PHOTO EYE – BOOK OF THE WEEK

Photo-Eye, the renowned US photobook store and blog recently featured The Middle of Somewhere  as it’s book of the week with a lovely review by Daniel Boetker-Smith (Director of the Asia-Pacific Photobook Archive).

“I was asked by someone yesterday to describe Harris’ book in one sentence, I said without thinking: ‘it’s like looking at a Super-8 film in book form.’ This is a unique and special book.”

You can read the full review here.

 

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!

SELECTED BY DUNCAN MILLER GALLERY – LA

I’m very proud to announce that ‘Uma, steamy window’ has been selected for YourDaillyPhotograph.com.

Uma, steamy window © Sam Harris (from the book The Middle of Somewhere)

Duncan Miller Gallery, curators have chosen my image for inclusion into YourDailyPhotograph.com. They select a very small percentage of photographs submitted, saying “You’re in good company — in the recent past images from Henri Cartier-Bresson, Andreas Gursky, Richard Misrach, Andre Kertesz, Edward Burtynsky and other photography legends have appeared in Your Daily Photograph”

Uma, steamy window is on sale at a very special price for the next 24 hours (May 9th). You can check it out here.

THE BIFB COLLECTION 2014

One of my images has been accepted for the BIFB COLLECTION 2014, an annual fundraiser for the Ballarat International Foto Biennale.  For now, I can’t tell you what my image is, as all works are hung anonymously, and that would be letting the cat out of the bag, but all images in the show are for sale at the one price $125.

You can purchase a red dot at http://www.trybooking.com/92603  which also includes entry into the event at Gallery Eleven40, 1140 Malvern Road, Malvern, Victoria, starting at noon on Sunday August 31st. The event runs until around 4.00pm. All the details are at the website
http://eleven40.com.au/photography-exhibitions/bifb-collection-2014.html

DUNCAN MILLER GALLERY, LOS ANGELES

Los Angeles’ Duncan Miller Gallery has featured one of my images on their innovative Your Daily Photograph, print collection sale. ‘Uma, bubble gum’ was selected by curator and photography commentator Alison Sieven-Taylor. Alison’s weekly blog Photojournalism Now has a wide international readership and her writing appears in  a variety of leading photography magazines.

ARCHIVE DISCOVERY

3 totally unrelated requests in recent weeks have had me searching through my archives. Boxes that should be better organised… but in that chaos there is the magic of surprises. I came across this photograph buried at the bottom of a box of old portfolio prints. Taken in 1994 it’s been a while… nice surprise!

Photo © Sam Harris

PRESENTATION – NATIONAL CENTRE PERFORMING ARTS, MUMBAI

I’m most honoured and grateful to be showing my new work, The Middle of Somewhere and talking with Dinesh Khanna and Raj Lalwani about my photographic journey, following my passion and my long relationship with India.

So, if you’re in Mumbai or can get there for next Sunday (8th Dec) it would be great to see you! Piramal Art Gallery, National Centre Performing Arts, 3.45pm Cold beers and further conversation will no doubt follow…