I was finally able to sit down with Jorge Delgado-Ureña from RAW Society. We have a bookmaking workshop scheduled for May of 2024, a masterclass with Sarah Leen, myself, and the crew at RAW Society. Our destination? The island of Menorca. I always attempt to live in the moment but I am finding it rather difficult to not obsess over this event. Many of us have bodies of work we have yet to make sense of. Making sense of a project takes time. There will be moments of exploration, and our base of operations is in itself a stunning location, but the bulk of the week will be used for book creation.
Having a week to edit, sequence, write, define, design, and better understand where we stand, well, is a dream.
It has been said, “Photography is a story best told in book form,” and this workshop will echo this sentiment. Something is alluring about a publication arriving fresh from the printer. A sense of accomplishment, yes, but also a sense of going full circle with a photographic effort. A tangible, confrontational object born of history, legacy and hard work.
Comments 16
have not yet seen it but I LOVE the thumbnail you in square of course … as a contact print !! great
frank
Author
Ha, you never know.
Issue 1 of RAW was superb. I ordered 2 straight after it was announced.
Author
They know what they are doing.
RAW Issue #1 was superb. Ordered #2 as soon as it was released.
Milnor, have you no shame? I have already ripped off Willie K! It ain’t fair for him to get ripped off twice in one century! 😉
http://www.roma57.com/uploads/4/2/8/7/4287956/d-3218_orig.jpg
Hi Dan – just watched the feature. Makes me wish I was back in my late forties and not where I am instead! You stress the satisfaction part of getting something into print, and yes, though I never made a book, I did produce a lot of bespoke, commercial calendars back in the day. It was more profitable than just being the hired gun with a camera, took a helluva lot more effort, but also the satisfaction quotient was much higher.
If working today, with that kind of client perhaps very difficult to find – it was never easy – I would have really enjoyed trying to take up the book concept as an alternative, a second string to the bow. Unfortunately, the guy writing this today ain’t the same guy who did the calendars. My more immediate concern is whether my eyes remain good enough to pass the annual medical tests that we have to do here in Spain after the age of 79, in order to retain the driving licence. Photography comes a few notches further down the pole.
I guess that the main difference between doing something like a self-induced book project and a commissioned gig is just that: the fact of the commission, which in some ways was even more gratifying than the fiscal reward. Well, to me, if not to the mouths it fed.
Good luck in Menorca!
Author
That sounds tricky. Eyes, yes, they are beginning to go. LIke the rest of me. I will, however,continue the fight.
Author
Ripping people off is the new way of doing things.
You absolutely nailed it when you said..”You have to be self – centered”. If I were to give one piece of advice to a young photographer it would be exactly that.
The thing is, Neil, would anyone not already self-centred even want to be a photographer? I mean as in pro; it takes no guts, no talent, no nothing simply to make snaps as an amateur. From the moment you suspect that you may actually have some talent, the poisoned chalice has already kissed your lips. Perhaps the mistake many make is to think that the commercial world will inevitable share their own conviction on the matter. Embarking on a lifetime where whether or not you work again for any particular client can usually depend on how wonderful your last shoot was, is not something anyone does if family comes, naturally, first. Frankly, I think it a career for confirmed loners. In that sense, I found it quite destructive, even if the family survived.
I sometimes came across people – who should have known better – telling wannabe photographers that all they needed was talent, that the work would seek them out. I never met anyone in this business who had that experience: every damned one of us had to hustle our asses off, and in my view, it was how well you could do that that made the difference between doors opening or not. If there was one major, common character characteristic, it was that hangin’ on in there was taken for granted. Since the advent of the Internet, I realised that being a pro does not correlate with automatically being a better photographer than every amateur. Yes, a specialist in some photographic genre will probably score more often, but that’s only to be expected: he’ll probably beat most other pros outwith his speciality too. The Internet may have tipped a truck-load of dung onto photography, but the occasional flash of pure gold is also to be observed if one looks long enough. I play no part in any of the social channels, and my observation comes mainly from looking at photographer websites.
That was something else that French PHOTO was good at: they usually published links to interesting photographic websites. I found out about a lot of people through that reader service.
Author
Yes, it’s unhealthy but semi-necessary.
I agree with Jorges that you should make your books more available. I believe they would be very inspirational for those who cannot attend a workshop. Speaking for myself, there’s no way I can afford going to Menorca for a workshop. I can however afford to occasionally purchase a book.
But I also think running limited editions is not the way to do it. Blurb allows people to directly order individual copies of books. No need for putting money up front printing books that may or may not sell. No need to accept payment yourself and ship them or pay for someone else to do that. If you prefer to not make money off the sales you could offer the books through Blurb at cost. Devoting a page on your new website for listing the books, a short description with each and a link to the Blurb book would be enough. If you wanted to invest a little more time in it, include a brief book review with each listing: what you liked about it, what you didn’t, what you learned while making the book.
Just my 2 cents…
Author
Jon, purchasing a book and attending a workshop-especially one about bookmaking-are two VERY different things. Both worth doing but one is no subsitute for the other. And remember, I’m not doing this for me, I’m doing this for the masses of people involved in predatory publishing events. My doing a run of 200 and selling it out is about creating a roadmap for others. Same for my YouTube channel, same for AG23. This isn’t about me, this is about you! I have no interest in being a photographer or selling my own books, but I will do so IF it helps in the greater picture. Pretty much every photobook you see today is a limited edition. Print runs have fallen dramatically. Not to mention POD versions of my books, including shipping, would be too expensive.
“Pretty much every photobook you see today is a limited edition. Print runs have fallen dramatically.”
Yet, and yet, some books sell out – regardless of price, it would seem.
The magnificent elephant in the room is this: the author has to be a star. A search for some monographs quickly reveals that the original printing is sold out, with adverts for “used” copies being priced way over the original one. There is a parallel in the world of supercars, where waiting lists can stretch into years, with some buyers just buying to sell on immediately, with no added mileage on the clock, at a profit. Leica is no stranger to this, either: as luxury items, there is a circle of wealthy wannabe buyers for whom the cost means little. But as I suggested, it’s an appetite reserved for stuff associated with stardust. As often remarked, nobody cares about our pictures; try getting Steidl interested.
Author
Publishers are now doing offset runs of 300. Historically, photobooks are a horrible business and don’t sell. Things are looking up, at least in some ways. More talk and excitement around photobooks than ever before, and photogs have more power now than ever before.