Process 021 ☼ A Check List For Making Photo Books
Process 021 ☼ A Check List For Making Photo Books
Giveaway: Jamel Shabazz's new book "City Metro"
Dear friends,
Today’s letter is an update on the making of my Notice photo book, but first, my word what a week.
I’m sure you saw the mayhem in Washington DC last Wednesday. Photojournalist Julio Cortez, friend of Process and last issue’s interview guest, was reporting on the ground alongside many other incredibly brave photographers and journalists.
I can’t overstate the importance of their work. These photographers put their safety on the line to ensure this moment was properly documented and preserved so we can hopefully ensure something like this never happens again.
For this week’s giveaway my pals at Galerie Bene Taschen generously made available a copy of Jamel Shabazz’s new book “City Metro”.
A Notice Photobook Update
My impression of the steps required to make a photo book used to be:
Take photos.
Put the best photos in order in the middle of a white page.
Print book.
As a curator I have been responsible for 100+ exhibits and worked on books, catalogs, and zines before, so of course I knew it was a bit more complicated than this. And now, my word, I am really finding out.
Turning Notice into a high-end hardcover photo book is the first time I’m responsible for a project like this from start to finish. It’s been great! Let’s go over the timeline.
Back in May of 2020, before I knew “Notice” was going to be a book, I wrote about starting a new daily photo project in Vancouver in issue 003. In October’s issue 010 I wrote about the realization that this project was evolving into a book. Then in De I shared with you the dream team of pals I put together to help bring this book to the finish line in issue 017.
We’re in the home stretch now with a tidy to-do list of things to check off and a pre-order coming with a bunch of fun early bird extras to help fund the printing costs.
This is by no means an exhaustive list but it contains the big picture tasks we’re tackling in the coming weeks. Some of top level items have already been checked off, from image selection and sequencing to the cover design. Now it’s all about getting the details right and hustling to make it all happen. We just picked our paper type and oh my word there are so many different kinds of paper!
One way I’m exploring to help fund the printing costs is by approaching companies to pre-order the book in bulk as a gift for their team or network. For example, a small SF agency committed to pick up 5 copies for their creative staff and a venture capital firm is grabbing 20 books to gift to their portfolio company CEO’s. Every little bit helps.
Since I embedded the creative lessons of this project deep into the fabric of this book I hope it can inspire others to (re)consider their own creative practices. If you work for a company who might be interested in this, let me know and I’ll send you the pitch deck.
In the coming weeks my main collaborator Dan Rubin and I will hack away at this to-do list and I hope to have a pre-order and some book and cover images to you as soon as February. (PS If you’re a Shopify expert, we could use help building our page. Let me know.)
That’s it for this week. Next week I’ll break down my ambitious 2021 goal for the Process newsletter: inspiring and supporting you to create a photo project you’re proud of. Speaking of which, thank you to all who’ve sent me zines, postcards and books over the break. It’s very much appreciated it, as are your kind notes.
Keep shooting and take good care of yourselves and others.
Wesley
Process Giveaway!
Jamel Shabazz is one of my favorite documentary photographers of all time. For decades he has documented various aspects of life in New York City, from youth culture to a wide range of social conditions.
His latest book “City Metro” was just published by Galerie Bene Taschen alongside an exhibit of the work and one lucky Process reader can win a copy of this beautiful book.
To enter email me at hello@wesley.co (please don’t reply to this note but send a separate email) before 11pm EST on January 13th and answer the following question:
Which photographer has best documented your city? (They don’t need to be well-known, I’m interested in who made work in your city that most moves you, not the objective best.)
I will share a list of all the answers. One winner will be randomly drawn and notified. This giveaway is for Process subscribers only. Subscribe by clicking the button below:
Make sure to show Jamel Shabazz and Galerie Bene Taschen some love on Instagram and check out the gallery’s online shop to purchase this book at others.
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Process is a weekly letter from Wesley Verhoeve.
Follow along at @wesley.