{"id":21543,"date":"2014-11-18T04:31:36","date_gmt":"2014-11-18T12:31:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=21543"},"modified":"2014-11-18T04:31:36","modified_gmt":"2014-11-18T12:31:36","slug":"11-tips-making-photography-book-bruno-ceschel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2014\/11\/18\/11-tips-making-photography-book-bruno-ceschel\/","title":{"rendered":"11 Tips on Making a Photography Book with Bruno Ceschel"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Beautiful
Beautiful collection of self-published books<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There is no better time in history to be a self-published photographer. There are so many great options out there\u00e2\u20ac\u201d like Blurb<\/a> (print on demand), and even getting books printed in China (it seems most publishers are printing overseas, which is much more affordable, with great quality).<\/p>\n

In the past, there have always been lots of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153gatekeepers\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201d people who prevented you from achieving your dreams. These gatekeepers are the editors, publishers, and media moguls who control the stream of information. They had all the power whether your work would be shown or not as an artist.<\/p>\n

Now with social media (and modern technology), the tables have flipped. As photographers, we no longer have excuses for not publishing a strong body of work, due to financial constraints or outside forces. What matters the most now is the quality of our work (and effective marketing to get the word out)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The History of Photography Books<\/h2>\n

To start this article, I wanted to talk briefly about the history of photography books, especially the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153artist book<\/a>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

In the past, an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153artist book\u00e2\u20ac\u009d was traditionally an object made by the artist. They were generally hand-made, hand-stitched, and made in very small quantities. An \u00e2\u20ac\u0153artist\u00e2\u20ac\u009d book could be a series of drawings stitched together or a compilation of images edited and sequenced by a photographer.<\/p>\n

\"Original
Original images for Henri Cartier-Bresson’s “Scrapbook<\/a>“<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The key thing to note was that the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153artist book\u00e2\u20ac\u009d was an artwork in itself. Meaning, the book wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just a physical object to hold the photos (or images). The book itself was an artwork.<\/p>\n

When did this shift?<\/p>\n

In the 1960\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153pop-up\u00e2\u20ac\u009d movement changed how art was produced and conceived. We all famously know of Andy Warhol, who would screen-print tons of his images, and sign them in mass (sometimes he even had his workers sign on his behalf).<\/p>\n

\"Andy
Andy Warhol, Marilyn Diptych, 1962, \u00c2\u00a9 The Andy Warhol<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the first photographers to embrace this new shift of seeing a publication or a book as a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153consumer good\u00e2\u20ac\u009d was Ed Ruscha, who published \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Twenty six gasoline stations<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in 1962 (see the book preview here<\/a>). The concept of the book was quite simple: he shot urban landscapes of gas stations from Oklahoma to LA, and made a book out of them.<\/p>\n

\"ed_ruscha_twentysix_gasoline_stations_1963\"<\/p>\n

But the shift that Ed Ruscha did was that he mass-printed the books. No longer was the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153artist book\u00e2\u20ac\u009d a rare and one-of-a-kind object. It was now a commodity, which could easily be printed, shared, and consumed.<\/p>\n

\"Images
Images from “Twenty six Gasoline Stations”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On a theoretical level, Ed Ruscha ended up combining two things:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Engagement of consumer culture +<\/li>\n
  2. Mechanical reproduction<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The technology of the 1960\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s allowed for cheap reproduction of images, so \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Twenty six gas stations\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that Ed Ruscha ended up printing was very cheap. In the beginning, he made an edition of several hundred, and sold it for very cheap.<\/p>\n

    The really fascinating thing that Ed Ruscha ended up doing was making an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153open edition<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201d in which he kept reprinting the book endlessly, didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t number the books, and broke the tradition of the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153artist book\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n

    When Ed Ruscha was questioned about his methodology and thoughts on photography and art, he responded by saying that photography ultimately exists as documentation (not art<\/strong>). So Ed had no problems producing the book as a mass-printed consumer good, instead of a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153bespoke\u00e2\u20ac\u009d art piece.<\/p>\n

    The Digital Shift<\/h2>\n

    Of course the first question that comes to your mind is today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153digital age\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (God, I hate saying that word).<\/p>\n

    But anyways\u00e2\u20ac\u201d the Internet is essentially a huge copying machine<\/strong>. Every single photo, video, article, or piece of content uploaded to the web is indexed (copied) by Google and stored into their servers. Whenever a user looks at your website, Flickr, Tumblr, Facebook (or whatever) \u00e2\u20ac\u201d their computers cache a copy of all the content into their computers. I think it is quite naive for photographers to try to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153protect\u00e2\u20ac\u009d their images by adding copyrights\/image copying protection code to their sites. You can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stop duplication in the digital age<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    So where do physical books belong in a digital world?<\/p>\n

