How to read a Photo Book

Since the DFP Book Club is incorporating photo books into its book selections, you may be wondering how to approach “reading” a book which is mostly or entirely images. I thought it might be helpful to share some ideas on what to look for when evaluating on a photo book.

Photobooks are artworks onto themselves. The images are certainly important, but so is the concept, the design, the materials, the sequence, and the print quality. Photographs working together in book form can elevate individual images to convey an overall theme, emotion, or a narrative. The reading of the book is an experience that starts with discovering the book, moves into inspecting the book as an object and its contents, and hopefully leads to thought provoking ideas and inspiration.

Let’s breakdown elements that can help you evaluate a photo book in a series of questions for reflection.

What You Know Before You Get the Book

Do you know the photographer’s work? Are you already familiar with themes or ideas in their work?

Have you seen other books about or by this photographer?

What have you heard about the book?

Have you read any book reviews?

First Impressions

How does the book look and feel?  

What is the size? Does this size suit the content?

What materials is it made of? The cover? The pages?

What are your impressions as you flip through the book?

What catches your eye or makes you stop and look further?

Examination of Content

How does the introduction text (if any) add to you understanding?

What is the concept or themes of the work?

What is the feeling of the work?

How does the work convey these concepts, themes, and feelings?

Is there text alongside images?  Does it add to your understanding of the images?

Are there connections you can make to other photographers, books, or work?

Book Design

How does the sequencing work?

Does the sequence tell a story?

How does the size and shape of the book work with the content?

Do photos cross the gutter?  Do the photos work well with the layout?

How do photos near each other relate?

Photographic Quality

How is the printing quality?  Do the photos look clear?

Does the size of the photographs work well in context?

What camera and lens do you think the photographer used?

How did the photographer use composition, color, depth of field and lighting?

Inspiration…

What in the work particularly appeals to you?

Or doesn’t appeal to you?

Are there compositional, technical, or conceptual ideas that might be inspirations for your own work?

Rereading and Recommendation

Will you keep this book?

Do you recommend it to others?

Is this a book that you think you will return to?

Here are 3 examples of books that really stand out due to different aspects.

Zaido by Yukari Chikura 

A beautiful example of book design and material choice, Zaido is a record of a 1.300 year old Japanese ritual of gathering and dancing to bring on good fortune in the new year.  The book comes in a slipcase protecting its blue linen cover.  Inside the book, materials are used to enhance the narrative and images.  For example, layers of vellum pages are used to build that feeling of being in a snowstorm where visibility becomes clearer as you get closer to what you are approaching.  Metallic papers are used to relate to the sparkle of the nighttime snow and stars.  A small booklet within the book adds detail and a specialness that is in keeping with the specialness of the ancient ceremony. Keep your eye out for books that are beautiful to hold and that use materials to support the photography’s concept.  They are often produced is smaller runs, and often go out of print sooner.

Pictures From Home by Larry Sultan

Pictures from Home is a seminal work in the use of photography to create familial mythologies and document family relationships, and is a stellar example of text and photographs working together.    First published in 1992, and rereleased in 2017, Pictures from Home is a decade long exploration of family, home, and domestication that centered around Sultan’s parents in their suburban California home.  He uses text, old film stills, and his photographs to create a layered, diaristic approach to narrative.   The images are accompanied by a beautifully written series of interview passages, first person accounts, and thoughts about the family history.  It is woven masterfully so that different speakers come in and out of the narrative.  You always know who’s speaking even though the text rarely directly tells the reader.  Although photographers often want to rely on their photographs to tell the story, sometimes text can add a rich layer that does not speak over the images, but elevates them. 

The Americans by Robert Frank

This classic book is highly regarded and studied for it’s sequencing.  Rather than following a linear narrative, Frank’s book uses thematic, formal, conceptual and linguistic devices to connect photographs.  The National Gallery of Art describes the structure of the book on their web site.  “Although not immediately evident, The Americans is constructed in four sections. Each begins with a picture of an American flag and proceeds with a rhythm based on the interplay between motion and stasis, the presence and absence of people, observers and those being observed.”  The Americans is definitely one to study if you are interested in organizing photographs to tell a more significant story than the sum of the parts through organization and relationship of images.

Taking time to look at a photobook from a variety of angles gives us so much to look at, talk about, and learn from.  If you love photobooks, or are curious to learn more about incredible photographers, be sure to join us for the DFP Book Club!  Our next meeting is Thursday, January 12, at 10am PT.  We will be discussing Alex Webb’s book, “The Suffering of Light.”  

Happy “reading"!

Janet Boyko