For my personal study I’ve mainly been looking at books filled with essays and the meaning behind photographers works rather than actual photo books. I would look at the work of Claude Cahun but she never made one it is only people that have created them for her afterwards. I have also studied Cindy Sherman and her work but I don’t really think much of the layout of her books and they aren’t really what I am looking for in my own book. I am going to be making a magazine for my main project but will be making an extra photo book for the images that I made during the school production. With these images I am unsure what kind of book I want to make as I really like the idea of having parts of the book that are like little notes or that aren’t the same size as the rest of the pages, add ins. However, I am unsure what I could use to create this or what would be best to add. I was thinking of adding in the tickets that I made for the school production as well as the programme as little add ins which would be quite interesting, I could also use some of the emails that we have made and add them in as extra little pop outs. I think that this will work well in my photo book and give a bit more context rather than just looking at the same style of images.

There are three books that I really like and will take inspiration from for my own photo book. I really like the pop out’s that they each have as it gives more context to the books and adds another layer making it more interesting to look at and for the spectator to get more of an insight as to what is going on. I really like the idea of having these pop outs and I really like the look of The Epilogue book. It really stands out to me and makes the whole book feel more personal, almost like a memoir or a diary style book. I have decided to focus in on The Epilogue by Laia Abril as this book is full of pop outs and I really like that style. I think that Abril’s book is really interests and shows a personal side to a young girl’s life and her family. The pop outs are really important in Abril’s book as they do bring in more context and allows the spectator into their lives as well as letting them know what was actually going on in their lives and how the young woman was feeling up until she died from bulimia.

Laia Abril website: http://www.laiaabril.com/project/the-epilogue/

This style really interests me and makes me want to make my book in a similar way. I want to add in a print out of the emails between me and Mrs Butler to show the preparation that went into finally making the images for the school productions as well as possibly a section of my own little diary showing it on my list of things to do. I will also be putting in pop outs of the tickets for both nights that I created for the show as well as the programme that I made and possibly the poster too. I think that this will be the best way to add in some more detail to my photo book and really make it a diary style photo book which is what I want as the images that I made on the day are not staged at all and are documentary photographs. This style stands out to me the most and is more exciting for the spectator than just flicking through a plain book of images.

The story behind Laia Abril’s book is that of the Robinson family and their lives in the aftermath suffering from the lose of their 26 year old daughter to bulimia. Abril worked very closely with the family and reconstructed the young woman’s, Cammy, life telling her story through flashbacks, memories, objects, letters, places as well as old images. Abril shows her spectators the dilemmas and struggles that many young girls are confronted with as well as the problems that the rest of the family face with guilt and the whole grieving process. Her whole book is based around the life of this girl and living with her illness, bringing the memory of her back to life. I really like this book as it interests me a lot and it really feels personal. Here spectators are able to get more of an insight into what it is like to live with bulimia as well as living with a family member with the illness. The pop outs are really interests as they really do add more layers to the story and brings the spectator in just that much closer to what is going on and what went on in the Robinson’s lives.

When analyzing a couple of pages from The Epilogue photo book I noticed that everything linked in together and it all worked towards making a solid story. This is something that I think all photo books follow to maintain fluidity within the book as so that it is easy reading/viewing for the spectator. I do really like the idea of having pop outs and am trying to think of the best ways to add this into my own ideas and my own photo book. I love that the add ins really bring more detail and a whole other layer to the story. This allows the spectator in and to find out more about what is going on within the story and in the lives of the Robinson family. I like how each of the images link together under the theme of Cammy’s life as well as how the family are dealing with the grief of losing their daughter and sister at such a young age of only 26. I think that I want to make my own photo book similar to this one and have those add ins to make it more interesting and to make it stand out more for my spectator to be able to get those added layers and just that much more detail about my story.