Having produced a photobook (From Paris to Perjeta) for my Stories, Audience and Discursive Practice Module this semester using both Blurb and a book binder (The Abbey Bookbindery, Deepcut) I undertook some research on the subject, here are my musings/essay.
Both the self-published book and the smaller independent publishing houses have in recent times come to the forefront in the rising phenomenon of photobook publishing. The likelihood of having a book published by the larger publishing houses is far from the reach of many of today’s young contemporary photographers who, in response, have been instrumental in the driving the force behind this phenomenon and thus stimulating the market. With the rise of social media-led networking and crowd-sourcing sites like Kickstarter they have been able to raise funds and stimulate interest in projects that 20 years ago would have only been possible for the more established photographers.
Self-publishing is not a recent development in photography, although the trend to produce your own photobook from concept to print has now become well recognised, attracting more established authors wishing to seek some level of creativity that may well be sacrificed when dealt with by mainstream well-established publishers, i.e. Phaidon, Aperture, Steidl, Taschen.
It is no coincidence that, like the old mole – as Marx and Hegel called the revolution that lies in wait underground – the DIY ethic in art and society at large has popped out again in the last decade, coinciding with financial and political crises and emerging in response to a white-cube and auction-house-driven art market, elitist institutions and tastemakers.
Grassroots collectives and individual enterprises have been powered by technological possibilities that offer cheap and approachable means of making art and books. An army of young artists is undermining the greed-run system at its foundations, one page at a time. (Ceschel and David, 2015)
Self-publications such as Stephen Gill’s acclaimed Hackney Wick resulted in his own small imprint, Nobody Books in 2005 “to exercise maximum control over the publication process of his books” and “to make the book the finished expression of the photographs, rather than just a shell to house them in” (O’Hagen, 2013). Since its inception Nobody Books has produced in excess of eighteen books and Gill is considered one of Britain’s best known contemporary self-published photographers.
Describing themselves as a platform for self-publishers, Self Publish, Be Happy (SPBH) was founded in 2010 by Bruno Ceschel; an organisation collecting, studying and celebrating self-published photobooks through developmental workshops, live events and on/off-line projects. SPBH Editions evolved from this curatorial project and from that community and experience comes the continuing pursuit of the book as an artwork. Funds are raised for each project and the profit is shared with the artist. There is also a SPBH Book Club where each subscriber pays £100 to receive three books (without knowing what they are in advance), SPBN (collections of images erotica) and SPBH Pamphlets.
Their London based library holds three thousand publications which have been submitted from self-publishers worldwide; “the epicentre of a worldwide community formed from a new and ever-evolving generation of young artists, who stretch and play with the medium of photography and the photobook”.
The recent publication of Self Publish, Be Happy, A DIY Photobook Manual and Manifesto is an offer of ideas and information for readers to learn and draw inspiration from in order to make your own book. It groups 10 books with similar themes and conceptual frameworks; be playful, be yourself, be a storyteller, be a team, be crafty. A detailed specification sheet about each project outlining cost per unit, editorial and technical information and encouraging stories from the artists themselves.
Gareth McConnell; Close Your Eyes, Johan Rosenmunthe; Tectonic, Lorenzo Vitturi’s Dalston Anatomy, Matthew Connors; Fire in Cairo (and many more) have all had the involvement and dedication from the SPBH team resulting in very successful publications.
In his first book, published by SPBH Editions, Lorenzo Vitturi’s Dalston Anatomy is based around London’s vibrant African/Turkish community of Ridley Road Market, London where he composed sculptures and created collages of objects he found in the debris of the market, capturing their organic and temporary nature (Fig.1 & 2). The books are also simultaneously documenting the rapid gentrification of the area; in his interview with the Photographer’s Gallery he says of the project; “I wanted to freeze Dalston’s colourful mix of cultures just before this transformation changes the neighbourhood’s appearance completely. I’m quite sure that this social richness will be soon wiped out by the brutal blandness of the high-street economy and culture, which, while increasing order and efficiency, will inevitably bring conformity.”
