Three months of lessons and lots of practice to make 7 of these guys.
A lot of advertising photographers invest in hand-made portfolio housings. They are the finishing touch to a lot of hard work and make for an impressive presentation. I hand-made my own portfolios and slipcases because it seems like a really important part of the process. How could I entrust anyone to the task of making a book for my work? I had just finished shooting for an entire year, working on a new style and vision, and the vision couldn’t just stop there. The craft should continue from the digital world and carry through to the physical one that wrapped around my printed pages. I’m a hands-on kinda person and I love research.
I sought out Barbara Mauriello, a brilliant and highly regarded bookbinder, conservator and artist, who agreed to take me on as her student, to become a one trick pony. That is, to learn screw post bookbinding techniques, the style in which many commercial photography portfolios are bound. I also joined the Center for Book Arts on 27th Street, to rent their bookbinding studio equipment, a remarkable resource for an archaic craft. I later assembled the books in my basement workshop.
After four long training sessions with Barbara and months making countless “test books” using dozens of different fabrics and techniques, the real books went into production, with the goal of making ten in total, knowing a few would be ruined along the way. Two Three of the books didn’t make it. After all, I was just an apprentice, more or less copying what the master demonstrated.
As an added element to my books I designed my own logo based on the iconic jumping goldfish photo to create a copper die for imprinting the covers. No, I didn’t make that myself, too, I sent that out to engraver, Owosso Graphics, in Michigan. Sophia Kramer was my mentor on this part of the bookmaking and with infinite patience taught me how to use the kindly used, but ancient, Kensol 36T, three-ton press (ooooh, sounds impressive, doesn’t it?) at the Center for Book Arts.
They’re done, they’re gorgeous, and I’m sending them out in the world (not unlike my teenage daughter to college) to see how they fare.
David — They are gorgeous! Those corners! Those turn-ins!! No loose threads anywhere. And you have built in the perfect “square” of the boards. I am very proud of you. Good luck, and keep making books.
Hi David,
Your book looks stunning! Well worth the effort invested. I am currently in the process of constructing a screw post bound book (sadly someone else is constructing for me), but I am really troubling over the page hinging system. My thinking is to stick adhesive linen cloth 5mm onto the edge of each printed page, so 2 pieces of linen stick together front and back. I then hole punch the linen, insert, and when the pages turn the linen bends nicely allowing the pages to lie flat. Only problem is the linen looks a bit ugly… Your pages seem to bend nicely and no sight of any cloth? How have managed that? Any feedback would be hugely appreciated. Thankyou,
Kristian
Hi Kristian,
I don’t know why the linen isn’t looking good to you. I’ve not used linen, but seen it in many books and find it quite elegant, the mix of paper and fabric hinge. I used Moab Lasal Photo Matte 235. I selected this paper for 3 reasons: 1. predrilled and prescored sheets, 2. it can be printed on two sides and 3. it’s matte – I don’t like glossy paper. I break in each book by folding the scored pages (wearing white gloves) so the pages fall nicely. The books aren’t that old, so only time will tell for the durability. But, so far, so good.
David, you’ve done something really special with this. Thank you for sharing your process! I was taught some bookbinding skills (not screw post) at the end of photo school a long time ago, and know how precise you must be. These look amazing. You mention paper choice, but would you mind talking about how you print them? What caliber printer is required for a fine art portfolio. Do you do this yourself? Thanks again.
Thanks for your kind comments. I used an Epson 4880 as my printer because the production specs on it include double sided printing of pages. I started on an HP 8190 but ran into problems with the rollers frequently scratching the image on the printed side when printing the second side. I’d suggest considering the Epson printers in the 4000 series or higher for printing fine art. But I’m not an expert at printing. Just taking pictures.