Lenswork Interview

This past week, I had a very engaging telephone interview with Brooks Jensen, the publisher of Lenswork. The interview is slated for release sometime this month or in October. I'm not exactly sure.

If you don't know much about Lenswork, then I would strongly urge you to seek it out. There are not that many interesting photography related magazines or on-line subscriptions which focus on the art and creative aspects of being a photographer. In fact, I think it's telling that most of the sites out there are predominantly focussed on gear. So it's really refreshing to have Brook's magazine available.

Anyway, the interview with Brooks was covered by himself recording his own audio while he chatted to me on Skype, and I recorded my own segment with my handy Sony PCM-D50 audio recorder (I love taking a little audio recorder with me on my travels as I think sound is a further dimension in which one can creatively explore their surroundings and it's been very useful for adding a richness to some of my podcasts).

In his interview, Brooks covered many things with me, but I think the area that interested him the most was how I've managed to make a living from photography and in which mediums I've managed to do this (we discussed e-books, printed books and also my podcasts). I think he's very interested in photographers thinking more outside the box, and not being too constrained by the ideas that they should try to sell images or prints only.

Anyway, Brooks was very nice to talk to. He came over very much as he does in his audio podcasts. You should really check out his magazine. Yes, there is a predominant focus on black and white photography, but he also has a Lenswork 'extended' edition which covers colour photography and how best to illustrate or show your work to others.

Very highly recommended.

Book Announcement & Launch info

This posting has two purposes - to let you know that we are now taking advanced orders of my 2nd book, but also, if you keep on reading, to let you know there will be a book launch held in Edinburgh on the 1st of November! So please keep on reading :-) I'm pleased to announce that we are now taking advanced orders for my 2nd book:

If you wish to secure a limited edition version of the book - there are three versions that come with a print.

We're also offering free postage (for a limited time) on the first book.

If you'd like to see some previews of the book, please go here.

For buying, please go to the halflightpress.com website's store to view the book options (there are quite a few and one of them in particular is very limited!).

The above image shows the book with the cloth slipcase. I've had 300 copies of the book printed with the slipcase, and a few of these editions are tied up with the limited edition print run, so we only have 135 slipcase editions to sell on their own without prints.

Above you can see my intro page to the entire book. The book has a very strong theme about shooting during the nocturnal hours, and is less a tutorial and more a monograph with beautifully printed plates as you can see on this image below:

The book has been an evolutionary project. I first thought I'd completed the layout and content for the book in January of this year. But I think most creative things have their own lifespan, and a knack of growing into something else over time. That was certainly the case with this book.

I remember getting a very touching email from Ragnar Axelsson. He's quite a bit of a special soul I feel, and the content of his email became the introduction to the book. He set the tone and I found myself re-writing and drafting new texts which were more in line with his train of thought. The book took on  more dreamlike quality, being filled with reflective essays on my experiences of photographing in Iceland. It's a very absorbing landscape to spend time in.

There will be a book launch on the 1st of November here in Edinburgh. I do hope you can make it. We will have wine and some snacks for everyone, and there will be a small half hour slide presentation by myself about the making of some of the images with stories behind them.

Folded & Gathered

Last week, while I was on the isle of Arran, conducting a photographic workshop, I received the 'folded & gathered' sheets for my Iceland book that will be out in November.

In the above picture you can see two of the actual pages from the book, alongside the dust jacket below.

One of the things you have to get familiar with, if you're getting a book printed, is the terminology that a printer uses. So what does 'folded & gathered' mean?

When the printer prints all the pages of the book, they are gathered and presented in the final order. If you look at a book, the pages are often folded into sub books - my book arrived in a set of five sub-books, where each sub-book contains x number of folded sheets of paper making up the pages.

What is also interesting about this stage is that these pages are the actual 'real' pages of the final book. These are not proofs in that sense, but they still allow me to go back and say I'm not happy with a particular section of the book and ask for some reprints if need be (this is also costly and ads to any possible delays in the book).

It's worth noting that when evaluating the final pages of the book, do it under some daylight balanced light. I used my viewing booth to do that - it gives me great confidence and a 'level playing field' in which to assess whether the reproductions in the book will work in most lighting conditions (yes, any print can vary in how it looks depending on the type of light you view it under).

