There’s no better time in history to create a photobook of your work. There are great options, such as Blurb offering album creations on demand and even printing books in China, it seems that most publishers print abroad, which is much more affordable, with high quality.
In the past, there have always been many guardians on the right way to book photos, people who prevented you from fulfilling your dreams, it is the great gurus, editors and media who control the flow of information, they had all the power over their work, even whether or not it would be presented as the work of an artist.
- Now.
- With social media and modern technology.
- The game has simply changed.
- As photographers.
- We have no excuse not to publish a solid corpus due to financial constraints or external forces.
- The most important thing now is the quality of our work and effective marketing to make your photo book a success.
To begin this article, I wanted to talk a little bit about the history of the photo book, especially the handmade book.
In the past, a photo album was traditionally an object made by the artist, usually handmade, sewn by hand and in very small quantities. A photo album can be a series of stitched drawings or a collection of images edited and sequenced by a professional photographer.
The main thing to note is that the photobook was a work of art in itself, that is, the book was not only a physical object to contain photos (or images), like the photographs that composed it, was an object of pure art.
In the 1960s, the popup movement changed the way art was produced and designed, we all know the famous works of Andy Warhol, who at the time printed tons of his images and signed them en masse (sometimes the workers themselves signed on their behalf).
One of the first photographers to adopt this new twist when viewing a photo book as a consumer good was Ed Ruscha, who published “Twenty-six gas stations?in 1962. The concept for this photobook was quite simple: he photographed urban landscapes of gas stations from Oklahoma to Los Angeles and made a book with him.
But the change Ed Ruscha made to the photo book, at least the main one, was mass printing, as a result, the photo book ceased to be a handmade artist’s book, a rare object and was made one by one using the artist’s manual skills. It was now a product that could be easily printed, shared and consumed.
Theoretically, Ed Ruscha combined two things for the creation of the first capitalist photobook, namely:
The technology of the 1960s allowed an economical reproduction of the images, so Ed Ruscha’s photobook had a relatively inexpensive impression. At first, he produced an edition of several hundred photographs and managed to market this photobook at low cost until the end. Consumer.
The really fascinating thing Ed Ruscha ended up doing was in an open edition, in which he reprinted his book over and over again, did not number any of his books, and broke the artist’s book tradition.
When Ed Ruscha was asked about his methodology and reflections on photography and art, he responded by saying that photography ultimately exists as documentation (not as art), so Ed had no problem producing the book in mass printing for consumption, rather than a handmade work of art.
Linking photography to the digital world is not an unprecedented scientific feat, however, when it comes to a photobook, this union may seem more obvious and beneficial, both for consumers and professional photographers who wish to disseminate their work.
However, the Internet is essentially a huge copier machine. Google indexes (copies) each photo, video, article, or content uploaded to the web and stores it on its servers.
Every time a user looks at their website, Flickr, Tumblr, Facebook (or otherwise), their computer makes a (hidden) copy of all the content on their hard drive. I think it’s very naive for photographers to try to protect their images by adding a copyright code/copy to their images or websites. You can’t stop duplication in the digital age.
So where is the physical photobook with the digital world?
As for the new generation, they are completely immersed in the digital world, accustomed to next-generation photographic and interactive equipment, instant internet access by various means, the old guardians still lack tangible content and use other meanings that vision and fertile imagination.
Any photo book can easily escape the digital bombardment of information and content. With a physical photo book, you don’t have to worry about pop-ups, battery life, screen brightness and the need to update your devices. something you can offer your future grandchildren, and they can transmit it and keep their memories alive for a long time.
Also, being connected to the Internet can be a challenge to stay focused on an activity. It’s not uncommon for some people to need to disconnect from the world, literally, to create something useful and creative.
Simply scrolling through photos on Flickr can distract you with a lot of extra information. A journey that started with virtual albums can be found in Facebook News Feed, email inbox, etc.
When you feel the feeling of touching a physical photobook, you can find a number of emotions, it’s like entering a new world. In addition to the striking images, the texture and size of the photobook are very important aspects during glare.
At the same time, a photo book can be surrounded by bad things, they are expensive, cumbersome and difficult to store, especially when you have a small apartment, so the load of these objects can be extremely high depending on where you live.
At the moment, perhaps the digital and physical worlds can meet and cause an unprecedented experience for photobooks lovers, as a digital book would be cheaper in its production due to the reduction in printing, distribution and freight costs, for example. The book can also be downloaded from anywhere in the world and ensure uniform viewing via a full-size iPad.
