Talbot Doin' Work

The Photobook

The concept of a photobook is quite new to me as I am used to mounting individual prints for display in a gallery, but I love the concept of individual photos merging together to make a larger, more substantial work. It is also foreign, but exciting, to think that photos can transcend the two dimensional realm of print or screen and become something akin to sculpture. There is so much room for creativity and uniqueness in photography as it stands, but creating a book out of one’s work allows for it to be even further differentiated.

Being both a filmmaker and avid reader, I was intrigued by the description of the photobook as “between the novel and film”. The most interesting aspect that both film and the photobook share is that you can weave together and elaborate narrative through visual elements. Visuals can stand on their own to develop themes. Like the novel, a photobook can be a bit more abstract than a film and incorporate text into its structure. This concept can leave a lot of room for an individual’s mind to link photos in one’s own way, rather than having them in an obvious linear motif like movies. There’s more opportunity for the reader to use their imagination rather than passively viewing work.

“I can’t draw so I’ll invent photography.” – W.F. Talbot

I was inspired by The Pencil of Nature and Talbot’s passion for what would become photography. It is difficult to imagine someone becoming frustrated with drawing and inventing an entirely new art form simply by thinking images could be captured by photochemical means (it takes a vast amount of scientific knowledge and foresight to make such a leap in thinking). Talbot not only figured out how to take photos, but how to reproduce them in large quantities for print—what good would photographic documents be if almost no one could see them? I would liken his printing of photos to an invention as revolutionary as the printing press as it allowed for the dissemination of photographic information all around the world. He asks himself at one point, “And why should it not be possible?" That is a mentality I would like to fully embrace with my photography.