Come meet photographer Mark Robert Halper of the critically acclaimed coffee table book Between Seer and Seen: Celebrating the Artists of Santa Barbara County at a book signing and sale during First Thursday, from 5 to 8 p.m. next Thursday at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art store, 1130 State St.

The event is free. Free limited-edition posters signed by the artist will be available.

Included are 71 local artists chosen personally by Halper in his second book on Santa Barbara. Interspersed with still-life photos of the tools of an artist are quotations from the famous and infamous.

In 2010, Halper created his first coffee-table book of portraits of the vintners of Santa Barbara called Sunlight & Water.

Photography has always been a personal mission for Halper, and portraiture has been the cornerstone of both his commercial and fine art pursuits since first entering the field in 1989.

— Maureen McFadden is a publicist.