI scans of a human brain, arranged in rows and labeled with numbers from 13 to 18 on the right side.
Series of small photos of a person in a striped shirt, captured with different lighting and reflection effects.
A grid of 24 photos showing a person lying in a paper boat filled with sandy material, with a red and white zigzag patterned background and yellow accents.
A film strip with multiple frames showing a person in bed, and a collage of grainy, stylized photographs of a woman in bed, with some black and white images.
A strip of 35mm film negatives displayed horizontally with images of a woman in a light-colored dress.
Top-down view of a bed with a person lying on it, with a book, a pillow with black and white striped pillowcases, and a star-patterned blanket.
A man in a white t-shirt and jeans is standing on a bed in a bedroom, holding a branch with a light attached, and looking towards the camera. The room has a dresser, a window letting in natural light, and a small white dog sitting on the bed.
Collage of 20 images of an aircraft in different lighting and color effects, arranged in five rows and four columns, with adjacent photographs showcasing varied perspectives and color filters.
Top-down view of a single bed with floral-patterned bedding, pillows, and a small decorative item on top of the bed, next to a printed informational or acknowledgment sheet.

SLEEP by Ted Spagna brings together the groundbreaking work of photographer Ted Spagna, who pioneered sleep portraiture beginning in 1975. Using time-lapse photography from a bird’s-eye view, Spagna documented sleeping people across the course of a night, revealing patterns of movement and behavior that were visually compelling and scientifically significant.

After more than two decades out of public view, Spagna’s archive was revived through The Ted Spagna Project, which I co-founded with his nephew, Ron Eldridge. Together we developed SLEEP, published by Rizzoli New York in 2013. I designed and co-edited the 144-page book, which features 70 color photographs along with a foreword by photographer Mary Ellen Mark and an essay by psychiatrist and sleep researcher Dr. Allan Hobson.

The book design uses a restrained editorial system that lets Spagna’s extraordinary sequences take center stage. Carefully structured grids, pacing, typography, and image scale help transform thousands of individual photographs into visual narratives that unfold across the pages—echoing the cinematic rhythm inherent in the work itself. The result is a book that preserves an important photographic archive while bringing together art, science, photography, and editorial design in one cohesive experience.

For more information, visit www.tedspagna.com