The Concept of Photography Books and Aspects of It - Coursework Example

Photography Books It would not be a mistake to point out that human civilization possesses a considerable number of elements that differ it from any other group that is formed by living organisms on this planet. While some people might put emphasis on such characteristic features as our ability to generate verbal interaction, one would make no mistake suggesting that our highly developed inner world is that truly differs us from any other creatures. One of the results of it is vivid imagination that people have which became the basis of such an important human activity as art. Indeed, the latter might be manifested in various forms. One of the latest ones is photography. It is quite understandable that this form of art is quite a unique one since, on the one hand, it allows the artist to depict the world in a rather realistic way and, on the other hand, alter the objective vision of the world to claim a certain point. This paper will explore the concept of photography books and analyze different aspects of it. First of all, it would be rather suitable to provide a clear definition of the kind of book in question. However, it must be noted that photography books are considered to be a rather innovative form of arts, so some researchers suggest that “in terms of researching the history of photography, the photobook is the final frontier of the undiscovered” (Bello and Wilson, 2012, 3). Indeed, a very simple as well as the most obvious definition, namely “a book that consists of photos” would not differ it from a photo album. That is why the definition should include some other characteristic features. Keeping this in mind one might suggest the following one: a photography book is a book that primarily consists of photographs which are presented in great quality and form one unity. These two elements, namely the high quality of the pictures as well as the unity of the message is what make photography books a unique form of art which allows an artist to express more within this medium. Now, it would be quite interesting to turn to the history of photography books. It is generally thought that Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions a book that contained imprints of sea specimen made by Anna Atkins in 1842 should be considered to be the first photography book (“Ocean Flowers: Anna Atkinss Cyanotypes of British Algae”, n.d.) However, only the scholars could find this book interesting as it simply contained the photographs of organisms and nothing more. So, the first photography book that was intended for the general public is The Pencil of Nature – a work by William Henry Fox Talbot which was completed in 1844 (“The Pencil of Nature”, n.d.). In order to put emphasis on the significance of the book, the author put a special note suggesting that no artist helped in the creation of illustrations for this book. Indeed, one would make no mistake suggesting that this was a certain revolution in the industry, since before this particular edition illustrations required an artist, but this book shows that photography is able to replace the conventional methods. One should note that the popularity of photography books was different in the world. If the European public accepted it as a novelty, but did not pay much attention to it, the Japanese public praised this invention very much. Indeed, the middle of the previous century was the time when this business flourished in Japan (“Japanese Photobooks of the 1960s and ’70s”). It may be partially explained by the cultural tradition of this nation that saw photography books at the new refined manifestation of the old gravures which constituted an important part of the Japanese cultural heritage. In addition to that, the very language of this country heavily relies on images and is able to convey a long message in a quite concise graphic form, unlike the Western languages. That is why there is no wonder that photography book were so popular in this society. It must be noted that there are two kinds of photography books: there are those which are printed in a traditional typographic manner and those which feature a more complex manner of creation. Speaking of the former, one might note that they are more popular because of the following factors: they are easy to produce since they utilize similar technology as printing books; they are generally cheaper and there is more demand for it. The later type of photography books is produced in a completely different manner: one panoramic picture usually takes up two pages and is printed as one piece and folded in half afterwards. As a result, a centerfold of a book allows featuring the entire photography. However, this makes the book expensive and quite heavy. If one takes a close look at the second type of this kind of books, one would make not mistake arguing that they are genuine photography books which convey the original idea of converting pages into panoramic pictures. Now, it would be rather suitable to take a close look at the current state of affairs when it comes to photography books. First of all, it must be noted that the development of technology allowed people to create their own photography books rather easily. Indeed, nowadays nearly every person possesses a digital camera with the help of which one is able to make high quality photos and print them. In addition to that, many of the popular internet services provide their users with the opportunity to create photography books online by simply uploading the files without necessity to print an actual book. However, it does not mean that the traditional understanding of a photography book is lost or forgotten. For example, at the present moment different singers, artists or simply talented people publish photography books since they consider it to be a rather unique way to send a message to the audience. Another point that should be taken into account is that there is a considerable number of various applications that allow to change images and create great compositions that the artists of the previous times could not even think of. While some people might view them in the Internet, others would like to purchase them in the form of photography books. Therefore, one should not that the art of photography book may be experiencing a certain revival in the near future with more and more people buying this kind of books. It is true that the modern culture finds particular enjoyment in reinventing old ways of artistic expression. It might happen so that photography books will experience a second birth as the people will stray away from conventional ways of presenting photographs. As one can easily see, photography books constitute a rather interesting kind of artistic expression that allows the readers to focus entirely on images. This may be a rather suitable approach when the author is not willing to convey a message in words, but wants the audience to use their own imagination in order to try to decipher the original message of the work of art. In spite of the fact that photography books appeared in Europe, they were able to achieve the biggest popularity in Asia where the nations are not so focused on the words when it comes to art. What is more important is that nowadays the technological development allowed numerous people to take pictures and print their own photography books which contributed to the development of this kind of art. References Bello, P., & Wilson, C. (2012). The Photobook From Talbot to Ruscha and Beyond.. London: I.B. Tauris. Japanese Photobooks of the 1960s and ’70s. (n.d.). Aperture.org. Retrieved October 15, 2014, from http://aperture.org/shop/japanese-photobooks-of-the-1960-s-and-70-s Ocean Flowers: Anna Atkinss Cyanotypes of British Algae. (n.d.). NYPL Digital Gallery. Retrieved October 15, 2014, from http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/explore/dgexplore.cfm?col_id=188 The Pencil of Nature. (n.d.). Fox Talbots Pencil of Nature. Retrieved October 13, 2014, from http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/exhibns/month/Feb2007.html Where your ideas become great books. (n.d.). Make, publish, promote & distribute books with Blurb. Retrieved October 15, 2014, from http://www.blurb.com/ Read More