This week Bella introduced photo books to us and explained pixel versus print.

She brought in some photo books and I was immediately drawn to ‘Red String’ by Yoshikatsu Fujii.

Fujii has two parts to his photo book, divided for both his mum and dad, showing how he feels as a child of divorced parents.

I like the idea of showing two sides and seeing how he has to divide his life for his divided family.

For my final project, I would like to show a comparison with something and make the book as tactile as I can. I liked the felt cover of Red String and the hand sewing, as well as pieces of paper sticking out of the books.

Bella also talked about how publishing differs from pixel and to think of publishing as a medium of photography.

  • Internet content vs the experience that the photo book provides.
  • A badly designed book can spoil a photograph and in some cases the design can be better than the photographs and fall under the category of design rather than photography.

Something I had not thought of in terms of publishing is how complex it is. You have to think of the type of paper, colour, font, binding, cost and design on page, working with a designer… While it sounds daunting, I was excited with the idea of printing. Seeing a hard copy of your work makes you feel a sense of accomplishment since it is tangible and in a way exists in the real world beyond my laptop and the shared google drive. Bella told us that the biggest difference between pixel and publishing is that published work travels differently, it can go to libraries, publishers, book fairs, schools etc and I like the idea of seeing my work in different, tangible places.

Something I had never consciously thought of for my other project briefs was my audience. Since this will be my own self directed passion project, it is in its own way my story and I would have to think of who would want to see and know my story. Stories are after all, a method of communication and freedom of expression, and I hope that my photo book will successfully do so.