Further research on photobooks

Are you ready to publish a photobook? Chris Pichler in conversation with Lens Culture

Chris Pichler is the founder and publisher of Nazraeli Press (California). He says that it’s important to work out why there is a need to publish this particular group of photographs, he says its important to be honest:

• Was it intended for the “book form” rather than being a sequence of images in an exhibition? Yes I always intended the work for a book not an exhibition.
• Is it fed by a desire to see your name on the front cover? No I’d be happy to do it anonymously, as long as I could share the story.

Pichler says that he looks for material that gives him a eureka moment, seeing something he’d not seen before.

Reference:

Nazraeli Press and LensCulture (s.d.) Are You Ready to Publish a Photobook? – In conversation with Chris Pichler, Nazraeli Press. At: https://www.lensculture.com/articles/nazraeli-press-are-you-ready-to-publish-a-photobook (Accessed  13/08/2024).

The best and worst of times talking photobooks with aperture lesley Martin

Lesley talks against the background of an explosion in the photobook medium. She says the bar for book making is high now, and lots of creativity from indie and self publishing.

Asked what advice she gives most often give to aspiring photobook makers?

• Assess why you want to make a book: to bring together my images and poetry in a form that can be shared sensitively
• ask yourself about the concept behind your project and book—what is it really about? Community – my experience and a model for inclusive and harmonious community
• Who is your audience? Myself, some local people and those from communities outside my locality
• Identify what you like in a book…Look carefully and try to figure out how the books you like were put together/designed. I have done this in my research

She says making your own book is slightly different to publishing a book – you might want to just  make a dummy; make a small private edition; play around with the form.

Lesley looks for photobooks that is thoughtful and pushes boundaries- work that makes you want to look and look again.

Reference:

Aperture Foundation and LensCulture (s.d.) The Best and Worst of Times: Talking Photobooks With Aperture’s Lesley Martin – Interview with Lesley Martin, Aperture’s Creative Director. At: https://www.lensculture.com/articles/aperture-foundation-the-best-and-worst-of-times-talking-photobooks-with-aperture-s-lesley-martin (Accessed 13/08/2024).

Have something to say 30 years of photobooks with Dewi Lewis

This interview is primarily aimed at street photographer’s publishing. He was asked, “Has the photobook become a fetish? How can young photographers avoid this trap for their early-career publications? Dewi replies that the book should always be about content, about what the photographer has to say or show. Design is critical, but only to make work more accessible, and understandable. He believes function comes before form.

He says that photography like other arts should address external things and have a relationship with the world. Dewi suggests that some emerging photographer would be better to focus on getting new work out rather than trying to get published. If you are making a book you should ask

• Why do you want a book? Is it the best way forward?
• Do you really have something to say? Yes and others have told me so and that this is a global issue
• Does it bring the work together coherently? That is my aim during the editing and refining process
• Who is the audience and what is the best way of reaching that audience?
• What from should the book take?

He also says that there is a great need to be honest, and also self-critical and aware.

My learning – Ask myself at every stage:

• Why the book form? Why am I making it?
• Do I really have something to say?
• What is it essentially about?
• Who is the audience?

Reference

Lewis, D. and LensCulture (s.d.) Have Something to Say: 30 Years of Photobooks with Dewi Lewis – An interview with publisher Dewi Lewis |. At: https://www.lensculture.com/articles/dewi-lewis-have-something-to-say-30-years-of-photobooks-with-dewi-lewis (Accessed  13/08/2024).