All photographs are memento mori. To take a photograph is to participate in another person’s (or thing’s) mortality, vulnerability, mutability. Precisely by slicing out this moment and freezing it, all photographs testify to time’s relentless melt. (Sontag, 2001)
He continues this concept of work in his next project Droste, Effect Debris and other Problems which begins with the last image of Dalston Anatomy.
Fig.1 Fig 2
Successes like Stephen Gill’s Hackney Wick and Lorenzo Vitturi’s Dalston Anatomy have transformed the perception of self-publishing so that photographers now view this method of publishing as an alternative to the mainstream, are increasingly affordable and creatively liberating.
Another manual to contemplate before considering self-publishing is Jörg Colberg’s Understanding Photo Books, The Form and Content of the Photographic Book comprehensively covers each and every aspect of publishing; the focus of the book is to assist photographers gain a better comprehension of the tasks that are specifically theirs i.e. the concept, editing and sequencing of their book and providing them with enough knowledge into all the other aspects of what and whom they should be speaking to. He states that while there are many different aspects needing consideration, approaching them in a simple and relatively fixed order makes the process simpler.
Fig.3.12 The full interrelation between the different aspects of photobook making. (Colberg, 2016, pg.64)
Jörg Colberg is also the co-founder for The Independent Photo Book blog (est. 2010) which is a free distribution tool for independently published photobooks or zines that are not available via Amazon or other standard outlets. There is no selection process or editing/curation involved, if the book meets the criteria it will be listed regardless of content or opinion (http://theindependentphotobook.blogspot.co.uk).
Naturally, some guidance from the professionals is a desired and sometimes much needed requirement for those who wish to have a more specific curatorial approach to the design and tactile quality of photobook.
This gap in the market has been identified and a type of ‘hybrid publisher’ has emerged in the form of the smaller independent publishing house who can offer expert advice to empower, assist and tap into the emerging talents out there.
Publishers like Mörel, Trolley Books and Dewi Lewis are competing and even surpassing the quality and influences of the more established publishing houses.
Founded in 1994 and internationally renowned for its photobook publishing list, Dewi Lewis Publishing was one of the first publishers to pave the way for aspiring photographers. William Klein, Martin Parr, Tom Wood and Bruce Gilden are just some of the more established photographers to have works published since its inception, but the raison d’êtra of the company is to bring accessible and contemporary photography to the general wider audience by both these established names and those of lesser known individuals/collectives. It continues to be a competitive market and even publishers rely on a combination of grants, subsidies and funds raised by the photographers themselves. Today’s contemporary photographers don’t wish to wait to have developed their practice for 30+ years before they can afford; both professionally and financially, to publish and are instrumental in self-funding their books.
In a time when the world has never been more visual the importance of the continued creation of photobooks and its documentary excellence is no better illustrated than in Once a Year, Some Traditional British Customs, first published in 1977 and recently re-published by Dewi Lewis Publishing. Over a period of seven years Homer Sykes travelled the country photographing 100 traditional customs and documented them in this book. In recent years his photographs have become recognised as one of the most important archives of British customs and an insight into life in 1970’s Britain. (Fig.3 & 4).
Fig.3
Fig.4
The number of photobooks produced has increased but the number buying them has not and remains a niche trade. Whilst in 2002 Dewi Lewis could print 10,000 copies of Martin Parr’s Common Sense knowing they would sell, currently he would not print more than 4,000 despite his continuing popularity. “If we’re working in the car industry, we’d say that there’s overproduction,” states Dewi Lewis. “So we need to shift gears. Take our time. Avoid rushing into bookmaking. Think everything through. If that were to happen, we’d have fewer books and better books.” (http://time.com/3903894/).
The fact is that the for the young contemporary photographer the photobook remains a very attractive object and the rising interest in self-publishing and the growth of the small publishing house only reinforces the importance and numerous possibilities of what you can do with the physical book.
Fiona Macphee 