A life of its own?

It's just over a year now, since my Iceland book came out. Which I can't believe. In some ways, it feels as though it has been a lot longer, but a year isn't much time at all, so I'm finding it interesting to feel as if the book has been around for a long time. Perhaps it was already a thought in my mind long before I even began working on it?

It was really interesting to decide on the special edition print runs for the book. It was also a lot of fun too.

I spent a bit of time deciding which group of three images would go together to form the triptych. The idea being that if they are put together, they are complimentary and can be framed as such. The final touch for me, was to create a dedicated envelope for them. The envelope has the same layout and font-set as used for the slipcase. The idea being that the prints will be stored alongside the book in this special edition envelope, as a collectors edition. Well I've just done a stock count, and it seems I only have 8 copies of this edition left.

When creating special edition sizes, it's a difficult task to decide upon the quantities. Make the edition size too small, and the edition will sell out too quickly. Make it too large, and the stock will sit around for some time.

But selling books should not be entered upon, if you are going for a quick-win result. Books take a long time to sell, and even small print runs of 1000 copies need a few years at least to sell out, if they are going to sell at all. Creating books and selling them, is ultimately a risky endeavour, and one that is embarked upon, if you feel you really need to do it, and can accept the possibility that you might not get your money back. Books are not cheap to print, and even more difficult to store somewhere dry.

The idea when I decided to put together my two books, was to create products that I could offer to workshop participants, and visitors to my website, for several years to come. If I sold all the books out in a year, then I would have nothing left to offer.

Like my prints, I feel a well printed book is a 'calling card'. It is a statement of who the photographer is, and the aesthetics / design of the book, right down to the layout and font-set used, should give you a sense of who the photographer is. The entire thing, not just the photos contained inside, should be carefully chosen, and should fit the aesthetic tastes of the photographer. In fact, I can't imagine any photographer who wouldn't want to be involved in the design of their book as much as possible. It is such a personal thing to do. So many photog's get that part wrong, and I've come across books that have wonderful photos in them, but the overall design or layout is at odds with the work contained within.

I'm still hoping to do a 3rd book sometime. My initial plans were to come out with a book about the Altiplano of Chile and Bolivia sometime next year, but I feel this is too soon. The work I have begun to create in Bolivia, seems to be getting stronger each year I return. So I think I need to wait a while and see what transpires there when I go back this June.

Well, just some thoughts and observations. It's good to check in on where things are, and I find christmas and new year a time to reflect, to look back and think about how far I have come as a photographer, as in life, as in everything.

It seems that making the photos, and designing the layout and appearance of this book with my friend Darren Ciolli-Leach, was just the start. It seems that even a year after publication, the book is still finding its place in my heart and mind. It's a grower, and it's heartening to note that sometimes, when I think I've finished a project, it's only really just begun. I think my iceland book has taken on a life of its own. So I will be watching it with interest over the years to come.

Hardbound & Electronic Bound

I'm a big proponent of the hardback book. So much so, that I've released two hard back's in the past three years: 'The art of adventure, 40 Photographic Examples', and also 'Iceland, a journal of nocturnes'. Both were printed to a very high standard, and are roughly about Album size. But I've been thinking for a while now, that we live in a multi-format society. We tend to like to access what we own, when we want to. We like the convenience of having our books and music available to us wherever we are.

So what I've decided to do, is offer both my hardback books with a bundled PDF version. I figure that most folks who want to buy the book, would also like to be able to carry around with them an electronic version of it on their iPad or similar device. I still believe that the books should be bought as hardbacks, so I'm afraid that the PDF versions will not be available for sale separately. If this is bad news for you - then maybe you can look at it as buying an e-book and getting a hard-back version of it as a bonus ;-)

So I'm very pleased to announce that both my books now come with a PDF version along side it as part of the purchase. I'm also additionally pleased to let you know that if you already purchased a copy of one of these books from my site already, we have just sent an email to you with a link to download the PDF version for free.

You can purchase the books here.

A Walk through Nature

As many of you know, photographic books are perhaps some of the most treasured objects I own. I really love them for many reasons, and I've always wondered why not all lovers of photography own them. They not only give us a better experience of someones work compared to viewing it on a website, but also, they allow for a more intimate setting where we can lose ourselves for half an hour or more as the photographer takes us on a journey through their own world.

