BIRTH OF A PHOTOBOOK!!

Creating a Photobook (Part 2)

Well… after a very long and sometimes painful labour we are delighted, deliriously excited, most honoured and grateful to announce the birth of our 1 pound and 12 ounces baby… It’s a book!

The Middle of Somewhere, Numbered edition of 600. Essay by Alasdair Foster, two inserts; Travelogue & No Yesterdays (from Yael’s diary) , hand made notes. Cover art by Uma Harris

 The Middle of Somewhere has been a long journey, an on-going family diary that revolves around my two daughters growing up.

It’s been 12 years since we were first living in India and i begun to photograph my family life. I suppose i became enchanted with the magic of childhood and the playful, creative possibilities that open up. I wanted to forget so much that had become formulaic about the way i approached photography. After more than a decade working in London, shooting album covers and editorial portraits, one develops a way of working. I wanted to undo all that, to forget what i knew, reconnect with my true self and start all over. So… i suppose it’s fitting that i found myself connecting with my childhood through the prism of my daughters. That they became my muses and my work began to crystallise.

It’s been a personal and photographic journey into the unknown, a personal diary, watching my daughters’ childhood unfold, trying as best i can to catch the magic and all the while aware that time is slipping.

ONE IDEA LEADS TO ANOTHER…

Originally we had a very different idea for the cover of the book. Part of the magic of any creative process is its evolution. Being flexible and open minded helps the process grow. It was an exciting moment when we decided to ask Uma to do the art work for the cover, based on another piece of art she’d made for us. Below you can see a brief clip of Uma at work.

IT’S ALL PART OF THE PROCESS

I’ve been talking with Eva-Maria Kunz about making this book for a few years now. Making a photobook is not something to be rushed. Ideas need time to grow. Some grow nicely, others fail. It’s all part of the process. Bouncing ideas… In earnest we began work on the book in September 2014. We met up at The Photobook Museum, Cologne, to start planning a schedule as well as mapping out our ideas and dreams, the vision for the book. You can read more about that here.

Fast Forward to April 2015, it’s time to print the book! Another long flight to Italy, to EBS, (the master book printers that will help us ‘deliver’ this baby…) It’s a trip that can’t be avoided. The photographer has to check the proofs and work closely with the printers to ensure the images look just right. .

PICTURE THE SCENE, THE LABOUR’S BEEN GOING FOR MORE THAN 24 HOURS…

I’ve been pacing up and down the corridor, in and out of every chair in the waiting room. Anxiety turns to frustration to boredom as you wait for nurse Silvia to pop her head in the door and say ‘ok they want you down on press’ – meanwhile your fingers are chewed down to the bone as you wait …. Soon … Come on…. What’s taking them so long… The afternoon drifts towards the evening… How many coffees have I had today…. and so it goes…

Pre-Sales for The Middle of Somewhere have begun over at ceiba. This really is all about the love we have for photobooks. Making the book has been a real labour of love, a roller-coaster ride that’s not quite over yet!

BOOK PREVIEW COMING SOON!