The whole process of putting a book together is quite an affair. And getting round the terminology that the printing world uses is an interesting experience too.

Sample Slipcase

Last week I received a copy of the prototype slipcase for my book, and also the cloth bound outer casing of the actual Book. The printer hasn't put the inset photo into the slipcase, but you can see the actual book (minus dust jacket) in the front and the slip-case in the background of this photo.

I love the font that Darren chose for the book, and I'm now very excited about the the book's arrival. I should receive four sample copies early september. There will be a special announcement around that time via my newsletter mailing list.

Here's another picture of part of my book collection. Can you spot the new slipcase within these books?

Lenswork Interview

I've just been informed today that the content for my Iceland book - 'a journal of nocturnes' will be featured in this September/October editions of Lenswork Extended.

If you're not familiar with Lenswork, I can't recommend it highly enough. It is perhaps one of the few very high quality photography magazines out there. Run by Brooks Jensen, the slant is very much on black and white photography only, and focusses very much on the artistic side rather than the technical (just fine by me - I get inspiration from enjoying others work, not looking at camera gear). Anyway, Lenswork also covers colour work in their extended edition, which is the place you'll find me, along side an audio interview.

When I have more firm news about this, I'll let you know.

Meanwhile, things are ramping up here at the office in Edinburgh for the release of my 2nd book this November (official release date is now 1st of November). There will be news about advanced orders, including some very special limited edition variants of the book in this months newsletter first, which you can subscribe to on my home page.

Beyond Words 'pop-up shop'

Beyond Words will be holding a temporary shop at Stills Gallery, Cockburn Street, Edinburgh from 2 to 30 August.  If you're going to be in town then, Neil has told me that he will have copies of my book on display, should you wish to have a browse (and hopefully buy a copy or two).

Iceland book progress

Yesterday I paid the final balance due for the printing of my second book. The book should be here by the end of October and I will be illustrating a sample copy of it - possibly around August time. I've prepared a little video of the proofs for the book. Please accept my apologies for my self-depreciating humour - I often like to tell everyone how brilliant I am (clearly a joke), but some folks tell me I'm hard to read and they don't often know when I'm joking or not, so thought I should let you know that I'm really not being serious at all : ). You can view the video here:

[vimeo 45629937 w=400]

Below is the specification that has been printed onto the top of the slip-case design they've sent me for evaluation. The color is not the final choice - it's just a sample, completely empty, nothing printed on it, so I can get a feel for the quality and weight of the final product.

Below is the slip-case design, and to the side you can see the book as it is slipped into the side of the case.

Iceland book update

I've just created a dedicated Facebook page for my forthcoming book 'Iceland - A journal of Nocturnes'. You can view it here and there is more information on the intro by Ragnar Axelsson as well as the image selection in the book. Last week, the art work for my Iceland book was finalised.

There's been a bit of adjustment to the entire content from its inception which has been fascinating for me to observe. Any creative project seems to take on a life of its own and this book has taken shape in a way I wasn't expecting. What was going to be a simple monograph has turned into a journey through Iceland's landscape - as my friend Mike Green (who has helped review the content) says - it's like a photographic day, taken over several years.

Now that the art work and content of the book is now complete, I should feel as though the book is finished, but I know from experience that nothing is ever finished. The book is a stepping stone of sorts - maybe a document of my experiences to date venturing around the Icelandic landscape.... let me explain.

When working on new images, I don't often see that they will become part of something later on. I could easily have assumed that once I'd been to Iceland, there was little point in returning again. But I have done, on four occasions and created new work on most of those trips. Each time I've returned, I feel I've learned a little bit more about the Icelandic landscape, and also myself as a photographer. I also discover that my previous images of Iceland seem to take on a new meaning for me. It's like I'm able to look at them a little differently, all because I've had a new experience. The newer work seems to affect my impressions of what I think of my older work.

Everything is fluid and always in a state of 'transition'.

It is only as time passes, that we can review what we've done and see parallels, or themes that cross several bodies of work. As much as I feel that my Iceland book is simply a document of my experiences to date, I know that it has come together over almost a decade. By looking back I can see there was a clear path that led from my first Icelandic outing to where I am now. I wish it was so clear to see the path ahead.... and wonder what the final book will be the catalyst for?

