I have a love affair with books.  It’s always been love, I can’t get enough of them.  Confession; they’re my biggest weakness.  They’re what I spend money on outside the budget and when I am looking to treat myself.  It’s fair to say I constantly have changing piles of books dotted around the house by my sitting places, and I have paid more library fines than I care to mention (I’m a big fan of libraries – people should use them more as it’s a worsening ‘use it or lose it’ situation as councils find it hard to justify the budget spend on them).  I relish all imaginable genres of books, but mostly factual books, food books, garden books, travel books, the odd biography and lately even some story books, and of course, books that showcase photographers work. 

It never occurred to me to make my own books until I got into digital photography back in the early nought-ies.  The spark was when I wanted to gift some of my images as a leaving present to a colleague as a keepsake of the work we had done together when I was a paid gardener.  What better way to gift them than into a book.  After that I moved onto family books and travel logs.  I have always kept and organised photo albums from the days when you waited a week for prints from 35mm film rolls to come back from the developers to see what you’d captured.  In those days there was none of reassurance we get today from ‘chimping’ to know that you have nailed your shot.  Maybe you could say these albums were the first books I made.  They are certainly among my most prized possessions.  More recently I have moved on to make books that are more like collections or portfolios of work that have a theme running through binding them together. Experimental though the work may be, it’s hugely rewarding and often clarifying to see the images collected together in a book. I love to see the expression on people’s faces when they see work of mine they would never expect me to produce. 

Making books is a quiet way to shout out your talents and choices, your views and preferences.  This is especially relevant to photographers who, often I find, are private, shy and modest characters.  The books you create are an opportunity to communicate your quiet thoughtful voice outside your head.  It’s a personal conversation with the book’s viewer.  It’s also a chance to create a legacy for the future and for a time you may not be there to express yourself – your conversations can continue forward in your books, discerningly until a future reader may pick it up and be excited, moved or inspired by your past work.  What a privilege both ways!  Very few people will have hard drives that they leave behind reviewed, or even looked at – far too much data to delve through involved - if indeed there are still the means to do so with the consistently rapid changes in the technology we use.  A book is a tangible tool of conveyance; your work lives on in an easy accessible and personal package like no other form.

The vast majority of my books I have made using Blurb online bookmakers. Like other bookmakers available, they have free designing software that you download onto your computer, into which you then upload your images from your computer files and design the book, page by page.  Today there are many easy to follow tutorials to get you started, from the basic autofil templates to as bespoke as you want to go. 

With so many sizes and styles to choose from there are some basic considerations that I’d recommend you think about before you start.

·     What is it you’d like your book to convey? What is the book’s purpose?

Is it going to be a story or a travel log or is it going to be a collection of images you’ve been working that are grouped together by a concept?  This simple answer will inform your choice of size and your budget the paper quality and number of pages.  Would you like it to be a coffee table photo book, so a large hardback with a glossy slipcover maybe?  Do you need it to be easily portable, so possibly a lightweight A5 with a softcover? Is it to be a magazine, so in portrait orientation and a glossy paper cover?  What about a portfolio?  Either A3 or A4 hardback and best print quality paper.

·     Who will be it’s readers?

This will dictate the simplicity and depth of information to include. For family and friends who already know you, you will need less contextual information.  For a wider general interest audience you will need to provide more context and if you are aiming to showcase your work, you will want your images to do most of the talking however  an explanation in an introduction, covering your background and what you are trying to achieve, is also useful.

·     Consider the order and the rhythm of the content in your book.

Are you going to order the images chronologically, which is ideal for a travel log or family album?  Think about your introduction, the division of the main content and your ending.  For portfolios and collections, consider carefully the flow of your images.  I sometimes print out the images and mock up an order, leave it for a couple of days. When I come back to it, I seem to have a better sense of whether the order is gelling together or not. What’s most important is every image must count towards the aim of the book’s overall purpose and play a part in it.  Remember to kill your darlings and hone the message, as it’ll pay off in the long run.

·     Proof reading is essential to avoid disappointment.  And again a few days later and preferably by someone else.  Can’t stress this point too much.  I’d say it again but this post is long enough!

I regularly look at photobooks online for inspiration (www.photoeye.com is a great place to start, click on the book and find their ‘Book Tease’ previews to flick through it).  My next book project is to handmake a collection book.  But whatever type of book you would like to try, I urge you to just give it a go.  Create your legacy.  Depict your story.  Produce that experimental collection.  Take those images on your hard drive and make them into something someone can pick up and enjoy - no technology required!  

Best wishes in your endeavours.  I’d love to see your results.