A Photo Book: The raison d'etre and then, what it is...

For quite some time now I've been thinking about a little essay on the purpose of a photo book and how one chooses the book to be.

I am a published author, primarily in children's illustrated books although I also have a critically reviewed non-fiction book for youth. I am also an exhibiting fine art photographer.

My three books for youth - not photographic - were published by well-known major trade publishers.
I have two photographic magazines self-published in a POD format via the magcloud HP printer interface.
I have one self-published exhibition catalog published as well POD in a softcover format, limited to the work in my first solo photographic exhibition.

and the issue of a book, or no, recently came up in connection with my first solo show of my long term project photographing in the Chinatowns of the US & Canada. My gallery preferred that I have a book out to accompany the show. A writer first before a serious career in photography (although I have always photographed), every photo project I've done has always been intended by me to have a complementary publication attached to it. It is the way I think and the way I work, for arranging a group of prints first into a portfolio, then into exhibition on walls and then into a thematic publication is part of my entire reflective process and feed the work even as I go about the photography.

I am on a variety of photographic lists but the most comprehensive one these days is the Flak Photo Book discussion, a closed list on facebook (you will have to ask to be invited on) filled with some of the smarter minds out there among photographers today. And so today, a link to one of the main questions about photo books was posted: Why Does Everyone Think They Need a Photo Book? http://www.aphotoeditor.com/2011/10/11/why-does-everyone-think-they-need-a-photo-book/

It does seem time to post my small thoughts, some of which are already on this blog, covering primarily the need for photographers to edit their work. I say this because for me, putting my photographic work into a cohesive narrative (a literary term in truth) is the best way in which I can challenge myself to focus on a story, abstract or NON-narrative that it may be. A publication is one of the best formats for this, even if never seen, for narrative requires a dramatic flow, an introduction, a continuing passage and an end. Just like an essay or novel. It requires a completion.

So when one wants to "publish," the first question arises: is the work complete enough for publication?

In my case, not all of it is "finished," BUT there may be a portion, in the manner I am doing with my "issues" for my Detroit project, seasonal, that there are completion of verious moments of my journey. For this project, I publish primarily for myself on the magcloud magazine format so that, by putting down my thoughts, inspired by my photos, I can see where I am at and where I may be going. A photographer and often a writer has to just start, often without clearly defined goals, so creating a document - with or without words - can be an incredible aid to the process of projecg definition. It can also serve as a powerful self-promo.