Task

1. Research a photo-book and describe the story it is communicating with reference to subject-matter, genre and approach to image-making.

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.)

3. Deconstruct the narrative, concept and design of the book and apply theory above when considering:

• 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.)

On this site

On this site is a photobook which references historical events in America, showing us what they look like now as well as a small information panel beside it, telling us what precisely happened. I would describe the genre of this photobook as more landscape photography as Sternfeld’s images are all of locations, excluding any people.

The book feels smooth, with the inside of the cover having a cardboard texture, while some of the images have a rougher texture to them. The writing within the book is all done in black while the cover is all done in white. Majority of the images within are kept in colour, allowing the viewer to see more details that could otherwise be missed. The binding is a dust jacket, showcasing a sage almost army green making it link to important events.

The title ‘on this site’ is more literal than poetic due to the entire photobook being about different sites/ locations where tragedies occurred. In my opinion, the text size is purposefully kept small as to not draw too much attention away from the photograph, similarly, I think this is the same reason that Sternfeld decided to keep the text to the bottom of a blank page.

I think that the images were not edited and if they were it would only be to increase the contrast to make them more dramatic. The images are most definitely linked to the text as the text is more so information about the images themselves.