My latest photo book "Tales From The Black Box" is now available for purchase
As mentioned a couple of weeks ago, one of the projects I have been working on lately has been the production of a new photo book.
Why This Book
The regular followers of this blog know that combining images with stories is crucial for me to realize my photographic vision: showing what not clearly can be seen, providing a new narrative to an existing situation.
Although I sometimes use the very specific Haiku format (ten of which have been published in a small booklet) and while I continue to work on larger photo essays, I am at this moment in time most successful communicating my vision through PicTales: connecting images to short stories and poems that guide the viewer towards a reality I perceived while creating the image.
Several months ago I developed the concept to collect several of the PicTales from the blog in a large-format photo book. After carefully selecting those stories that are most aligned with my artistic vision and for consistency reasons focusing on stories with black and white images, I now have published these in my newest book:
From the Foreword:
“For me...the look of an image is far more interesting [than its quality] because it translates directly into emotion...”
Photos are all about emotion.
What did I, the photographer, feel when looking at the scene before, during and after capturing the image.
What emotion do I want the viewer to feel when looking at this image.
The main question I want to answer by combining images and stories is: how can I use stories to make this emotional response as strong as possible while directing it towards the feeling I want to communicate.
“...adding a story to an image allows the photographer to direct and change the viewer’s emotional response.”
Book Details
For this book I again decided to self-publish via Blurb: their tools are very convenient to use, and the materials they use are of excellent quality.
Since I wanted it to be a large-format book, I selected the largest size available: 13 x 11 inches (33 x 28 cm). And because I am not very fond of the matte hardcover image wraps, I designed a glossy dust jacket that protects a straightforward but elegant black linen cover.
The most important decision I had to make was regarding what paper to use. Although most photo books are printed on glossy paper, I fell in love with the ProLine Uncoated paper when designing the 10 Haiku booklet. This is a very nice 100gsm matte paper with a bit of a tooth to it; it has a very subtle structure which makes the words pop and which renders the black and white images in an excellent fine art quality.
My daughter Gwyneth, who is an art student at Winthrop University, helped me select the two fonts: Abril Fatface for the headers, and Didot for the text. Both are very complementary serif fonts providing the right mix of modern and classic design.
After reviewing a proof print and experiencing the excellent execution of the book, I decided to also make a smaller version of 10 x 8 inches (25 x 20 cm) available. This, of course, meant I had to resize the images and the fonts to keep everything within the right proportions to each other.
How To Buy
A photo book is a great way to collect fine art photography. It does not need expensive framing, it does not need wall space, and it provides a great overview of a photographer's work and insight in their vision and use of the medium.
This book is no longer available on Blurb.
And don't forget to visit my Blurb books page for an overview of all my photo books for sale.