Story of Books has been publishing “5 Minutes With…” interviews since July 2011, a series of short conversations on the evolution of books, as a follow up to “Whatever is to become of books?” event at London Design Festival 2011. It is a collection of thoughts by those who are involved in books production and content creations; from academics, editors, technology innovators and authors, to designers, photographers and illustrators.
This month, Story of Books spoke to accomplished carpenter and web editor of Medicins Sans Frontierés, Pete Masters, about bookshelves. Follow other “5 Minutes With…” conversations here.
Professional Photographer Magazine today announced the shortlist for the Professional Photographer of the Year 2011 awards. Judges Dr Andy Gotts, Ben Duffy, Paul Sanders, Tom Catchesides and Professional Photographer Editor Adam Scorey sifted through over 6,000 entries for this year’s competition.
Winner, Reportage Weddings: Adam Riley
Below are the lists of winners and runners-up:
WINNERS
High Fashion – Chee Loon Jericho Soh
Street Photography – Mihail Kopychko
Wild World – Radek Vik
Commercial – James Neale
In the studio – Rossella Vanon
On Location – Marko Mestrovic
Sporting Action – Bjorn Stig Hansen
Reportage Weddings – Adam Riley
Still Life – Jen miles
Student of the Year – Luise Hannah Reichert
Editorial News – Fabio Bucciarelli
Breaking the Mould – Martin Stranka
Portfolio Award – John McMurtrie
Winner, Breaking the Mould: Martin Stranka
RUNNERS-UP
High Fashion – Maksym Finogeiev, Nikola Borissov & Marko Mestrovic
Street Photography – James Gourley, Paolo Inglese & Kate Passaro
Wild World – David Tyrer, Simon Ellingworth & Laura Jane Vest
Commercial – Rich Cooper, Irene van der Meijs & Al Veryard
In the studio – Florence Leung, Radu Carnaru & Luise Hannah Reichert
On Location – Florence Leung, Vladimir Tochanenko & Radek Vik
Sporting Action – Graeme Hutchison, Jeremy Rata & Craig Mitchell
Reportage Weddings – Mihail Kopychko, Mark Wallis & Andy Griffin
Still Life – Simon Ellingworth, Sebastian Schofield & Parth Sengupta
Student of the Year – Harley Jo Maloney, Diana Grigore & Martins Melecis
Editorial News – Jemima Marriott, Paul Hackett & John McMurtrie
Breaking the Mould – Jenny Brough, Julian Clune & Pavel Tereshkovets
Portfolio Award – Maksim Djackov, Rich Cooper & Tany Kely
Winner, Portfolio Award: John McMurtrie
The shortlisted photographers have been invited to the PPOTY awards night in London on 29 March 2012, where a winner and three runners up of each category will be announced. The magazine has also announced that there will be a “surprise award” on the night. Twenty tickets to the event, which will be held at theprintspace, London, are available to readers on a first-come-first-serve basis. For tickets, email: Kathrine.anker@archant.co.uk with the message line entitled: PPOTY READER TICKETS.
Today is World Read Aloud Day (WRAD). And what more could we write on this auspicious day than to let you hear for yourself TS Eliot’s own reading of “The Naming of The Cats”, from his book, O’Possum’s Book of Practical Cats?
You can read more on social media’s celebration’s of children’s books on WRAD, which saw the participation of major authors, poets, publishers as well as Google in Education, on the Story Of Books website, published by Sojournposse Purpose. Chuck Follett, CEO and President, Follett, also contributed to WRAD by reading an illustrated book by Mo Willems on YouTube.
REPORT: “Whatever is to become of books?” at London Design Festival 2011. Ebook generates 15% of the revenues for some publishers, with the romance genre having a huge slice in the market share, says Angus Phillips, Director, Oxford International Centre for Publishing Studies at Oxford Brookes University.
Although digitality has turned the publishing world upside down, Phillips stressed that it is “an exciting time for everyone” as the ebook offer so many opportunities in terms of innovations. The talk, delivered at the London Design Festival event, “Whatever is to become of books?”, at University College London on 17 September 2011, also introduced us to the new classifications in books: ebook, pbook, vanilla book, mook, byook and so on.
In this video, Phillips presented the byook – a format of ebook which is deployed on the smartphone – to the audience.
The event was supported by UCL Anthropology and co-organised by MSc Digital Anthropology students of UCL.
To find out more about the event and to get involved with the 2012 book project by Sojournposse Purpose, visit the Story of Books, the official website, at www.storyofbooks.com.
We could barely keep up with the meteoric rise of Luca Sage. Last year alone he won the KL Photo Awards 2011, LPA Portraiture Awards 2011 and ‘Best in Show’ at Foto8 Summershow 2011. The multiple award-winning photographer shares his thoughts on what makes a great visual storyteller. He said: “Never stop trying different ways of seeing, but above all try to slow down.”
Q. You have steadily won a few leading photography awards recently, especially on your portraiture work. How do you describe your style and influences?
