OUGD603 - Photography Book - Evaluation

In evaluating the final outcome, it was considered that the format of this works effectively to give the images impact and successfully enhance the emotive narratives of Akshay’s photography. The use of juxtaposition also helped to secure this narrative in an interesting and engaging way, whilst the use of perspective gives the reader subconscious prompts to continue reading throughout the book.

It was also considered that the book succeeds in its attempt to look professional through the careful consideration of paper stocks and binding methods. However, due to the perfect bind process this meant the book had to be re-trimmed so that all the pages and cover aligned perfectly. This meant that some of the borders were cut shorter than originally intended, and if this were to be done again, one set of crop marks will be kept on the book until after the binding process.

The inside pages had also originally intended to be printed on a glossier stock than they are, however technicalities in the printing process meant that this was not possible. Despite this, the final stock choice still gives a slight glossy finish to the images through the paper’s absorption of the ink, whilst the textured feel to the paper can be seen as representative of the slight gritty feel of some of Akshay’s photography.

In terms of the process of external collaboration, this was challenging since the photographer did not seem to know what they wanted and so did not offer much in the way of feedback throughout the process, as well as being slow to hand over any additional information or resources needed for the production of the book.

In terms of the photography itself, due to the photographer not knowing what they wanted, they simply handed over a folder full of mis-match images with inconsistent sizes that made them difficult to work with in most formats as found through layout and format experimentation. In addition, no context was given to images. For this reason, images were selected based on what was thought to work well as a part of a series in creating an appropriate and specific theme and narrative for the book, which was considered in the end to be effective in conveying this.

Overall, however, it was considered that the book successfully succeeds in capturing the emotive essences of Akshay’s photography.