‘She Dances on Jackson’ Photobook by Vanessa Winship.

1. Research a photo-book. 

(describe the story it is communicating  with reference to subject-matter, genre and approach to image-making)

‘She Dances on Jackson’ communicates a story of how Winship tries to understand the link between the landscape/territory and its inhabitants within the United States who are living the ‘American dream’. She attempts to show this link through travelling through a vast amount of states such as California, Virginia, New Mexico, Montana, etc and how she views them from her perspective. The genre of the photobook ‘She Dances on Jackson’ is a exhibition catalogue, an exhibition catalogue is seen as a book that describes a temporary exhibition within a museum/art gallery which includes main images/descriptions of the exhibit and its theme. Therefore, this leads into the approach that Vanessa Winship takes within her photobook ‘She Dances on Jackson’ which is where she photographs a person and the landscape that they link too, this can be seen through the layout of the photobook where there is a picture of a person which is then followed by a landscape on the opposing page.

2. Who is the photographer?

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

Vanessa Winship is the photographer who created the photobook ‘She Dances on Jackson’ and the funding for this project across the United States was from her being the 2011 winner of the Henri Cartier-Bresson award. The reasons as to why she created it is to emphasize the connection between the subject and photographer (in the portraits) as they are aware of themselves when she is photographing them, although they are strangers which she encounters throughout her travels in different American cities and towns. This creates a contrast between the landscapes which she photographs within her book as the photos mainly include no people but have curious and unique alterations to the landscape in which she photographs, creating a nice flow between the person and landscape. The intended audience for this photobook is not specific as it is a personal project made by Winship but the title came from an a moment in which she was shooting in Jackson, Mississippi where a young girl began to dance with her mother to a band a train station and the two hold a strong connection and Winship became curious on their relationship, who they were and where they are going.

3. Deconstruct the narrative, concept and design:

• Book in hand: how does it feel? Smell, sniff the paper.
• Paper and ink: use of different paper/ textures/ colour or B&W or both.
• Format, size and orientation: portraiture/ landscape/ square/ A5, A4, A3 / number of pages.
• Binding, soft/hard cover. image wrap/dust jacket. saddle stitch/swiss binding/ Japanese stab-binding/ leperello
• Cover: linen/ card. graphic/ printed image. embossed/ debossed. letterpress/ silkscreen/hot-stamping.
• Title: literal or poetic / relevant or intriguing.
• Narrative: what is the story/ subject-matter. How is it told?
• Structure and architecture: how design/ repeating motifs/ or specific features develops a concept or construct a narrative.
• Design and layout: image size on pages/ single page, double-spread/ images/ grid, fold- outs/ inserts.
• Editing and sequencing: selection of images/ juxtaposition of photographs/ editing process.
• Images and text: are they linked? Introduction/ essay/ statement by artists or others.  Use of captions (if any.)

The book which I have chosen to look at feels quite big but light and easy to carry in your hands, yet you wouldn’t bring it around with you everyday as it is impractical. The first 2 pages when you open the book are black which sets the theme throughout the book as the photos which are featured are also printed in black and white. This leads on to the first page, which is a creamy white like the rest of the pages in the book, on the book which has the title ‘she dances on Jackson’ in a small grey print which then flows to a plain page which is followed by a photo on the opposing page of a landscape. This then leads to the introductory page of the right side of the book which features Vanessa Winship’s name, then the title underneath and on the bottom right of the page the word ‘MACK’ is written in a small block font. This creates a lead for the rest of book which follows the pattern of the left side of the book being plain and the right side holding a picture in black and white, although this alternates in some parts swapping positions, which alternates between a landscape and person each time. The format of the book is square A4 and holds over 200 pages and the front cover has a linen texture. It includes a photo from Winship’s work that is found within the book and it is turned into red for the background colours and the silhouette of the trees/birds/grass are coloured in black. The title ‘she dances on Jackson’ is in a small letterpress print on the bottom right of the cover in silver. It is barely seen, due to its small size, but has a faint glow to it depending on the light which shows simplicity and solitude which are themes that are carried throughout the book recounting Winship’s journey across America. Most of the photos within the book create a story of finding people who live in these areas which Winship has explored and photographing the landscape in which they live in or one she thinks matches their nature, this creates a link between the subject and landscape as there is a sense of identity found within the photos, as many of the photos have people of different ethnicities, classes, etc. The photos stories are left for you to decide on the story in which they hold as there aren’t any captions to guide you through the narrative of the book, making the book simplistic yet effective in what it is describing as the ‘American dream’.