One such book that I've had the delight of getting to know for this very reason, is Dav Thomas' 'With Trees'.

I've just spent the past few days returning again and again to this book, because it has a wonderful way of letting my mind reconnect with what it's like to be outside, roaming through woods and remote landscapes. It is a beautiful journey where I seem to lose myself each time I pick it up and roam through its pages.

Thomas celebrates the nature of trees as they are. He does not seek to simplify or create an illusion of what is there, but instead works very much with what the trees themselves have to offer. And what they offer is a recognition that even in the middle of one of the smallest and most densely populated countries in Europe, there is always a forest not too far away, where one can gain some space and remove themselves from the existence of every day life.

Thomas mainly focusses on the forests of the Peak and Lake district, but there are occasional entries to places such as Elgin in northern Scotland. What is interesting for me to note however, is that there is a sense of uniformity to the landscapes he has photographed. He reminds me that one doesn't have to go far to find their muse, and I suspect that these locations have not been picked purely because they are within reach of where Thomas lives, but because he has had a life long relationship with the environment he has chosen to photograph.

His book is not simply a celebration of trees, but an empathetic understanding of the undergrowth, grasses and mosses that in his own words are a 'supporting cast for the trees they surround'. I loved this sentiment particularly, because in it, Thomas is telling me he understands that each element in a scene has a relationship to one another not just photographically, but also in nature.

Although the book is a monograph, it is interspersed with Thomas' observations of how trees exist and relate to their surrounding environment. I loved the text, because for me, it echoed pretty much what I saw and felt in his work: a deep fascination for the relationship between tree, undergrowth and moss. Thomas seemed to me very much like someone who has spent time around his subjects getting to know them in all their seasons and different atmospheric environments.

In one such observation by Thomas, he notes that Oak and Limestone are often hard to separate, because they blend in a way where mosses covering the limestone take on an extended quality to the surrounding trees, and he uses this well in his compositions. He is comfortable to show you that both these compositional elements are intertwined, and can be interpreted as one, rather than discreet elements which have to stand apart. That I feel, is a difficult thing to execute well, because forests are difficult subjects at best to produce strong photographs from. And Thomas seems extremely comfortable with this task.

On a more personal note, at times I felt that I was enjoying images that would compliment the work of naturalist Eliot Porter. Whereas some photographers seek drama and mood in their work, others are more content to convey nature the way it is, and celebrate it's beauty for 'just being'. This is what I see in this book, and I think that's why I feel it should proudly sit next to my collection of Eliot Porter books: a high commendation indeed.

On the subject of the quality of the printing and presentation, the book is a beautiful hardbound A3 sized monograph, with a lovely introduction by David Ward. I had the great delight in noticing that even the cardboard box it comes in, is beautifully presented with the same themes as contained on the front cover of the book. It is one piece of cardboard I will not be throwing out, because for me - it is part of the book where packing and content are one concept. I'm a big believer in the collectibility of books, so if you do decide to buy this book, then hold onto the carton as well.

Thomas I feel, is just at the start of a great future. I think he has vision, not only in his photographic work, but also in his message. He knows his motivations well. This is a hard act to pull off for many and I feel that Thomas understands his own sense of aesthetics and along with it, his own vision and style. He has found his own path, and is on a journey, which I feel I understand well, because photography has been a journey for me also.

I hope this is the first of many books by Thomas. It was been executed well, which considering this is his first book, illustrates that Thomas knows his message and  has a strong sense of how to convey it.

For me, It will sit proudly alongside my Eliot Porter collection. As I said earlier; a high commendation indeed.

'With Trees' is available from Beyond Words books @ £40.

And also available directly from the Triplekite publishing in different limited editions.

Image interpretation techniques

It's been a long time in the works, but I'm almost nearing completion of an ebook about image interpretation (what most people call post-processing - except I detest that phrase).

I'm in Patagonia right now, at the end of a great trip we had to Torres del Paine national park. The weather was spectacular, and plenty of new material from it, i'm sure.

While i've been in south america, I've been working on this e-book in my downtime. I had great difficulty with this one, as I think I needed to get the Fast-Track-to-Photoshop ebook out of the way first. And I've felt that since that was done, this ebook has come really quickly to me. I expect it to be a few weeks or maybe a month or so, before it is out.

