GregRob: Large Format Photography

Recent Photo Books – The Polaroids by Andre Kertesz

Today’s post is about a recent book acquisition, from Andre Kertesz it is, “The Polaroids”.

While it is likely I will eventually refer to this as a great photo book, I have not possessed it long enough to move it into that category. ?So for now it is a recent purchase that I find quite appealing. ?

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There are many elements to this book that I like:

• It has a simple layout. ?
• The photos are actual size. ?
• There isn’t any distracting text on the photo pages.
• The non-image area of each page is a nice neutral gray. ?
• The photos are great and repeated viewing revels different things each time.

As for my SoFoBoMo book the main things that I am looking at taking from this example are:

• The neutral gray pages

Often when I mount and frame photos I like using a neutral gray mat. ?I find this helps separate the image from the surrounding wall color without affecting the image appearance. ? Using the same technique in a photo book seems to work quite well in this example. ?With current printing technologies I see no reason not to fill each page with a neutral gray instead of an empty glaring white.

• Simple Photos

I still haven’t chosen a theme, but I like the simplicity of the photos in this book, and am currently thinking about how this could be used in one of the themes I am contemplating.

Here are a couple of photos I took today that were inspired by Andr?’s images in this book:

Great Photo Books – The Americans by Robert Frank

Today’s post is about one of my absolute favorite books of Photography: Robert Frank’s, The Americans.

A few years ago I was taking a Figurative Photography course at the AGO?and in this course the instructor spent a fair amount of time projecting slides of photos for us to discuss. ?In one particular class I found the images particularly fascinating, and could not take my eyes off of them. ?In closing the slide show the instructor would finish up by telling us what books the pictures had come from, and in this case the book turned out to be, “The Americans” by Robert Frank.

Shortly thereafter I came across a copy on the shelf of Pages Books & Magazines on Queen West, and immediatly snapped it up. ?I rushed home that evening full of anticipation for the wonders that would be contained within, after many enjoyable hours over the years I have never been dissapointed with this purchase.

Now how does this all fit into my SoFoBoMo attempt? ?Well part of what I love about this book is the layout. ?Simple white pages. ?A single photo and a page number on every second page. ?The captions are at the end of the book after the pictures. ?And the introduction at the beginning of the book by Jack Kerouac doesn’t try to “explain” the photos, but optionally sets up a headspace from which you can see the pictures in a certain light.

I think there is a good chance I will follow Robert’s example in working on my book layout.