Comments on: Future of Photobooks Discussion: How should photobook CONSUMPTION evolve in this decade?

By: MaryAnn

MaryAnn — Mon, 10 May 2010 10:08:02 +0000

I think in this age photo books are more meaningful than most other things (especially as gifts). There are options to print them or to publish them online but regardless of whichever method the fact remains that they are an excellent way of preserving precious memories.

A few decades ago the idea of a mobile phone was not even born which illustrates how dynamic the world of technology is. My guess will probably be the evolving of the photo book in ways we wouldn't even begin to fathom today

By: The Future of Photobooks « APA San Francisco

The Future of Photobooks « APA San Francisco — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:54:31 +0000

[...] should photobook CREATION evolve in next decade? Mediated by Marc Feustel, creator of eyecurious How should photobook CONSUMPTION evolve in next decade? Mediated by Todd Walker, creator of Gallery Hopper and Ocular Octopus How should photobook FUNDING [...]

By: The Future of Photobooks « Katherine Rondina Photography

The Future of Photobooks « Katherine Rondina Photography — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:36:25 +0000

[...] How should photobook CONSUMPTION evolve in this decade? Moderated by Todd Walker. [...]

By: @bengolik

@bengolik — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 19:21:04 +0000

Thanks for the link to LunaticMag. Some really lovely work by some great photographers. But for me what lets it down is the obsession with recreating a 'print experience' … online. Pages you 'flick', the familiar contents page, and a totally linear approach to the presentation and perusal of photos. For me, this format doesn't move the digital experience along. Surely there are more dynamic and interactive ways to present photography electronically? Anyone know of any good examples?

By: @OcularOctopus

@OcularOctopus — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:19:04 +0000

Very few products follow a straight line relationship between price and demand. Its usually more of a curve and there's a point at which lowering prices are decreasingly effective at driving demand. I think in art photography, the total audience size is restrained by something other than the availability of cheap photo books. Visiting a gallery is near zero cost for the consumer, but attendance has yet to outstrip movie or concert ticket sales.

A major cause of concern regarding digitization and near-free pricing is that this will make devoting sizable amounts of time to photography nearly impossible. It's already pretty damn hard to make a living as a photographer, especially of the fine art variety. To use your Pearl Jam analogy, the expectation is for PJ to make up their sales revenue through performance. What would you suggest is the analog for this for photographers?

By: Joe

Joe — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 20:07:45 +0000

Hi, i tried to address this below.

The economics actually work in favour of an iPhotobook. This is all about producing until marginal cost equals marginal revenue. (marginal cost is much much much higher in hard-printed work)

Economics show that the lower the price, the lower the purchase friction, the lower the price the higher the sales, the higher the sales the higher the total revenue, the higher the 'total revenue' the more likely a photographer will hit a break-even on the project and start to generate revenues that exceed cost.

What's missing from photography is an appreciation that you can lower the cost of offering your work without ‘cheapening’ your work. Do you think Pearl Jam has suddenly become ‘cheap’ because you can buy a lifetime of blood bundled into a single song for £0.79? Does it sound massivly inferieior if i didn't buy the CD? Photographers need to grasp this concept or just keep whinging about the old days.

By: @NouvellesImages

@NouvellesImages — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 13:08:50 +0000

I have really enjoyed discovering LunaticMag. A strong demonstration of what you write. Thanks.
Increasing access to a wider audience is the key of iphotobooks or iphotomagazines projects. It's a nonsense to me that a paperphotobook reaches an audience of 3000 at best. At this level of distribution, the PhotoBook is something important only for the Photographer – He has his work published as a book. But it is not important for the audience (out of the 3000 happy fews). Most of the potential audience will never experience the book because of access barriers.
wr to the concept of smaller benefits of photobooks on tablets or iphone rather than on paper: a much bigger, easier, risk lesser accessibility compensates largely. MP3 music brings less audio benefit than CD or Vinyl music. But in this case accessibility won over perfect benefit.

By: Joe

Joe — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 00:04:55 +0000

I think this is exactly where we are going.

Stefan has done a great job on this front and i can't wait to get this download on some soon-to-be tablet as it's a pleasing experience even on my iphone.

I've shown this to my non-photography friends and they were entertained and that's the goal, no?

http://www.stefan-rohner.net/blog/?p=461

Is it so crazy to think something as simple as this doesn't lead to a purchased print that will lay flat in a frame on a wall somewhere? Is it so crazy to thing what's not purchased is still enjoyed for it's communicative value?

I think this is the future and the early adopters are just going to be better off. This is no longer the bleeding edge, this is the cutting edge with what you're proposing.

Wedding photographers are making a killing off this feature.
..

By: Joe

Joe — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 23:52:30 +0000

As far a moving the digital experience along, personally we're trying to move this 'past' theory. we're working with some like-minded individuals over at http://www.LunaticMag.com to embrace reality.

Core to the strategy at Lunatic Magazine is appreciating the economics of an on-line magazine over a print magazine. Core to the strategy is an appreciation that Photography is a Communicative Medium First (and an artefact last) and therefore its message can be delivered without it being published on paper at a great cost and if published on paper only available to a fraction of the people it could be.

Core to the strategy is deal with this Darwinist constraint and improve the experience you can get from offering other than print.

I don't know where the future is heading, but i must admit i think you can divide the camps up between:

those that care about the communicative qualities of the medium and the desire to manage the quality of the medium and the desire to infect as many people as they can with the medium through the greatest access.

and

The current thought-leaders on the topic, those that think the book as an artefact is more important than the things i just mentioned.

By the way, i will still use film and i will still buy photobooks until they cease to be available, but my pitiful support won't keep kodachrome in business nor will it support the plight of the traditional quality photobook.

By: Joe

Joe — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 23:41:47 +0000

My hope is that this iPhotobook genration will kick-start a revival of ‘let’s make a tape’ generation where people think about sequence and song rather than just a bunch of killer images to present on your website to evidence photographic talent. I think iPhotobooks could be the catalyst for such a revival.

But this is probably all a pipe dream because all the so called ‘thought-leaders’ are too busy trying to re-invent the library or don’t realise that if you want a photograph that is ‘art’ then buy a ‘real’ print, get it properly framed so it lays flat and put it on your wall with good lighting and nice spatial harmony with the rest of your art and the rest of your living area.