The Photobook

<p>Hello all just wondering if you guys have any opinions on the photobook. How important it is, what makes a good photobook, its' place within the photographic practice, it's place in the history of photography etc.</p>

 

<p>Purely in the interest of stimulating or irritating possible discussion, I give the following from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niklas_Luhmann">Niklas Luhmann's</a> <em>The Reality of the Mass Media</em>:</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>"Whatever we know about our society, or indeed about the world in which we live, we know through the mass media. This is true not only of our knowledge of society and history but also of our knowledge of nature. What we know about the stratosphere is the same as what Plato knows about Atlantis: we’ve heard tell of it. Or, as Horatio puts it: ‘So have I heard, and do in part believe it.’ On the other hand, we know so much about the mass media that we are not able to trust these sources. Our way of dealing with this is to suspect that there is manipulation at work, and yet no consequences of any import ensue because knowledge acquired from the mass media merges together as if of its own accord into a self-reinforcing structure. Even if all knowledge were to carry a warning that it was open to doubt, it would still have to be used as a foundation, as a starting point."</p>

<p>"… In what follow, the term ‘mass media’ includes all those institutions of society which make use of copying technologies to disseminate communication."</p>

<p>"… The crucial point at any rate is <em>that no interaction among those co-present can take place between sender and receivers</em>. Interaction is ruled out by the interposition of technology, and this has far-reaching consequences which define for us the concept of mass media."</p>

</blockquote>

 

<p>You mean any "book" of photographs - or artisan books - or pictures expressly meant for a book ??</p>

<p>I'll understand it as any book. Books of photos, in all forms, seem extremely significant. They bring photos to me I might not otherwise get to see. They are usually much better reproductions than screen images. They often put individual photos into some sort of perspective, whether it's to display them within a photographer's overall body of work, or displaying them as part of a different sort of theme or part of history. Books of photos can help show us just how important context is when viewing a photo. They can be presentational or manipulative, to varying extents.</p>

<p>They are great as reference material. The more books I have, the more I can find examples of various things that come up relative to photography. They are more tangible, IMO, than screen images (though likely folks will vary on this, particularly younger folk who don't have the same experience of books as I do).</p>

<p>There's an active relationship to a book, often more than even the relationship with a single print. You get to flip the pages, you get to carry it, take it off the shelf, start from the beginning, middle, or end at different times during the course of your ownership of the book. And the ownership part is significant as well. You visit a print in a museum. You get to own the book. It is yours.</p>

<p>"Outside of a dog a book is man's best friend, inside of a dog it is too dark to read"</p>

<p>Groucho Marx</p>

<p><br /> I guess the original poster has fled? <br /> I'm enjoying my bookbinding class. It is rather interesting to find that many people, it seems, just want to make blank books. <br /> I'd like to compare notes with others who make their own photo book bindings. I think a well made (that is to say, as well made as a fine print) bound folio might be an excellent way to appreciate photographs. A hand crafted book is better than framing and hanging a suite of pictures for practical reasons.</p>

I enjoy designing and producing handmade photo books. One of my favorites is a double accordion book

of photos that I created about four years ago. As much time went into the packaging and presentation than the

book it self.<P>

 

<a href= "http://citysnaps.net/2011%20photos/Accordian%20Book/index.html">Here's a set of

photos</a> of the book opened in various stages (click on the photo edges to advance). And <a href=

"http://www.joereifer.com/words/2008/01/12/brad-evans-alcatraz-book/">here's a review and video</a>, showing how it works in stop-motion - the card-shark presentation is kind of funny to watch.<P>

 

I also make "books" of loose prints using other materials, like hardwoods and steel, as presentation

devices. In addition, I make very simple books which I produce on a laser pinter. The simplicity and

imperfection of the those worked well for my project.

<p>Brad,<br>

Your <em>Alcatraz</em> book is exactly what I've had in mind! The whole look of it is excellent. The pictures and video presented the book well. <br>

I don't want to dwell on nuts and bolts here on the <em>philosophy</em> forum except to point out the importance of design choices that contribute to both the tactile and printed image quality of the book. There is the risk of over-emphasis of the binding solution competing with the photographs. Each book becomes a unique design problem to find good balance between a desirable object and evocative subject.</p>

<p>Brad's concept and realisation are a pleasant discovery. The photos also seem to tell a good story about their subject. </p>

<p>I don't see too many books of photos that are combined with poetry or creative writing that are directed to or interact with the theme/subjects of the photos (as opposed to long or short descriptions of the photographer or his approach to the subjects, which is more common). That is a type of photobook that I am presently working on and which excites me, although I would also be happy to have done something of the quality Brad has achieved (or Fred G., with his fairly recent book). </p>