final layouts and blurb submission

Periphery Milieu by Dan Jocelyn | Make Your Own Book

Researching the sublime

This isn't really relevant and is more of a reminder for me. I am currently writing an essay on the sublime and I came across this quote which I thought was a really nice interpretation.

“In broad terms, whenever experience slips out of the conventional understanding, whenever the power of an object or event is such that words fail and points of comparison disappear, then we resort to the feeling of the sublime. As such, the sublime marks the limits of reason and expression together with a sense of what might lie beyond these limits; this may well explain its association with the transcendent” pp2 xiii

"The sublime" by Philip Shaw

Edit 5 0r 6 (i forget)

Open publication - Free publishing - More 5

Artist: Stuart Whipps

This is Ming Jue by Stuart Whipps which is a great publication and a wonderful set of photographs. I looked at this particularly because of the square format and size of the book. However what i find the most interesting about it is the unconventional cover, which as you may of noticed, has no type or title. -interesting concept-

Possible title

"Periphery Milieu" to mean "margin setting/location"

Size matters!

Playing around with different sizes on the page.

4th edit

This was just to see what the book would look like with the images on the right only in a more traditional formulaic style.

Open publication - Free publishing - More 3

3rd full size layout

So I am continuing to play around with layouts and ordering. This is my 3rd edit, which still needs a lot of work:

Open publication - Free publishing - More 3

Things that still need consideration:
1. Front cover.. Originally I had this image

as the cover, purely because i like the type and detail. However following a group critic I changed it over to the new cover. I have used one of the close up shots because it alludes to a sense of decay and the man-made within a natural environment.
I also didn't want to use one of the landscapes as I didn't want the viewer to open the book feeling as though they have already seen the images.
I am also considering a plan cover with just type.
I still need to introduce type on to the cover (images will follow shortly)

2. Intro text. Placement of this text still moving around.

3. Images. I feel as though they need to be bigger on the page and also sit further up on the page.

4.order. The sequence is something that still needs work, especially the last two pages.

5. Images still need colour balancing.

Initial book layouts - size and shape

So this was a small exercise to see how my square format images would look on different page formats.

Below is an example of who the images would look on a portrait layout.

The layouts look ok, but there is too much negative space and the images seem to drown and look over shadowed. Also depending on the amount of text may make the images even more lost. of there is too much text then images will start to look secondary to the text.

Square Format :


This I feel looks better, obviously the format is the same so things will appear cleaner and better defined. The scale will also allow text to support images without every overshadowing it.

From here I just need to work on full size to my publication.

Start of the book making process

Sequencing images is something I quite enjoy, that said it does take a lot of time and great ideas my not always translate well on paper, which is why I use the wall and blue tack method.

This allows me to view the publication as a whole and makes it easier to shuffle images if I think they will work better in a different place.

Preliminary edit

Some close ups

So looking back over what I've shot I released that all the images appear quite withdrawn from the subject and have some distance to the subject. I was talking to my flatmate about this and we started to discuss Stephen shores work. In particular the way that his work has close ups of certain scenes alongside his landscapes.
This also got us thinking about how we could communicate the idea of a landscape just by show a small detail of it.



My thought behind these is to show different elements in detail as a means to slow the flow through the publication.

Some more images from the last few shoots

Just want to reiterate that these are only proof scans (hence the low quality) I also haven't done any form of colour balancing or post production.

Artist: Jason Larkin

Cairo Divided.
'An unique text and photo essay explores Egypt's sprawling metropolis as it undergoes one of the most dramatic transformations in its history. Released as part of a new project bringing writers and photographers together on in-depth works, it is available for free in a one-off newspaper format'
http://www.markdearman.com/cairodivided/

Image From: http://www.markdearman.com/cairodivided/
(I do have a copy of this but don't have it to hand, so used this image)

I came across this towards the end of last year (it was featured in BJP : http://www.bjp-online.com/british-journal-of-photography/project/2127269/jason-larkin-cairo-divided )

The work is stunning, but that is not why I have shown it. I have always had a passion for publishing, but only really with magazine. I always thought of newspapers being too disposable but when done right they can be a superb output for work.

I still haven't fully decided yet, but I am aiming for the project I'm shooting to be produced into either a book or a newspaper. As I am shooting square format I found it interesting to see what others have done.


'The surreal remodeling of the landscape shows little appreciation for the environment it is rapidly colonising. From the decisions of a few, Cairo is morphing its periphery into its core whilst condemning the previous centre to a life on the margins. I felt witness to a mass exit strategy taking shape, and with the camera, recorded the foundations of abandonment in pursuit of self-interest and exclusive isolation.'
J.Larkin http://www.jasonlarkin.co.uk/index.php?/projects/cairo-divided/

Images From: http://www.jasonlarkin.co.uk/index.php?/projects/cairo-divided/

Just a footnote: THE NEWSPAPER IS FREE !!!!! just £1.80 postage and can be ordered from: http://www.markdearman.com/cairodivided/

Artist: Donovan Wylie

Images from: http://www.magnumphotos.com/c.aspx?VP=XSpecific_MAG.BookDetail_VPage&pid=2K7O3R15OU4Q

Artist: Alec Soth

Alec Soth is without question one of my favorite photographers. I find his images really calming and they have a strange aesthetic that just seems to slow time down. I can't put my finger on it but they images resonate a stillness.

Alec Soth from mn original on Vimeo.

Sleeping by the Mississippi:
One of his earliest publicly known pieces, Sleeping by the Mississippi was made over a number of years and doesn't actually document the river itself but instead gives a suggestion towards the flow and meandering.

The Last Days Of W:
Personally I'm not much of a fan of this work, but I have included because of the way it has been presented in zine. Looking at layouts and the way work looks on the page. In some senses his zine is quite unconventional, by have two images the same size on apposing pages, the viewer is forced to slow down.

Multimedia version of The Last Days Of W (good for a laugh at Bush's expense)

Broken Manual:
Again love this work. This piece is about the fantasy we all have of leaving the masses and to just live out a solitary existence. The work tells small stories of those that shy away and try to be solitary. But also tells the wider story of the small connections they have to maintain to survive and that we can't break away entirely.

Broken Manual from Little Brown Mushroom on Vimeo.

All images came from: http://alecsoth.com/photography/
Video one came from: http://www.americansuburbx.com/2010/04/asx-tv-alec-soth-alec-soth.html
Video two came from: MagnuminMotion channel on Youtube