Heading home tomorrow to my own bed, Scottish tea bags, and my beloved hi-fi !

Adios amigos, Bruce

Fast-Track to Photoshop CS e-Book

When I first decided to run photographic workshops, I sat around for a few months wondering just what a workshop should entail. As my good friend Kathy said to me - 'don't copy anybody, do what you think a workshop should be all about' - this has been extremely good advice, and since then, I've taken it very much to heart in everything I've done regarding my own photography career.

So when I set up my workshops, I decided there should be some kind of structure to what I wanted to convey. One of the things I felt was a 'must', was to include a tutorial on Photoshop CS* (not elements), something that my participants could take home and walk through under their own pace. So I put together a nice tutorial that walks the reader through an entire edit of one of my images, from start to finish. The tutorial comes prepared with the TIFF image I use throughout the edit, and also a final Photoshop version for reference purposes.

I've had many participants tell me that by walking through my tutorial a few times, they were up and running using Photoshop CS! That's pretty encouraging news to hear, because Photoshop CS is not an easy application to start with, but it is, in my opinion still the best application for photo editing because the degree of control you have is very precise.

So, with this rather long pre-amble done. I wish to tell you that I've decided to offer in the form of an e-Book, my fast-track to Photoshop CS tutorial that I give all my workshop participants. It comes along with the two files I mentioned - the raw TIFF file, and also the completed Photoshop file, so you can look at the edits.

So if you're in the market for learning Photoshop CS, but you're a bit overwhelmed by the application (Photoshop CS is not intuitive), and you can't face months of reading massive books which aim to tell you everything about Photoshop CS, then this eBook is for you.

Mytutorial is condensed and tells you the core of what you need to know.

If you wish to buy it, you can buy it here.

*Please note: this e-book is for Photoshop CS. It is not suitable for Photoshop Elements.

New Ragnar Axelsson book.....

When I was in Iceland this March, I read an article in one of the homespun magazines there about a new book by RAX (He prefers to be called this, rather than Ragnar).

I've been looking around for it, but still no sign, but RAX has now put images up on his site for the new book, so if you'd like to see what's coming, then please click here.

I think the book is called Round Up, and it's about the farmers on Iceland. I include one of the images from the forthcoming book. Something to look forward to!

The art of Photographing Geisha

A lot of people know my landscape photography as 'simplified' and some even go as far as to say it's 'elegant'. All very complimentary to me, and it makes me happy because this is exactly what I aim to achieve with my landscape images. But what of my portraiture work? I personally see no difference between landscape images, and people images. To me, one is the landscape of a place, while the other is the landscape of a human soul. The same compositional rules apply - shape, tone and form are all required and of course the emotional engagement must be there too. So I've always been intrigued with people who like landscapes, but don't like photos of people, or the other way round.

When I make pictures of people, it's because I find them very engaging. Either it's their posture, the colour of their clothing, or there is a spirit about them that I find appealing, but ultimately, the composition has to be there too.

So while thinking about the kinds of portraiture work I would like to do as a new project, I've been thinking about how it would be nice if the work was simple and has some beauty or elegance to it. I know myself well, to know where I am with my own aesthetics and abilities as a landscape photographer: so I'm aiming to match my current level of ability and aesthetic with a new subject. For a long time now, I've believed that certain subjects work well for us, only when we have reached the right state of readiness. In other words, we do our best work when we encounter the right subject at the right time in our own artistic development. When both these worlds merge, the work can often bring on a new awareness of our style and future direction.

For some reason, the Geisha of Japan sprang to mind. I've been speaking a good friend of mine who told me about Kusakabe Kimbei's work, and I reproduce a hand coloured image here. I think there is indeed something elegant and beautiful about the work, and it shows me that there is great potential to this subject.

I bring all this up because I'm simply trying to explain how I can become inspired by certain subjects, or how the creative process can begin for me. I still have no idea whether a trip to Japan is actually on the cards as yet, or how realistic it may be to make images of Geisha, but the wheels have started to turn, and I've started to research the possibilities.

One of the things I love to do about anything I get really into, is to buy books on the subject. Today I received a copy of John Foster's book 'Geisha & Maiko of Kyoto' (you can also view his work on Geisha at his website too). I'll start by saying that it's a great book. It tells me a lot about the Geisha and Maiko but also, from a photographer's perspective, he tells me about the issues in working with his subjects over a seven year period.

