BPB12, in collaboration with Photobook Show invites the submission of self-published, handmade or short run photography books along the theme of Agents of Change: Photography and the Politics of Space.
Photobooks, and more specifically, self published and handmade photobooks, have firmly secured a place in photography and its history.
In recent years, the art of self publishing has been taken up by a new generation of image makers, designers and collectors such as Alec Soth’s Little Brown Mushroom and Bruno Ceschel’s Self Publish Be Happy. With instant access to all the tools you need to make a book; from advanced programs such as InDesign to print on demand services like Blurb, ensuring a continuous rush of zines and limited edition publications, there's really no excuse not to be self-published.
All these tools have helped anyone with energy and passion to make a photobook - without any time constrictions or creative “direction” from anyone other than the creator. They allow the entire process of planning, producing and distributing a book to be in the hands of the author. We can now all make and distribute a photobook worldwide without ever leaving the comfort of our homes or talking to a publisher. All this has led to an explosion of photobooks; some great and some not.
Have you recently made or been part of a self published photobook? Was it your first - or the latest in a vast collection?
As part of its fifth edition, the Brighton Photo Biennial 2012 invites the submission of self-published, handmade or short run photography books, to be included as part of a photobook exhibition at Brighton’s Jubilee Library throughout the Biennial (6 October – 4 November 2012) in collaboration with Photobook Show. The only criteria is that the book relates to the Biennial’s theme: Agents of Change: Photography and the Politics of Space.
For more information, please visit: www.bpb.org.uk/2012/whats_on/self-published-photobook-exhibition/
Kevin Beck is the Founder of Photobook Show, an independent publisher at Bottling Fruit and one of Photoworks' Digital Product Managers. He also has a phobia of circles.
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