The Photobook Process with Sam Harris

Is often overlooked just how many ‘ingredients’ go into making an exceptional photobook, one that you can become immersed in, touched by, moved and inspired by. It’s been a dream of Sam Harris’ for quite some time to invite a few photographers to his home in the forest of Western Australia and share his experience and passion for all things photobook.

Yali under the orange tree. © Sam Harris
Yali under the orange tree. © Sam Harris

Together, you’ll go down the rabbit hole and take an in-depth look into the process of planning, making and promoting a photobook.

 Some of what will be cover

  • Introduction to the world of photobooks – we will explore a wide range of great photobooks and discuss WHY and HOW they work
  • The value of making book dummies and why they are essential to the process of arriving at a mature book (with numerous examples)
  • Presentation /Q&A with my collaborator & publisher Eva Maria Kunz from Ceiba Editions.
  • The power and the poetry of sequencing
  • Case Study: The making of The Middle of Somewhere deconstructed; concept & design, creating a cover, choosing the right paper, proofs and printing, binding, inserts & gatefolds, hand made elements, graphics & typography, layout, size, editing & sequencing
  • Why weight and size matter
  • Look at your work as a group and discuss; I will offer advice and suggestions – group brainstorm
  • One-on-one sessions – I’ll assist you to edit your past or current work and help you in moving forward
  • Reflection on and development of your book concept
  • Creating a tester / basic book dummy
  • Learning to listen to your authentic voice and why it’s your most valuable asset
  • Day trip to the coast, BBQs & Sundowners…
  • Evening photography movies & slideshows projected outdoors, under the stars

Click here for more details and to make an application.

Upcoming Events Submit an Event

November

Sydney: The exhibition delves into the State Library of NSW's vast collection of two million images, showcasing 400 photos – many displayed for the first time.

February

Melbourne: Jill Orr’s The Promised Land Refigured is an exhibition that reworks the original project created in 2012 with new insights that have emerged in the past eleven years.

March

Melbourne: Environmental Futures features five artists whose work addresses how the natural world is affected by climate change and encompasses photography, sculpture and installation both within the gallery spaces and around the museum grounds.

Ballarat: Nan Goldin is an American artist whose work explores subcultures, moments of intimacy, the impacts of the HIV/AIDS and opioid epidemics on her communities, and photography as a tool for social activism.

Sydney: The Ocean Photographer of the Year Award, run by London based Oceanographic Magazine is in its 4th year and has quickly achieved recognition amongst photographers around the world.

Albury: The National Photography Prize offers a $30,000 acquisitive prize, the $5000 John and Margaret Baker Fellowship for an emerging practitioner, and further supports a number of artists through focused acquisitions.

April

Sydney: Photographers Harold David, Lyndal Irons, Ladstreet, Selina Ou, David Porter, Greg Semu, and Craig Walsh exhibit a diverse and varied snapshot of Penrith and western Sydney as it has changed and grown over the last sixty years.

The City Surveyor’s ‘Condemnation and Demolition Books’ is a key photographic collection held in the City Archives comprising almost 5000 photographs and associated glass plate negatives.

Sydney: The images in Bill Henson’s cinematic new body of work, The Liquid Night, derive from work the highly acclaimed artist shot on 35mm colour negative film in New York City in 1989.

May

Ballarat: Art Gallery of Ballarat presents Lost in Palm Springs, a multidisciplinary exhibition that brings together fourteen creative minds who respond to, capture, or re-imagine the magical qualities of the landscape and the celebrated mid-century modern architecture of Palm Springs, California and across Australia.