Making a photo book - Choosing a theme, selecting and sequencing photos
Ever since the end of last year, I had a strong intention to collect some of my work from 2019 and print it in the form of zine or a small photo book (I'll consider them to be the same thing in further text). I didn't have a specific project in mind other than to preserve fleeting moments of everyday life in Belgrade. For over 130 days this year I've walked the city streets at least for half an hour, in search of the inspiring scenes that often go by unnoticed.
I've only used one camera and one lens combo for the entire year - my trusty X100F with a fixed 23mm (35mm equivalent) f/2 lens. Here I'll share my thought process as I'm coming up with the design of the zine. I don't plan it as a product for wide audience, but simply to have a recorded physical copy of my work for myself and the people close to me.
Choosing photos
Choosing photos is the most important part of the process as it will determine the overall feeling and message I'm trying to get across. It should tell the story about ordinary people caught in a chaos of big city and how they choose to deal with it. Besides selecting only the quality work, I have the following three restrictions in mind:
- photos must be taken this year
- they have to be taken in Belgrade - that means I won't include photos from my trip to Budapest or a vacation in Greece etc
- only street photography, spontaneous, with evidences of human element in them
Some that won't make the cut because of the restrictions
Sequencing
To effectively tell a story, it needs to have a strong start and an interesting finish. As soon as a reader opens the first page, the photo should captivate them, giving them the general idea what the book is about and lure them in for more. And it should end with a punch - a sequence of photos that will make reader keep thinking about the story once they are done.
Images that are placed next to each other must have some kind of connection - it can be the same color pattern, same gesture from the subject or a matching shapes. Absolute best way to organize them is to make small prints, spread them on the big table or floor and look for combinations that work well together and in the overall sequence.
Design
Once you've chosen the size and format of the zine (for me it's a portrait oriented, approximately 21x14 cm size), it's time to think about the design. Investing in photo books and studying the works of other artists is a great way to prepare yourself. It's the same with designing your own photo zine, you can "borrow" ideas when it comes to layout and design from storytellers that have done it before you.
My plan is to not make it a simple sequence of identically formatted pages, but to vary the design and have viewer keep guessing what's going to happen next. For example, one spread might have a single photo in full width, another a duo of two portrait oriented photos and the next be the combination of 3 or more photos.
Some things to keep in mind
- make sure important details are not squeezed in the middle where the book folds
- photos that need to be looked in more detail because they have something not obvious right away, should stand alone and/or enlarged.
Below are some examples of possible pages.
That's it for now. I have a long time ahead to complete the design but I hope this thought process was helpful to you. Have you thought of printing your work as a book?
Btw, if you are on IG, you can follow me there @echo_in_time.
This is great news. I hope it will be possible for me to get a copy of yours. I know some street photography enthusiasts from my community, I wish they will be interested in joining steem. Your book could be a great evidence for them :)
Great to hear that, @gibic! I still have to check with the printing company about all the costs and if it's cost-effective to ship overseas. Will certainly do share the info if I decide to do that. :)