In some ways I think my work is quite clinical with its composition, I seem to have a dislike for disorder. Conversely, my locations are anything but clinical, I tend towards cultures and countries that are relatively less homogenised by global culture.
Regarding influences, I find it hard to pin it down to one or two photographers or mediums, I think I’ve been influenced by everything I’ve ever seen and done, not just the photographers I have studied. A thread running through my work my response to the negativity that mass media and press has on people’s belief of other cultures.
Mass Media has a very powerful and lasting affect on people’s opinions of what is going on in the world. If viewers only ever see footage of starving African children or wild elephants then it stamps a cultural view in their subconscious.
Hopefully my portraits give a different view to one the mass media portrays. My portraits are positive portrayals engaging with the sitter as an individual but at the same time I now realise it is as much about them as it is about me. I’m in control of what and who I portrait, just like the Media are in control of what footage they want us to see.
Q. How does a photographer achieve consistency in style? How do you balance between commercial demand and retaining your unique photography signature? I think you have successfully arrived at this point.
It is not a simple matter but I think my eye is now trained to see in a certain way. In a sense, it is like peeling back the layers until I get to see what I want. I de-clutter the immediate World around me, trying to express the essence of what I feel. I can’t say it is the essence of what the sitter feels, as I can never truly know that.
With my personal work it is easier because I have more control over when and where I shoot, I don’t see that as work at all. With commercial demands, I adapt my work into the brief, it hopefully ends up as being something to be appreciated by more than just other photographers, which is probably a good thing.
Q. You have been working in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. I like the fact that many of your images of these countries are positive and expose the beautiful side. Do you think there are too many heavy depictions of Africa and the third world in photography?
Yes, I certainly do. I can instantly call to mind a plethora of images that have become the norm for representing ‘Africa’. It is an impossible task first of all because Africa is many different countries, religions, people and societies.
Secondly, our view of Africa in the West is filtered through two broad avenues, one being the ‘Africa needs our help’ view and the other being the ‘Sunset Savannah Safari’ landscapes. Contemporary photography is now contributing to a change in this narrow view and it is not a moment to soon in my opinion.
Q. Sojournposse uses digital anthropology observation to inform our multimedia storytelling. You are also a social anthropologist. How does that discipline inform your storytelling?
“Anthropology holds fascination for many people, with good reason: its subject matter is no less than the entire range of human experience.” – Harris.
One of the first times I showed my book to a picture editor, I said that I had previously studied Social Anthropology but didn’t want to become one after I’d graduated. He laughed and replied: “But I can see it through all of your work, it is all still there”. It is embedded in my thought process so much that I don’t even notice it so much.
I think the biggest lesson it has taught me is respect. Respect for the differences we have but highlighting we are all the same, we are all human, we all have feelings and emotions.
Q. Any advice on how to be good at portraiture, or photography in general?
That’s a good question. You never stop learning, which is why photography has such a hold on photographers. We certainly aren’t in it for the money.
Never stop trying different ways of seeing, but above all try to slow down. If you are driving a car and want to concentrate on the view outside you have to stop, step out of the car and really look. Nobody ever sees something fully at 70mph.
Of course this is easier if you are shooting personal work than if you are on assignment and have only 5 minutes to nail the shot. But even then it is better to have 5 great shots than 50 average shots. Above all, follow your heart. It really is how you produce your best shots.
★ Innovative Interactivity(II):"One of top 70 multimedia company websites to peruse for inspiration/internships/jobsin 2010"
★ Nissan Design Europe: "Sojournposse outlook on society and life is inspiring and energizing with that je-ne-sais-quoi multi-cultural angle that makes it unique. Nissan is proud of having hosted them as part of their East Meets West event." East Meets West event at London Design Festival 2009.
★ Samsung Galaxy: "Maverick". Aesthetics as A Means to Heal event at London Design Festival 2010.
★ Digital Anthropology, UCL: "Today's event was something to be super happy with — a great combination of speakers, nice use of the space, professionally choreographed, and just generally a lot of genuinely interesting topics being discussed." Whatever Is to Become of Book event at London Design Festival 2011.
★ The British Library: "Great seminar on eBooks organised by@sojournposseF8 : I look forward to attending next year's event! #StoryofBooks"
★ Digital anthropologist, UCL: "Fantastic to witness Sojournposse team at work whipping this up from nothing." Whatever Is to Become of Book event at London Design Festival 2011.
★ Not On The Wires:"Inspiration"
★ NUJ Journalist Magazine:"Smaller collective more agile than mainstream company"
★ BBC World Service: "I saw your Uzbek photos and felt very nostalgic. It is great how you spoke about things as they are."
★ Digital anthropologist, UCL: "I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed your workshop yesterday, it was definitely one of the best I've attended." Whatever Is to Become of Book event at London Design Festival 2011.
★ Deshan Tennekoon, photographer: "Its rapid ascent from the hip underground to the hip overground scares the hell out of me."