John is a passionate photographer who has very similar attitudes to making portraits as I have: his first rule is that he is there to make friends, not offend anyone. So making images is secondary to the experience of meeting someone and finding out about them. He cares a lot for his subjects and has the utmost respect for them. I feel this is key to any engagement with a possible subject for portraiture photography  and it's something I've always kept in mind while making images in Cambodia, Cuba, India and Nepal. People are people, no matter wherever you go, and they have feelings.

John's book has given me a lot of insights into the possibilities of engaging Geisha and the chances there are of making any photographs of them. From what I've learned: it's not going to be easy.... But I've been so inspired by his images because they show me the 'elegance' and 'simplicity' that I'm seeking.

Of course, John's book is not the only one I've bought on the subject of Geisha. I also found Jodi Cobb's (National Geographic photographer) excellent book, which has a more 'reportage' aspect to it. Her website has an excellent 'street photography' section on the Geisha.

All of this, is helping me gain better insight, and also helping me build my enthusiasm for a possible project. Whether I actually make it out to Japan is another story all together. But right now, I feel I've found something that is inspiring me to find out more, and this is key to any possible project one is considering undertaking.

For anything to begin, a flame has to ignite first.

Stories of Diaspora

I think that as photographers we are, at the core of our natures - inquisitive about our environment. Or at least, I feel we should be. For a while now, I've been thinking that it's all very well to make beautiful images, but beauty is perhaps not enough in terms of our own progress and development of our art.

I might put forward the idea that to create beautiful images alone could be a shallow endeavour, certainly from the point of view of how we progress and move forward. Surely we have to feel something for our subjects in order for our art to 'grow'?

With this in mind, I find these days, that going to a location simply because it is 'stunning' is not enough of an attraction for me. There has to be depth to the subject at hand. I have to have been pulled in and inspired in a way that I want to tell a story about it. And photographers tell stories not just with one image, but often a collection of them.

I'm particularly fond of portfolios, where the collection of images contained therein, feel cohesive, and hopefully tell a story (be it in the mood they convey - through colour and tone, or more literally).

This week, I was handed a copy of 'Ragas & Reels' by a co-worker who shares my office space here in sunny Leith, Edinburgh. Ash is originally from Rajasthan, and told me of his father's book. He described it as a portrait of an indian's view of being indian and also Scottish at the same time. The cover intrigued me, because I always like it when someone finds a story in overlapping cultures. In this book of poems and images, we have just that - the cover alone tells me that this book is about indians finding a home in Scotland and the overlapping embrace of two cultures.

I think it's great when someone finds a subject to explore, because it gives the photographer a direction - a channel in which to focus their photography: going out there aimlessly making images is enjoyable and I see no problem with this, but there does come a time when there feels as if there has to be a reason for what you do, and we are all eventually looking for a story to tell.

On the subject of diaspora, I do find it intriguing how cultures merge and evolve (or not)  through migration. Less so from a political point of view, but more so from the contradictory aspects that must surface for those who move into a new country. I mention this, because the Scots (of which I'm one of them) have landed in just about every continent since the 1800's. One area I feel I have a deep connection with is Patagonia - there's something familiar about the place for me - climate wise, it's not too dissimilar from the north west of Scotland, and sometimes the pampas remind me of the bleak far north of Scotland as well. So it was with surprise to discover that there are a lot of Scottish Chilean's. Yep, Patagonia has a great deal of Chileans of Scottish descent who emigrated there in the 1800's as sheep farmers.

I have to ask myself: is the landscape familiar because I can recognise part of my homeland of Scotland in it? Does a sense of a place come from those who worked it? - it's an inquisition that I often find myself wondering about while I'm there (a yearly occurrence for me). I'd like to think there is a spirit to the landscape that has been formed by those who lived on it.

Maybe some day I might tell a story of it through my own images. But I do find the concept of little books such as 'Ragas & Reels' inspiring, because they allow me to see a relationship between photography and where we are.

Michael Kenna Exhibition Book for £10

I love Michael Kenna's books by Nazraeli press. They're gorgeously printed. But last week, I picked up this soft shell book of Kenna's work for £10 from Chris Beetles Gallery in London.