I'm extremely excited about this as I hadn't envisioned creating a first book, let alone a second book. Things just seem to take their own course, and when you figure out how to do something first time round, it's much easier the second time.

I'll be announcing a release date, and also a very strictly limited edition of the book that will come with three prints (to make up a beautiful triptych) in a few months from now. The edition will be limited to 45 copies only and the prints will not be available as single prints with other editions of the book, so stay tuned to my monthly newsletter for the first word on this.

I should also mention that there is also going to be a book-launch & print exhibition to coincide with the release of book. More to follow on the dates and venue (in Edinburgh) for this soon.

Photographs not taken

A degree of restraint is what's required, I feel. This week I bought a copy of Will Steacy's 'Photographs not taken', which promises to be an interesting account of images that photographers chose not to take.

Like music where the space between the notes is just as important as the notes, the space between taking images is just as important as the making of an image.

With so much image proliferation happening right now, I have a wonder if what we're doing is polluting our visual existence with too much sensory overload?

I know for myself, I need space between shooting because in the quiet moments, when images aren't being created, I can reflect, consider and simply enjoy what is around me - I have to live in the moment just as much as I may feel I wish to document it.

An image should exist because it has a reason. In the film Amadeus, the King says to Motzart that he didn't care for his opera because 'it has too many notes', while Motzart responds with 'but I used as many notes as it required'. Our own work should be similar - we should create what we need to create to tell our story, and no more. Having a sense of restraint is a quality rather than a hinderance to our own development as photographers, so long as we're in control of it and can moderate it.

But I often wonder if what I'm doing is going down a path of less creativity. As beginners, we tend to photograph everything, and anything. As our craft develops, we start to become more aware of what we're doing, and inevitably more selective. We focus more on certain things and discard others. I feel that sometimes I restrict myself too much; I have built up a lot of experience of what I feel does not work, so I don't shoot it - which in itself is limiting as I may find new opportunities if I did.

As time goes by, I become more and more restrictive - the number of images is reduced down and down, while I seek something that is really worth telling.

But as much as this is a process of pushing myself forward, aiming to create more finely-tuned, stylistic work, I'm not entirely sure of where it's heading. Maybe all that will happen is that I will create less and less, until ultimately, I create nothing at all?

I degree of balance is required.

We need to monitor ourselves and our behaviour, know when we are simply shooting too much garbage - and it is garbage, because it's produced with less consideration and less thought behind it (and we know it too - don't we?), and know when we are not shooting enough because we're putting up barriers that stop us from being creative at all.

I think Will Steacy's book is about this, but much more too. I think it's really an interesting view on what made photographers - and she interviews plenty - decide not to shoot something. It isn't always down to 'because I didn't like it'. There are more reasons to this I'm sure.

But I think for me, it's a chance to reflect on my own motivations and to question why I choose not to make images.

I'll let you know what I think of Will Steacy's book once I'm finished with it, but if you'd like to buy a copy, it's pretty inexpensive at just £11.25 from Beyond Words

Between Maple and Chesnut

Today I received some foil-stamping samples for the 2nd book. Again, I feel that things are progressing, and one 'idea' is slowing morphing into something more 'real'. Whether it's making images, and having visualisations of what it is you want to create, or whether it's visualising the choice of wall paper for your home, we all have to dream in order to see where it is we're going.

But with anything you're working on, you have to keep on the ball about the entire process. Creating a book is a long, long process and there has been so many emails between Darren - who's creating the press ready file, and myself. And the printer hasn't been involved so much as yet, but I've maybe emailed them so much now, I'm losing track!

But today I posted off sample Inkjet prints for each of the images in the book to the printer. Darren had advised this for the first book - his reasoning being that although everyone may be colour managed, you really need to send of hard copy prints - it's the only real way to make sure the printer sees what you're seeing.

Anyway, I'll be heading off to South America in a week or so's time. Plenty of time to get lost doing photos, conducting photo safaris, and meeting Easter Island statues. But little time for work on the book. So I'm hoping to have everything wrapped up on the book front next week.