Book References

The Nature of Photographs by Stephen Shore, A Primer

This book stood out to me because of it very simple cover. While looking for books in the library I tended to be drawn towards ones with minimalistic covers and spines. Like many people say, you can’t judge a book by it’s cover. This one simply has the title of the book on the front with an all black cover.  Shore allows the images to breath by leaving a fair amount of blank space around each image, which I think in some circumstances can make the image stronger. Additionally, I enjoy his use of labeling the images, artist, date, location, etc., in the upper corner if the page as opposed to underneath the image. Stylistically I can’t put my finger on why I like this better than a caption underneath, but I find it aesthetically pleasing, and more informative to first see a small description which then leads your eye to the image. Shore also has some small amounts of writing for certain images which may stand out to him more, or just has further explanation for it. P62,67.

Shifting Tides: Cuban Photography after the Revolution

This cover is also very minimalistic, with no text at all on it. The only thing on it is a slight depression in the cover with  triangle, and a star in relief in the middle, symbolizes the Cuban flag. I find this very striking and thoughtful even though very little is provided. This book has a wide array of organization techniques when it comes to placing images within the pages. They range from full page images with no border, to various small images placed within a two page spread with text, to a row of sequential images across two pages. P56,89,34. The incorporation of tet provides a documentary feel which I think works well with the incredible variety of layouts, which also speaks to the subject matter of Cuba changing.

THTK 2010-Present.  Abigail Solomon-Godeau

While I found this cover somewhat unsuccessful based on the color palette of both text and the background image, I did like addition of cardboard pieces that have the cover on it on top of the bound cover. It is an interesting way to include another material as well texture and dimensionality to the relatively small book. However I find the way the images are presented very engaging. They are all full two page spreads with no borders. Many of the images are pictures of pictures that are hanging on a wall. Godeau makes this more interesting than it inherently is by cropping the images in interesting ways that lead the viewer to imagine the images extending off the page. I also just find borderless two page spreads a much more engaging way to view images because of the size and the imagination of the viewer considering the images extending off the page as I mentioned earlier.