    I am a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153digital native\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (once again I hate this word, but it is the best way to describe who I am). When I was 11 years old, I got my first computer, and by the time I was 12 years old, I was plugged into the Internet via my epic 28.8k modem (on AOL with free trial discs). I used to hog the phone line at home for up to 8\u00e2\u20ac\u201c10 hours a day (playing StarCraft, chatting on AIM, downloading the original Grand Theft Auto, etc.) \u00e2\u20ac\u201d and was constantly plugged in.<\/p>\n

    But nowadays, I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t stand the Internet. It is the most distracting thing out there\u00e2\u20ac\u201d worse than crack cocaine. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t get any writing, reading, or deep thinking done (when my Wifi is connected). So if I ever need to get \u00e2\u20ac\u0153real\u00e2\u20ac\u009d work done\u00e2\u20ac\u201d I have to turn off the Wifi on my computer (like it is now) and switch my smartphone to airplane mode (or even better yet, turn it off completely). I do feel anxiety when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not plugged in\u00e2\u20ac\u201d but after the first few hours, I feel a sense of calm, of solace.<\/p>\n

    I see photography books (and real printed books) as an escape. Admittedly I read the majority of my books on my kindle app on my smartphone (for the convenience), but nothing beats a real, physical book.<\/p>\n

    With a real, physical book\u00e2\u20ac\u201d you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to worry about pop-up windows, battery life (constantly have to plug in your devices and charge it), screen glare, and having to upgrade your devices. Sometimes when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m reading books on my kindle app on my phone, I wonder if I should be reading it on an actual Kindle device, or perhaps on my iPad. With a book, I have none of these concerns\u00e2\u20ac\u201d and I know that a physical book will never get \u00e2\u20ac\u0153outdated\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. A physical book is something I can give to my future grandchildren, and they can pass it on (with all of my hand-written notes on the side).<\/p>\n

    Whenever I look at photos on Flickr, I get too easily distracted. I flick from one single image to the next, then suddenly open my email, then go on Facebook, and then maybe see a few more photos on Flickr (from other photographers).<\/p>\n

    With a real photography book, I am calm and relaxed. I fall into a good photography book\u00e2\u20ac\u201d it is like I am entering a new world. I love the feeling, texture, and dimension of photography books. I love the pacing of flipping the pages, and the pleasure of closing a book and putting it back on my shelf when I am done.<\/p>\n

    At the same time\u00e2\u20ac\u201d physical photography books can be a pain in the ass. They are expensive, bulky, and hard to store (when you have a small apartment). I have a lot of friends in Australia who are quite limited with buying books off Amazon (because shipping anything to Australia is really expensive).<\/p>\n

    In this way, I am very hopeful with digital books. With digital books (let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s say an iPad app\/book) \u00e2\u20ac\u201d you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to deal with printing costs, distribution costs, and shipping costs. You have a beautifully backlit screen, and can download it from anywhere in the world. You also have a consistent viewing experience (if everyone has a normal-sized iPad).<\/p>\n

    Of course the iPad is still not a replacement for a physical book\u00e2\u20ac\u201d but a great complement. And I do think sometimes in life (let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s say if you travel a lot or are tight on money), compromises are good when it comes to photography books. Personally I bought Elliott Erwitt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Personal best<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d book on the iPad for less than $10, which would have cost me $50+ as a physical book. I enjoyed the images thoroughly (in retina), enjoyed the behind-the-scenes video interviews, and I can always look at the book whenever I want to when I am traveling (and have limited space in my backpack).<\/p>\n

    Furthermore, you can always go back and re-edit digital books. With a physical book, once you print it\u00e2\u20ac\u201d you can never go back and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153re-edit\u00e2\u20ac\u009d it. This is actually one thing I like about blogging\u00e2\u20ac\u201d I can always go back and re-edit old things I wrote, or add new ideas or content. Digital is much more dynamic and flexible<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

    Ideas for photography books<\/h2>\n
    \"Bruno_Ceschel\"
    Portrait of Bruno Ceschel<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Let me digress for a moment (on the argument of printing physical books vs. digital books) and move onto some ideas for publishing photography books.<\/p>\n

    I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mention earlier, but I recently attended a lecture on book making by Bruno\u00c2\u00a0Ceschel<\/a>, an award-winning publisher in the UK. Super cool guy, funny and down to earth \u00e2\u20ac\u201d I was able to listen to him speak in a course at LCC (thanks to Kristen and Francesco for hooking it up).<\/p>\n

    Below are some ideas for photography books, which are practical, and you can apply:<\/p>\n

    1. Folding pages<\/h3>\n