Karel Polt's Blog

• e-tivity 11. Feedback on using Lulu

  2007 Dec 10

  Finally! It's over! (almost)
  
  I absolutely love the idea of self-publishing and print on demand. It opens up so many possibilities for so many creative minds all around the world. My first book obviously has it's flaws, but at the same time it is very dear to me. But i'll try to concentrate on e-learning now:
  
  I welcome online learning as an idea very warmly. As most of my generation is connected to the internet one way or another anyway, it's only a matter of when digital pedagogy becomes a standard. Unfortunately, Lulu.com is not exactly a user-friendly environment, and it isn't welcoming enough for constant digital activities like blogging, commenting and change of information. There are other, far more sophisticated environments for that (e.g. Facebook), which make users want to spend as much time as possible online.
  
  With Lulu we have been forced to go through the painful search of information, badly organized menus and awful navigation system. While it's really good for publishing, Lulu is not good for communication and group work.
  
  With this post, i believe, ends my blogging experience on Lulu (while my real blog on karello.blogspot.com keeps on going), but the publishing experience has just begun!
  

• e-tivity 9. The photomag

  2007 Nov 25

  Here's a short outline of the photomagazine Helen, Sindy, Kate and I are putting together.
  
  Name: DP magazine
  Format: A4
  
  A.
  1. Description of theme
  There will be no overall theme, except that we are dealing with collected images. Each of us is responsible for 2 or 3 themes, collecting photos for these themes and making the basic layout of the theme. Each theme will be over one double spread A3.
  
  For the first issue i am responsible for these themes:
  

  • Colour pink (i need to collect images of anything pink from random people around the world)
  • Timezones (i need to get at least 24 people to take a photo of themselves at the same time around the world in all the different timezones)

  
  
  2. Frequency
  We haven't thought further than the first issue yet
  
  3. Description of the source
  Right now we ask random people to send photographs in by email. They are mostly friends and family and their friends.
  
  4. Description of the text
  It's going to be mostly about photos with very little text. Text will be more personal than critical.
  
  5. Description of team roles
  The magazine is a team work and process is coordinated through collective meetings. No-one is particularly responsible for a role, rather for their own theme.
  
  6. Design
  Size will be A4.
  Each theme covers a double-spread and is designed individually with some elements that run through the magazine.
  Haven't decided on how many themes or pages will there be.
  
  
  

• e-tivity 08. Social bookmarking

  2007 Nov 18

  I've found a few links to photopublishing and hopefully this del.icio.us linkroll works, so you can see me last few bookmarks on the topic:
  
  
  my del.icio.us
  

• My first book is ready!

  2007 Oct 30

  After weeks of working on it, my first photobook is finally compiled, uploaded and ready for print! InDesign is not such a big monster after all and Lulu didn't give me any hard time when uploading the files. All I need to do now is wait for my first printed copy and revise it.
  
  You can buy Alternative to 'subculture' gone mainstream on my storefront.
  
  
  Print: £11.98
  Download: FREE
  Description:
  Portraits of a boy and a girl who could be described as gay, but who have decided to portray themselves as something alternative to the mainstream gay culture.
  

• Working on my book

  2007 Oct 21

  I've been working on the layout of my photobook all through last week. The basic idea was on paper already on Tuesday, but the actually dummy took another few days to create.
  
  
  
  Background
  My book is based on the photos from my Subcultures project from last year. Therefore it's titled the same: Alternative to "subculture" gone mainstream
  
  Visual structure
  It is clearly divided into two halves, of which the first is dedicated to portraits of Lee and the other half to portraits of Noëlle. On the very first page there is an introduction to the book and the idea behind the original project. Before each group of photos there's another page with a single line of text, introducing the subject (e.g. Lee 21, May 2007).
  
  The rest of the book is for photos only. Most of the on each side of the page, some double spreads and a few photos with the opposite page empty. All photos will be printed in full bleed.
  
  Formating
  Size of the book will be 6" x 9".
  There will be 88 pages plus the covers.
  It will be perfect bound and hard covered.
  
  As i said before, the photos will be printed full bleed, unlike in this dummy.
  
  

• What is a photobook?

  2007 Oct 02

  After reading the history of artist books and photo books, i think i have a sort of idea what they might be. In fact, there seem to be at least three overlapping categories:
  
  - artist books could be created by any artist and the book could be of any shape or material and about anything from poems to photos or nothing particular. They are usually very personal and "arty", and book on it's own is a piece of art.
  - photobooks can be very varied in shape and content, but the overall agreement seems to be that in a photobook the story or some kind of a narrative is given only through photos. No words are necessary, unless they really are. Makes sense, doesn't it?
  - books of photographs can be a collection of artist's work in any sequence. They can be an overview of an exhibition or a catalogue type of books. Point is, they are not pieces of art on their own and they don't tell a story through photos.
  
  Here's my example of a photobook:
  

  Ray's a Laugh by Richard Billingham
  
  Billingahm has photographed his Mum and Dad and the book could by a kind of family album, but the photos are taken without any pretence and show the grim reality of his Dad as an alcoholic and his Mum as a chain smoker.
  
  The book is like an experience. First you are introduced to the setting, then to the family members and then to their everyday doings. Images are printed from side to side of the book without borders, often over both pages, and on a matt paper to emphasize the imagery. In fact, the images are so colourful and detailed that i can almost hear and smell them. No accompanying text is needed to tell the story. A few images can be totally independent of the others, other ones bind the story together and give more detail to the overall.
  
  
  

  I would categorise this book as follows

  YES
  an artist book
  a photobook
  an exhibition catalogue (if there was an exhibition)
  NO
  a survey of a photographer's greatest hits
  a career review
  a monograph
  an anthology
  
  
  

  Details of the book

  Title Ray's a Laugh
  Date 1996/2000
  Author Richard Billingham
  Publisher Scalo Zurich-Berlin-New York
  Location Germany
  ISBN 3-908247-37-3
  

• The start

  2007 Sep 25

  Hmm.. my first encounters with Lulu have been quite painful. Maybe it's the layout and user unfriendliness or maybe i'm simply not smart enough, yet. But, after an hour or a few i feel like i'm getting there. Somewhere.
  
  On my way i have successfully uploaded the first Photographic Cultures project, deleted it, as it was so beginning-of-the-90s-ugly, and uploaded a new and much better version of the same project. Here's the preview. You can buy it for a modest £6.34.
  
  I also tried to add some friends, but unsuccessfully as of yet. Will try it again in a minute.
  
  Also, as you've probably noticed, this is my first blog entry on Lulu. And it's not going to be the last. Meanwhile, you can check out my other, personal blog on karello.blogspot.com.
  
  To make this post even more interactive, here's a photo of me, in case you where wondering what i look like.