About Us
an independent book publisher of literature, photography, & artsOur Mission
We are a fiercely independent publisher that creates limited edition literature, photography, and art books about belonging, intimacy, ecology, myth, and home. We are distinguished by our attention to making gorgeous books and our tending of real relationship with our authors and artists.
Born by two men from Ohio with a yearning to stay connected to each other and share important work with the world. Our work and mission is rooted in our relationship with our artists. From here we believe embodied and inspired art is made. We commit to meeting you where you are: on the earth, buried in the soil, budding with hope, covered in dew, bursting with light. We want to dream together- hand in hand- so that we may cultivate a community of ripening individuals, build a spirit of reciprocity, and share work in a meaningful and tangible way.
Roman A. Gioglio
Co-Founder, Literary Arts Curator
William W. Sharp
Co-Founder, Visual Arts Curator
Our Story
Our names are Will and Roman. We are two friends from Ohio: passionate about deep experiences of love, spirituality, community, ecology, justice, and art. We want to be the witnesses in your darkest moments, rise up together, and honor all stages of the process. Most of all we want to allow our practice to be enough, our love to be enough.
Our Services
1. Publishing
We publish limited edition, intentional, gorgeous literature, photography, and art books. This process involves developing, producing, and distributing your book. You can view our collection of published titles here.
2. Design/Consulting
Due to limited capacity in formally publishing books, we also offer design and consulting services. These services can include 1. Curation, 2. Editing,
3. Design, and 4. Printing. This can be for a book project or a general artistic pursuit.
3. Handbound Editions
At Black Flower, our passion lies in making special, unique, and gorgeously tactile books. There is no better way to do this than hand-binding the book. These usually coalesce in a small edition of 5 to 20 books.
Publishing Services
We started the company based on this service. The publishing process helps with everything from the brass tacks tasks of copyright, distribution, and printing to the more nuanced tasks of editing, design, and marketing. Below is a brief synopsis of our process.
Connection
Prioritizing building a relationship together as humans first, then as artists.
Curation
Developing artistic style and your body of work’s identity together.
Editing
Editing the content of your book to ensure thematic consistency, story line, and readability / viewability.
Book Building
Defining your book’s style, designing its elegant pages, and deciding on the final printed edition.
Marketing/ Distribution
Printing your book and managing its marketing, release, and distribution.
What we publish
Monographs / Photo Books
Black Flower publishes full-length photo books and monographs. We are interested in the hidden stories, deep soul work, and belongings to land. Our first publication, The Boy in the Wild Orchard by Ben Scott-Killian was released in 2023 and softly expressed his coming of age as a future Elder on Vashon Island. Kalie Krause’s Eternal Sermon was released in 2025 and explored her relationship to the hallowed ground of Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Group Volumes
Each year we release an open call around a curated topic for photographers, writers, and artists to submit their work to. Based on these submissions, we select, curate, and publish a group volume. The Promise of Spring, our volume I, was released in 2022. The Garden of Dreams, vol. II, was released in 2024. Currently, vol. III, is in curation
Literary Works
We appreciate intimate and spirit-moving literature. Whether it be poetry, short story, or memoir, we want to be present for the unfolding. Our first literary work was Buffalo Dreamer by the visionary, Annie Bloom. Buffalo Dreamer is a memoir about Annie’s lifetime relationship to the land and the wilderness vigils and ceremonies she conducted.