As part of a recent exhibition at Chris Beetles fine art gallery, they printed up a small 210mm x 210mm book of Kenna's work. The book comes with a price list for his prints and also, what I liked the most, was that each image had the title written in Kenna's own hand. Which is rather unusual. It's also pretty cheap at £10 a copy.

It by no means as beautifully printed as the Nazraeli titles are, but it's an unusual offering, and one for those who would like to have something by Kenna in print, or maybe for those fans like myself, who just have to own anything he does :-)

If you'd like one, then best get it at http://www.chrisbeetlesfinephotographs.com/publications/michael-kenna.html.

Creating a market for Photography

I was delighted this week to hear that there is a new photographic gallery that has opened up in the heart of Edinburgh's city centre.

I'm so pleased, because I wish there were more galleries out there for photographers to illustrate and sell their work.

My motivation is easy to understand, because if there were, the medium would be taken more seriously as a collectable form of art than it currently is.

So this leads me onto my main reason for this post....I've been wondering just how many photographers buy the work of other photographers? I'd hazard a guess that the answer is 'not many'.

And yet, when we look at the number of people out there who take up photography and eventually wish to look for a place to exhibit their work, we will find that there are few places available for budding photographers to show their work in print form. The reason for this is simple: photographic prints do not sell for one reason or another - particularly here in the UK where there is almost no market for them. I could go into great depth as to why I believe they don't sell and I'm sure that the comments to this post will go down that route. There are of course exceptions to this when we consider the big names such as Steve McCurry or Michael Kenna, but I'm really talking about the general photographic community that you and I are part of.

There are thousands if not more photographers who create beautiful work, yet have no means to sell it. Sure we have things like Flickr and it's easy to make our own website and put up a web store in which to sell our work, but prints do not sell from websites because people need to see them in the flesh to appreciate what it is they are buying. Each time I have had an exhibition, despite reassuring buyers that everything on my site is up to the same quality as the prints they see at the exhibition, they always buy from what is on display at the exhibition, even if they prefer a particular image from my website.

In one way, photographers are more blessed these days because they have an outlet and many forums in which to illustrate their work. But the truth is that there is no market for photographic work. People do not buy prints.

I think the main issue for me is a lack of support for photography as an art form from within the photographic community itself. Many of us photographers have never bought another photographers work, because we're far too interested in selling or promoting our own work. And therein lies the problem. If we were more willing to consider other photographers work and patronise it, we would be creating a market in which many photographers, including ourselves, could flourish. In a nutshell, if we wish our work to be patronised, we should patronise others work.

I've had a look around my home, and so far, I have two prints made by other photographers. One I bought from a 'photo of the week' winner on Photo.net many years ago titled 'London Tourists' by David Malcolmson. I was so taken with the image that I contacted David and bought a print from him. It has pride of place in my sitting room and I still enjoy looking at it very much. There's something extremely satisfying about owning a piece of work that I love. I'd like to own a Michael Kenna print at some point, and I've decided to ear mark his work for some time when I know I'm in a position to invest in his work.

I've decided that this year, if things are going well for myself, I'd like to start collecting some more work by photographers I admire. So far, I've only been able to afford to buy their work in book form, and I think this is a great start. The print reproduction quality in book form these days isn't too far away from print quality (the exception for me being Ansel Adams work, which is stunningly beautiful in print form and a million miles away from the excellent reproductions in his books. Same applies to Fay Godwins work also - her prints are so beautiful and although the books are good, they pale into insignificance to her silver gelatin prints).

But books are a great way to patronise and endorse the work of a photographer you like, and perhaps this is the crux of the matter. As a photographer, I'm inspired by my heros, and I've bought just about everything that Steve McCurry or Michael Kenna have produced in book form. I get a great deal of inspiration and I learn a lot by studying their work too, but the learning is less important than the inspiration I've gained from enjoying their work. So often I feel, that it's easy to become engrossed in the 'how' of photography, rather than just enjoying the work at hand.

I'm digressing here a little perhaps. Ultimately, if we wish to have a market space for our own work to be bought and endorsed, we should be opening up ourselves to buying other photographers work, be it in book form, or as prints. We should be supporting and encouraging our field of interest, and I can think of no other better way to do this than to buy other photographers work.