Comments on: The Future of Photography Books (discussion)

By: Tim

Tim — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:14:02 +0000

More on the future of photo books from Senior Product Manager at online publisher lulu.com Tim Wright: http://bit.ly/87FuEK

By: Heidi

Heidi — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 05:39:56 +0000

I know this is an old thread, but I have to agree with Martin. Unfortunately these days everyone thinks they can do everything.
Be the photographer, be the designer, understand principles of typography, have a knowledge of different papers and their uses etc. choose the right colours and know how they print on various papers etc… I guess in one way photographers have to be everything (photographer, designer, stylist etc) to get attention, but at the same time I do not consider a lot of books currently offered on various websites as art books. I think they are great folios, but they seem to lack the refinement. But that might just be me.

By: We English » Blog Archive » BEAUTY OF PHOTOBOOKS

We English » Blog Archive » BEAUTY OF PHOTOBOOKS — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:56:13 +0000

[...] not get involved with the debate? Over 50 photo blogs have so far, including Darius Himes: The Premise: A Crowd Sourced Blog about Photography Books Publishing, Ben Huff: A few thoughts on books, Little Brown Mushroom (Alec Soth): The Future of Photobooks and [...]

By: Exposures » Blog Archive » The Future of the Photobook: Lesley Martin

Exposures » Blog Archive » The Future of the Photobook: Lesley Martin — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:47:29 +0000

[...] Darius Himes rightly points out that one major subtext of the discussion about the future of books is really that publishers “are debating the future of the sales of printed books in the quantities they are used to,” and that “it may be more useful to ask, ‘What will book publishing look like in 10 years?’ ” More to that point, I think we should be asking: Who are the producers for these various items and what are the mechanisms for distribution of each going to be? (I see that now Alan Rapp has picked up on this in his post, btw, so more on that here.) Where are we going to be buying them? How is the creation and dissemination of beautiful book objects going to be financially viable — never mind profitable, mind you, but simply viable? Who is going to underwrite innovation and experimentation toward other new, hybrid forms? Who, indeed, is going to spearhead these experimentations? (Don’t hold your breathe, dear reader, the answer is you.) [...]

By: Martin

Martin — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 09:16:28 +0000

To be honest I think that the biggest threat to the photo book are the photographers themselves. Things have gotten terribly boring (on a high technical quality level) in the photo book section, it seems a constant repetition of old pictorial recipes. Furthermore the endless possibilities of digital retouching has given birth to a myriad of unreal and meaningless pseudo-beauty that I don´t want to see anymore.

Still many photo books are published, but I think less and less people look at them or even buy them. I observe old or shrinking stocks of photo books in book stores.. it seems the genre is on a good way to kill itself to irrelevance.

Mini-editions via POD might look like a new flower, but I fear they are part of the disease.

By: Blurberati Blog » The Future of Photo Books

Blurberati Blog » The Future of Photo Books — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 16:47:52 +0000

[...] We wrote about this last week, but wanted to keep the amazing conversation going that’s been started on the future of the photography book at Resolve. There have been some great contributions from heavy hitters across the photography and publishing world — over 25 to-date that are listed at the bottom of the original post — and it’s exciting to see so much interest and discussion! [...]

By: The Photobook Circa 2019 | Ocular Octopus

The Photobook Circa 2019 | Ocular Octopus — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:54:46 +0000

[...] Darius Himes [...]

By: Chat About “Future of the Photobook” Tomorrow on Twitter | Ocular Octopus

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:49:21 +0000

[...] Darius Himes [...]

By: Matt Mills

Matt Mills — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:00:32 +0000

I just wanted to recommend http://snarkmarket.com as a place of interest re: the future of books and language. I also like the idea of having the book block done with print on demand and then binding other ways; the book-craft is part of the fun of making books, after all.

By: judith fox

judith fox — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:38:15 +0000

Hi Darius,

Great blog on a fascinating subject—one I’ve been thinking a lot about. My first photography book was published by powerHouse and I’m extremely pleased with the quality of the finished book. I can’t imagine “I Still Do” as an e-book. I’m working on another body of work which I plan to have made into a book, but I haven’t decided yet how I want to move forward with it or exactly how I want it to look. I know the possibilities are greater than ever—and also perhaps more challenging than before. So I keep working on the photographing and letting the rest marinate. Thanks for adding some seasoning to the mix.

Judith Fox