Creating Artist's Books

In her article Creating Artist's Books, Rebecca Senf explains why each step in the artist book making process is so very important. While I notice the text in photobooks, I have never thought much about how the font used always seems to compliment the content. This is a consideration I would likely overlook if using text in my own photobook. This is also true for text placement. I didn't realize until we looked at all of the photobook examples that it is an option to place all of the text in a "list of captions/plates" at the back of the book. The use of captions and their locations is something I would like to play around with during this term's photobook assignment. Lastly, Senf talks about the size and shape of the book. I have made a few photobooks for fun, not really for the sake of making an artist book, and I always just use the size that I can afford, is on sale, or I recently purchased on Groupon. While this is fine for the purposes I have been using these photobooks for, I now understand why it is so important to choose the size carefully, so that the book compliments the photographs.

Photobook Project: Part 1

Olympic Portraits by Annie Leibovitz

I was first drawn to this book because of it's gorgeous black and white cover. It has a very smooth finish, without being too shiny, and I like that it doesn't have a jacket. The first thing I noticed when opening the book was that the end papers have a photo of clouds printed on them, which is a nice alternative to plain white pages. I really enjoy how the photos are laid out in this book, each spread has it's own feel because this. Some photos are full bleed, some spread partially to the next page, and others are evenly spread across the two. My favorite layouts contain one large photo and one small, that is placed toward the top half of the page instead of centered. These spreads seem to give the bigger picture and also zoom in on the details. 

Warheads by Diane Bush
The images in this book are what first caught my eye. They are very unusual from what I am use to seeing, and I could definitely tell they were meant to make a statement. I really like how each photo is placed on the right page of a spread, and the title and information is placed on the left. There is also an enlarged 'ghost image' of the photograph on the left pages. This adds more texture to the black background and give the book even more depth. After reading about Bush's work, I learned that these photographs were taken of a television screen, using a macro lens. The subjects are TV anchors and newscasters ("warheads"), and the photos were taken during all 43 days of the 1991 Gulf War. During the increased violence of the Iraq war, Bush manipulated these photos by throwing bleach on them, which was then immediately rinsed off.

Air: The Elements by Ken Robbins
This book has a jacket, however, I like the underlying cover better, which is a simple color photo of clouds. At the bottom of each page is a title of sorts, explaining what is being depicted, for example: moisture, evaporation, birds, pollution, etc. There is also a poetic text accompanying each set of images, that explains each concept. I think this book is a good example of how text can accompany images without being overpowering. One other detail that I was drawn to are the small handwritten titles below each photo. At first I didn't notice these because they appear to be written in pencil, and are very small, but I like how simple they are, and I think they add a more personal element to each photo.

Bibliography

Bush, Diane, Anthony Bannon, and Jerry Schefcik. Warheads. Las Vegas, NV: KuDa Editions, 2006.

Leibovitz, Annie. Olympic Portraits. Boston: Little, Brown, 1996.

Robbins, Ken. Air: The Elements. New York: H, Holt, 1995.

Diptych - Brinkley

Brinkley’s original image of a waterfall on it’s own brings up thoughts of travel, hiking, and of course the outdoors. I feel a slight nostalgia for trips I took as a kid to the coast, and the thin waterfalls I would see along the way.  Because of the way the focus is set in this photo, I have a hard time determining how large the waterfall is. This adds to the nostalgic feeling, which I really enjoy.

When looking at the diptych pair, the meaning of the original image changes quite a bit. With the photo of the shower added in, I am instantly brought to thoughts of water consumption.  I think the fact that this waterfall is very thin, and therefore appears fairly small, makes this comparison even more profound. It leads me to compare the large amounts of water used for daily showering, versus this small and dainty waterfall. 

I think these photos compliment each other really well, especially because of how they are photographed. They make me think of a feeling of comfort. They also both feel nostalgic to look at, even ethereal or dreamlike.

Project 1

Who Cares About Books

Early in this essay, Darius Himes explains how reading a book on his MacBook Air is not something he would like to do. I find this fairly ironic because, before beginning my reading of this article, I attempted to print it. I was fairly disappointed to find that I only had two pieces of printer paper left, and was forced to read it on my MacBook. I find that reading essays, or anything longer than a few pages on a computer screen irritates me. I usually want to be able to hold the pages in my hand, underline important points, and scribble notes in the margins if I feel the need. This relates directly to the desire I feel to be able to hold a photograph. I am often frustrated that all of my photos, whether I consider them personal or professional, are kept as digital files. I frequently miss being able to pull an old stack of photos from a drawer and look through them. This kind of action seems to bring about more memories and emotions than browsing photos on my computer ever has.

When looking at photos in a photobook, you are able to feel the texture of the paper, smell the ink, and hear the sounds of the pages as you turn them. This is a much more personal, and sentimental, experience than observing a photograph that is represented in pixels, or affixed to a wall and held behind glass, both of these keep the photograph out of reach of the observer. Himes describes the accessibility of photobooks by explaining that all you need is "a lap, two hands, a few hours, and some sunlight." No electricity or trip to a gallery is required.

St. Onge_ICE #1: Past Work/Future Aspirations

I recently read a quote by Robert Frank that really rang true to me, he explained: “when people look at my pictures I want them to feel the way they do when they want to read a line of a poem twice.” To me this means that the image is more than just pleasing to the eye, but pleasing to the mind, and makes the viewer want to dive into the image to find a deeper meaning. This is especially true of my portraiture style. I have worked a decent amount with people, and I find that my favorite photos are the ones taken between poses, between frozen smiles, and generally during some movement. This type of portraiture is something I have begun exploring and I would like to continue to take it to the next level. I also enjoy photographing large landscapes, as well as high-speed sports photography. I haven’t really explored either of these types of photography in depth, but I would like to in order to see if they are areas I would like to continue with in my photography.

I chose Lee Friedlander as an artist I admire because of his “America By Car” series. I saw these photos in San Francisco at Pier 24 and I found that I spent a large amount of my time in the gallery focused on them. The way they are taken gave me the feeling that I was a part of the photograph. I also felt that I could almost feel the motion of the car moving past these scenes, even though the majority of them do not contain a motion blur. This feeling relates to the idea of what I would like to pursue with my portraiture.

http://fraenkelgallery.com/artists/lee-friedlander