Simply put this is a book of images that are meaningful to me. For this project I looked through over 60,000 images that I’ve been saving over the last decade and choose my top 256. I’m really drawn to images with similarities and as a visual person there is something so satisfying about making a diptych or overlapping images, especially since pairing or juxtaposing pictures has the potential to change the meaning.

 

Because there was no set order or text to help structure the pages, I choose to focus on image pairings and placement as well as the pace and narrative of the book as a whole. This task was challenging but gratifying. The final book is 8 x 10 inches, 334 pages, perfect bound, and mostly black and white with the exception of about 25 key pages where color felt necessary.

 

During this project, as I do with most book projects, I made mini mock-ups to help with sequencing and layout. I’m not sure if it’s the color, the size (1.5 x 2 x 2.5 inches), the form, the fact that it’s a picture book, or all of the above, but the final mock-up I made is the epitome of a book as an object. When viewers hold it in their hands and unfold the pages, it becomes more of a toy than a book. While the full-size book is met with intrigue and interest, the mini is met with pure joy, which is interesting because the content is nearly identical.