1. Research a photo-book

The photobook I will be looking at will be Looking for Alice by Sian Davey. The narrative is from the perspective of Sian, a mother and she captures the day to day life of her daughter Alice, who has down syndrome. Davey captures raw photos that outsiders wouldn't usually see, Alice's interactions with her family, strangers, animals and the world around her. Sometimes she is smiling, sometimes she's crying, sometimes she is all dressed up and other times she is completely naked. Alice experiences the world differently to everybody and Davey is able to capture Alice's unique experiences due to her being her mother who has an intimate relationship with her daughter.

2. Who is the photographer? Why did he/she make it? (intentions/ reasons) Who is it for? (audience) How was it received? (any press, awards, legacy etc.)

Davey started capturing images of her daughter from when she was a year old. In Davey's prologue at the beginning of the book she describes how Alice is "no different to any other little girl or indeed human being; she feels what we all feel and needs what you and I need". Davey later on discusses how "ninety two percent of Down's Syndrome babies are terminated at the pre-natal screening stage." I feel that Davey is trying to display to her audience that Down's Syndrome children are still children, wonderful, quirky and it is beautiful to watch them grow up. Davey is also trying to challenge the perceptions of difference within society as Alice should be treated with no less respect than any other being within society. Davey describes how she struggled to initially love Alice due to "fear and uncertainty", however, Davey discusses how Alice is loved "unconditionally, as it should be". Just because Alice is different doesn't make her any less of a beautiful being and that she should be valued everywhere "without distinction, without exception, without a second glance". 

3. Deconstruct the narrative, concept and design of the book such as:

The book is a hardback and feels heavier than it looks. It has a linen cover which adds a rough texture and the pages. The pages are white and are matte paper.The images are all colourful images. After you turn the first page there is a sheet there is a piece of greaseproof/acetone paper with what ooks like a blurry shadow is printed on. This adds depth to the books and I believe that it is deliberately there to make the readers question the difference, just like how many strangers tend to queston Alice, who many class as different due to her disability. The format size is around A5 and the book is portrait. The cover features an image that also features in the book of Alice standing on a fence and looking out into a meadow. There is a letter press into the cover which indents the writing and makes the letters gold.

The title is more poetic rather than literal because the photographer is Alice's mother, she doesn't really need to literally look for Alice as she's always around her. However, it can have a more metaphorical meaning, such as looking at the way society percieves Alice, how they treat her differently and how they should really treat her. The subject matter is Alice, who is Davey's daughter. She can be percieved as being unique to many other children due to her having Down's Syndrome, however, one of Davey's purposes of her book is to display that although Alice has a disability, she is no different to any other little boy or girl. The images consist of Alice interacting with her family, friends, strangers, animals and generally the world around her. 

Most of the pictures are in the same place, near the top of the page and in the middle of the page. There are no double page spreads however, there are some images that are larger than the usual pattern and does overlap onto the other page. Some images don't have text for them, however, some images has text either below them to explain the image or on the opposite page. For example, the image above has writing underneath it which calls the image The hen and the cat. At the beginning of the book there is an introduction by Davey explaining the book and her reasons to make it. She then has an extract by David Chandler called The love you take. David Chandler is a writer, editor and curator in the fields of photographic history, contempory photography and visual arts. At the end of the book, a poem by Luke, Alice's brother and Sian Davey's son. It is titled sister and it is assumed the poem is dedicated to Alice.