PhotoBook Evaluation

There are many different ways to present photography. The Photography Book is a unique way to express your own work as well as a highly effective medium where the use of text, layout, printing, format, feel and size all combine to make the whole far greater than the sum of its parts.

To me this project has been the most personal by far, I think it has allowed me to express myself as a person through photographs.
The brief was quite broad in terms of the Proposal (Day in the Life, A Journey, Faith) , which made me very happy as I felt I was free to do anything I wanted. I decided to pick 'A Journey' as my own proposal as I felt my landscape shots portrayed my journey and would tell a story within a book.
Making an Instragram book has also enabled a new form of media which is quite new within the technology world- it shows my Instagram page in a whole new format.

I took the time to look at other photographers work, as well as some of their books. I looked at Henri-Cartier- Bresson, David Bailey, Martin Parr, Tessa Bunney and many more. After reading various books I realised how peoples photography styles can differ so much, I also felt I knew the photographers style a lot more in terms of the way they laid things out and which fonts they used- I found this really interesting as well as inspiring.

I began planning my book by printing out small copies of each photograph and laying them out in order, then sticking them into a book I made from lots of paper. This abled me to get a greater insight to what my book will actually look like. Its fascinating how many changes I actually made after making a mock book. I recommend to anyone making a book to make a mock one first- it will help you with the layout, style and which images you actually want to use - it is also cheap and effective.

After this I looked at various book websites but felt as if Blurb was easiest to use for me personally, and also cost effective.

The website was ideal for my Instagram photographs as it allowed me to upload them straight from Instagram inself. The photographs were all set out below the book which made it easier and quicker for me to see which photographs would fit nicely to each page.

I also stuck with the square format style, although I chose a portrait shape book, I feel as if the photographs look neater and more effective as the sense of space below the image draws the viewer more towards the image itself.

I tried out different sizes but still felt as if the square format looked most effective, However the viewer may disagree, below is a snapshot of different photo sizing I took during my editing of the book..

As you can see the one to the left looks more neat and effective, However, I am slightly kicking myself as now that I am looking at it I think I could have experimented a bit more in regards to doing different sizes on different pages- this could have made it a little more interesting.

However, I can only progress to the next time I make a book, I can see what I want different and what layout works best.

Overall I am happy with my end result and am really glad I made a mock book as it has saved many mistakes that I had time to change when it come to editing my book online. I also gained a lot of inspiration through various trips to galleries and also The Beacon, which abled to to look into others work and experience how people also work themselves.
I am really grateful to have been given the opportunity to make my very own first book, and hope to make many many more in my future career as a photographer - One day people may even buy a copy!

I have gained confidence in terms of managing and planning my book online, and then actually laying it all out as previously planned.
I feel my book has fulfilled the work required on the brief, as well as demonstrating and developing an understanding of editing work in relation to narrative and sequence.