Creating a Photobook #1 - Selecting the theme, format and design

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Hi, everyone, it's good to talk to you again! I've been busy and uninspired for the past two weeks so I took a break from posting. I used the time to sort through my photo galleries which lead to a decision to make brand new photobook. I previously created two - one with the selected photos from 2019, and the other that featured my 2020 work. Now it's going to be something different and more exciting.

I have never promoted my photography work or tried to sell it as art, previous books were just for me and close friends. It's mainly due to my introversion and reluctance to market to a wider audience. I was never good at marketing anyways, even though I have decent social media following. I prefer to let my photographs tell the story for themselves.

It's been 6 years since I started doing street photography. My style has evolved, my approach has changed, my skill level improved. I feel it's time to open all folders, spread out the images and start making a collection. Here's my process.

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Choosing a theme

Photobook can include a body of work or only a specific project. In my case, since I'm taking into consideration every photo I've ever made, the possibilities are either: 1. doing a portfolio book - not looking for a specific theme, but simply selecting the best work and putting it together in a meaningful way, or 2. having a concept in mind and choosing only the photos that fit. This means some of your favorite shots are not included simply because they are not compatible with the rest of the photos.

From my experience and point of view it's absolutely necessary that all the selected photos work towards telling a story and are not thrown in simply because author likes them. If they don't make sense in the concept of the entire collection, they have to be excluded, otherwise they stick out. Portfolio type of books are better suited if you need something to show for your job searches, as a representation of your skills and preferences. For artistic expressions, specific themes tell better stories.

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I have 2-3 concepts in mind about what direction to go in. Many of my photographs portray people in a relationship to their surroundings and the world. And the world is going through massive changes at the moment. It is not an easy time to be alive and positive. You can almost see the downfall of humanity/humankind if we continue this route.

On the other hand, more people than ever are becoming aware of toxicity that modern life has brought with it and they are stepping out of it, learning independence and reconnection with nature. It's a battle for consciousness and it's what will be the main theme throughout this book. I'm still working on details.

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I'm designing a book in Adobe InDesign, it's the easiest tool for the job. Once you choose the theme you have to decide the format and size. I have a lot of photos in portrait orientation so the book is the same ratio as well, in the classic A5 format.

As for design, it's important to have rules set so that pages look consistent. You create ruler guides in the main spread and that will transfer to all the pages. It's also important to have variations - I don't want every page to look the same and predictable. It will become boring to the viewer and they'll shuffle through pages with less and less interest. If you keep them guessing and curious what they'll see next, that's when you know you've done a good job.

So, the same 4-5 guidelines for consistency but switching things up regularly, that's how I'm doing it. I add varieties by switching between full page and double pages, portraits and landscapes, skipping a page, changing position and size of photos etc.

Next time I'll write about choosing the best photos and sequencing. Stay tuned. :)