Photo Essay

This one was a special one. The project required us to learn the basics of photography, choose a topic of our liking and get clicking. The problem with having your own choice, is that there are so many wonderful things to choose from, and like the last project I was pulled in various directions.

I wanted to capture colours, non-materialistic happiness, joy in the little things, the beach.

Decisions, decisions decisions!!

For the first topic, I combined ‘little joys’ and ‘by the waterside’. Here are some of the pictures I took at different times in the day.

The next step was to try my hand at book-binding. I never anticipated that I would ever create my own book from scratch, book cover maybe but not the entire thing. I was really excited about choosing the kind of paper I was using, what method I would use, and to see if my final outcome reflected the ones in the various book binding youtube videos I had researched.

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These are two trial books that I made. For one I used the non-adhesive three style sewing method while for the other I used the concertina gluing method by Scott Mccarney.

Final Choice

The topic that I chose to go with was one that I was extremely passionate about. After a hospital visit and eating pancakes for lunch,  I decided to take a stroll in a Bombay afternoon (not weird at all). On doing so I was so inspired by the street art, and run-down locations. My e-classmates work was another reason I was so inspired to go ahead with this topic.

I clicked photographs of street art that can be considered vandalism or freedom of expression, I choose to believe in the latter. It reminded me of being in the present because most of the time there is so much going on in our mind, that we are seeing but not really looking.

I photographed dilapidated houses that spoke to me in a certain way. There was a sadness, but still so much beauty. It was old and forgotten but to me it just felt like so much more. I went into so many tiny lanes, and felt like a tourist in my own city.

Snippets of the book

Look through some of my favourite spreads below.

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Book Cover

Below is the process of how I decided on the logo for my book.

 

I adopted the three style sewing method by Scott Mccarney for the final book. It was a really easy method and worked really well since I printed 4″ by 6″  pages. I wanted the cover to symbolise my entire experience and represent my photographs in a cohesive  way. The white background was striking but looked very clean, and organised unlike the free rustic nature of my pictures. Hence I decided to choose a tan paper as my backdrop and I used rope as well in the corner.

Back pocket

I used a map to pin down the source of all my photographs. I used the back flap of my book as a pocket and inserted the map inside.