With the digital photobook it is also possible to offer a remote and instant version update to all your customers, or simply charge a small fee to update your old customers, interaction with social networks becomes another differential, since your customers can share their experience, in real time, when they see their photo book with a variety of people.
Let me make a digression for a moment (in the argument of printing physical books against e-books) and move on to some ideas to publish a photo book. Here are some tips on the photo book, which are handy, and you can apply in your professional photographer career:
If you look at David Alan Harvey’s book, “Based on a Real Story,” you find it interactive. You can rearrange the book you want, fold the pages in different ways. It’s like a pop-up book when we were kids.
Another good book that looks like this is Luke Stettner’s book “Eyes That Are Like Two Suns. “Similarly, you can fold certain pages of the book, which ends up creating new meanings.
Sometimes photographers try to be very enigmatic with their book and incorporate many ideas. In fact, a successful photo book only needs a good idea, combined with flawless execution and stunning photographs, of course.
Don’t try to incorporate foldable sheets, contextual images, a combination of custom colors and images, black-and-white images, and a different page orientation. Don’t make a process extremely simple and difficult, just be sure to add originality to your photo book.
One of the biggest misunderstandings that many young photographers have is dreaming of large hardcover monographs, such as those published by nationally renowned publishers. I have nothing against dreams, let alone great aspirations for your work.
However, you’ll be amazed at the amazing things you can accomplish by keeping simplicity on the axis. Start by keeping your photo album small and simple, it will be a great differentiator.
Here are some of the advantages of simplicity in your project to create a great photo book:
Whatever side you have taken in our discussion about the digital or physical book, you must understand that in any format, it is an object of consumption, physical or not. Many people prefer printed books to reading them on an iPad or computer.
Much of this is related to people’s sense of pose, so you should spend a lot of time developing the visual part of your photo book. Making it attractive, palpable and measurable is a great way to make people more willing to pay the sale price. .
Before creating a photo album, you need to understand the person who will read it, the reading position of the book, how the user takes it, where they plan to take it, and other factors that influence the creation of a photo book.
In addition to size, weight, visuals, some finishes also influence the user experience, check these points when developing your photobook to make your client feel more comfortable.
We’ve already talked about the benefits of the digital photo book, one of which is that you can easily change the versions of your book. You have to agree that it’s relatively annoying to see the same photo book, with the same face, the same photo on all your prints.
Making your photo book a work in progress is a great opportunity to keep your fans engaged. Some professional photographers release their photo book in sequences and leverage reader feedback to make adjustments or add new sections.
Getting feedback from potential buyers of your photo book when it develops will activate your emotions by the final product and make them more inclined to buy your photo book.
Again, it’s critical to know your customers’ preferences, depending on the type of message you want to convey, the material in your photo album should be right, which I mean is what photo book material helps you convey your message, you can choose a recyclable material to reaffirm the durability message, for example.
Unjust as it may seem, the reality is that people judge the photo album by its cover, like any book, in a world saturated with images, books and publications, your photo album should stand out from the crowd with a bold and daring cover. .
As this is the first impression of your photo book, it should be perfect and flashy enough to force people to open up and take a closer look at their work. Investing part of your planning in building the cover of your photo book can be a change. point between the success and failure of your project.
Photographers should always work with designers to create their photo album. A designer will help you work on issues such as the amount of text you want per line, image spacing, image design, image editing and sequencing, paper types, fonts, cover materials, etc.
A photo book is often a collaboration between the photographer, the designer and sometimes an editor. If you can’t afford a designer, keep your photo album simple and unpretentious.
This professional can help you choose the best source for your photobook, some of them are not indicated, let your work look ugly and nothing better than a specialist to advise you in the best way, right?
Another important point is that having a second opinion about your book prevents you from committing photographic shots, because we think in the same way that sometimes we create jobs very similar to those that already exist, which is tedious for your clients.
Take advantage of the professional designer’s opinion for a different perspective and innovations in your photobook, sometimes it will suggest new and surprising things that you can experience without fear.
In the end, there are no good ways to create a photo book, because being creative, your imagination will be more important. Before, just review a few summaries to create your own photo book and make the most of it.
In short, you want to create a book that you personally enjoy and that adds value to the lives of others, remember that a photo book is not just a container of images, it must be above all a pleasant experience.
If you, like us, are still learning photo albums, help everyone by sharing some thoughts and ideas. Share this information with your friends, they will love it too.