Why Do (Photo)books Matter

Throughout my professional career, I have written and edited several books.

Initially, I was neither involved in nor interested in the manufacturing part of the process. Once the editing was finished, my job was done and I just had to wait for the book to arrive. In other words, I took the production part for granted. So, despite my passion for writing, I did not fully understand the connection between ideas and how to make them available for sharing until I (recently) decided to make a photo book from scratch.

As the featured image shows,I am still experimenting, doing mistakes, learning by doing, trying to figure out abstract rules to speed up the process and get a clean result. I think it will take some time to complete the task, but sometimes, as they say, it’s the journey, not the destination, that matters. And talking about the journey, even the (actually not so simple) task of stitching and bining the pages has already taught me a lot.

Although punching holes in the stacked paper is a necessary step, it must not be done carelessly. The number of holes should be kept to a minimum, and they should not be any bigger than necessary to accommodate the thread. Punching holes risks chipping the pages and damaging the content. Smearing glue over a photo makes it unrecoverable. There are many ways in which things can go wrong before reaching the safe harbour of the final result.

During this eventful journey, which has just begun for me, I have started to look at my photos differently, treating them with more respect and care than what I do when I see them on a computer display. I want the book to be perfect because the photos deserve nothing less and I keep trying until I get what I want.

Mind you, this post is not about romanticising paper against digitisation, as screens offer many interesting ways to display and enjoy photography, which paper doesn’t. Rather, the point of this post is that once you have created something, the result actually becomes part of you. In the case of photography, the effort I put into making my photos available in print makes them priceless to me, and perhaps to others who favour human effort over automated, soulless industrial products.

Of course, I will continue to use professional print services for copies to be given to clients or sold through the usual channels. However, my heart still goes out to this small batch of carefully crafted items, which are to be shared with people who deserve them, not sold.

Share this post: