What's YOUR Monograph About?

[ReginaldSMith]

These days you don't need to be renown photographer to publish a monograph. Blurb and many others in the P.O.D. industry will even give you a free ISBN. Upfront cost is nothing but your time. So, have you published one? Are you planning one? If you did, what's your subject matter? What's the idea behind your (real or imagined) coffee table sized monograph?

 

[rorye]

"Contact49" , 49 images within the 49 square miles of San Francisco. It's a handmade book with an 8"x8" fiber print included. I also have 50 9"x9" copies being printed by Edition One in Berkeley, which come with a 5"x5" fiber print. All 49 will be in a show at SFMoma Artist Gallery opening in a couple of weeks. It's all shot on film of course.

 

[ReginaldSMith]

"Contact49"

That's spectacular. As an ex-SF resident (Potrero Hill), I can just imagine how super that project would be. How long have you worked on the project? I wish you massive success with your MOMA show.

 

[Peter Schrager]

Congratulations rory!!

 

[Peter Schrager]

Just finishing a book called NO DOGS AND SENGHA GAIA...all taken in Los Angeles on Polaroid film

 

[removed account4]

good luck rory and peter !
==

 

[ReginaldSMith]

Just finishing a book called NO DOGS AND SENGHA GAIA...all taken in Los Angeles on Polaroid film

Ok, you got me hooked! I'm not sure I understand the title, but perhaps you can add a bit more? And how long have you worked on it? How many photos?

 

[Peter Schrager]

Rory can you give details about the printing
I'm interested in contacting edition one

 

[ReginaldSMith]

BTW, I was only joking about "coffee table" size.

 

[Peter Schrager]

Ok, you got me hooked! I'm not sure I understand the title, but perhaps you can add a bit more? And how long have you worked on it? How many photos?

Reginald this is 2 separate themes in one book
I took the pictures about 2 years ago but finally found a book editor to do the dirty work..i.e. layout and design...just have decide how and where it's being printed.
Sengha gaia was a spiritual house I lived in for a moment..the grounds were rough but still a beautiful space..it is now gone
No dogs were photos taken around Los Angeles...its basically a pun on the title because there are no dog pictures nor are there any bad ones either!!

 

[ReginaldSMith]

Reginald this is 2 separate themes in one book
I took the pictures about 2 years ago but finally found a book editor to do the dirty work..i.e. layout and design...just have decide how and where it's being printed.
Sengha gaia was a spiritual house I lived in for a moment..the grounds were rough but still a beautiful space..it is now gone
No dogs were photos taken around Los Angeles...its basically a pun on the title because there are no dog pictures nor are there any bad ones either!!

Thanks. Great story. Let me ask you - did you find the layout part to be a stumbling block once you had the idea?

 

[ReginaldSMith]

49 images within the 49 square miles of San Francisco

Is there a theme to these photos?

 

[jtk]

https://www.photrio.com/forum/media/users/rorye.3586/ perhaps a visual hint about rorye's monograph?

rorye....have you photographed San Francisco's current iteration of downtown? Shocking ghastly architecture. Your Media photos are wonderful.

I photographed much of South Of Market in the 70s, while it was still full of machine shops, printers, photo and graphic studios. Kodachrome and (sadly) Verichrome. Was shooting owners of SOM businesses that still existed and had existed before 1906.

The Verichrome printed beautifully but the negs self destructed within a couple of years. VPS, the original C41, was terrible that way, compared to the old CPS. Clear sign that Kodak was on the way out.

 

[MartinCrabtree]

I've had one going for awhile. Entropy is a working title. Just decaying/decayed subjects. Human and otherwise. B&W.

 

[Sirius Glass]

These days you don't need to be renown photographer to publish a monograph. Blurb and many others in the P.O.D. industry will even give you a free ISBN. Upfront cost is nothing but your time. So, have you published one? Are you planning one? If you did, what's your subject matter? What's the idea behind your (real or imagined) coffee table sized monograph?

So, have you published one?

No​

Are you planning one?

No, but I have written a book. Have you?​

If you did, what's your subject matter?

What's the idea behind your (real or imagined) coffee table sized monograph?

 

[rorye]

That's spectacular. As an ex-SF resident (Potrero Hill), I can just imagine how super that project would be. How long have you worked on the project? I wish you massive success with your MOMA show.

Thanks so much Reginald!
I've been working on the book intentionally for 4 years but some of the images date as far back as 1989, when I first moved to SF.

Rory can you give details about the printing
I'm interested in contacting edition one

Peter Edition One seem to be pretty good, the second round of proofs were far better than the first. I think because I'm only doing 50 books my project is not too high on their priority list, I understand that. However, it's very high on mine. Their pricing is pretty clearly laid out on their site www.editionone.com . I'd be happy to discuss more with you by phone or email, are you in SF sometime soon?

https://www.photrio.com/forum/media/users/rorye.3586/ perhaps a visual hint about rorye's monograph?

rorye....have you photographed San Francisco's current iteration of downtown? Shocking ghastly architecture. Your Media photos are wonderful.

I photographed much of South Of Market in the 70s, while it was still full of machine shops, printers, photo and graphic studios. Kodachrome and (sadly) Verichrome. Was shooting owners of SOM businesses that still existed and had existed before 1906.

JTK Thank you. I really don't photograph much of the current architecture, it doesn't remotely move me. I too love the old machine shops, turn of the century architecture etc. I try to show things that won't necessarily be around in 100 years, many of them are gone already.

 

[jtk]

Dead Link Removed not editionone.com

There are at least four decision points when considering photo books.

One point involves actual photo prints, tipped into blank (or text) pages that are then bound together, perhaps classically (i.e. sewn). That might make a lot of sense for small printing runs and would put the photographer into the driver's seat photo-quality-wise. That appeals to me...I'd like to learn some bookbinding and see no reason for a dozen or so books to be printed by somebody else.

However time is money for some folks.

Another point involves outside vendors.

Another point, which I'm addressing right now, involves thumb drives...which have the advantage of unlimited size, high quality, ultra-inexpensive, and the easiest possible distribution to as many people as desired.

Another point is the kind of book you order online...over which you have no control...roll of dice, which may not be critical.

 

[ReginaldSMith]

With respect to prose, does your project depend at all on writing beyond say, titles or names of photographs? Do you explain or describe the photographs? Is there a substantial written narrative that is part of the project?

 

[Pieter12]

These days you don't need to be renown photographer to publish a monograph. Blurb and many others in the P.O.D. industry will even give you a free ISBN. Upfront cost is nothing but your time. So, have you published one? Are you planning one? If you did, what's your subject matter? What's the idea behind your (real or imagined) coffee table sized monograph?

I just finished up a book that is a collaboration with a poet, 40 photos illustrating 40 poems, called "The Purpose of Things." Not quite coffee-table size, but we have a publisher and hope to see it published for the holidays.

 

[ReginaldSMith]

I just finished up a book that is a collaboration with a poet, 40 photos illustrating 40 poems, called "The Purpose of Things." Not quite coffee-table size, but we have a publisher and hope to see it published for the holidays.

Congrats! That's fantastic. Which came first, the photos or the poems?

 

[Pieter12]

Congrats! That's fantastic. Which came first, the photos or the poems?

The poet had written the poems. I found out about the project and offered to shoot photos to illustrate each concept.

 

[ReginaldSMith]

When it's available I hope you post about it. It sounds very interesting.

A while back I began collecting a certain kind of vernacular photos from the 1970s. After spending time looking at them, I have an idea to write very short stories about each photo, as though the photo had come after the story, or had been taken to illustrate the story. Almost a reverse of your project.

 

[jtk]

When it's available I hope you post about it. It sounds very interesting.

A while back I began collecting a certain kind of vernacular photos from the 1970s. After spending time looking at them, I have an idea to write very short stories about each photo, as though the photo had come after the story, or had been taken to illustrate the story. Almost a reverse of your project.

Vernacular project sounds like fun!

The Russian family photos I bought in a flea market decades ago almost make a coherent story. That's centered on a family's experience, from Tsarist and Soviet times until the fifties in San Francisco...but only "almost." So I imagine myself sitting down to using those photos to illustrate a coherent invention .

 

[Saganich]

"The Naked truth is Always Beautiful" http://www.blurb.com/b/7767996-the-naked-truth-is-always-beautiful A happy hour exploration into the structure of truth.

 

[ReginaldSMith]

"The Naked truth is Always Beautiful" http://www.blurb.com/b/7767996-the-naked-truth-is-always-beautiful A happy hour exploration into the structure of truth.

Great work! From the preview it's very nice.