Deb Hall has put together an inspired portrait of her mother, for SoFoBoMo. Some lovely images, great individual portraits that made me laugh out loud, and wise words combine to give an insight into the person that her mama-san is. One of the best parts of SoFoBoMo is getting to see what other people are capable of putting together within the constraints of the challenge. This is a fine example and worth taking the time to look. Great.
April Siegfried's SoFoBoMo book, On the Edge , starts out with some dramatic design and bold typography. The strong edge placement sets the tone for some very well thought-out layout. The images don't disappoint either, making me smile, feel sad or amused in new ways on each page. She has brought a good eye for colour and light and applied it to a very simple concept - edges. The turns that this simple concept takes are delightful, finding new twists on the idea through the book, enough to keep things interesting. This serves as a great example that projects don't have to have lofty goals or broad remits. The project idea is just the thing that motivates you to go and take the pictures. It doesn't have to be addressing world peace or famine. I think sometimes we get caught up in needing to find something worthy, when the theme really isn't that important at all, as long as it gets you moving.
Amy Sakurai's love affair with Portland continues in her 2009 SoFoBoMo book, 17 to Portland. Last year she sent a love letter, this time around we go for a ride with the city, along the number 17 bus route. I thought this was a great idea to tie the images together on a theme. I also enjoyed how she used a graphic of the bus stops to tie the sections together as a repeating design element. The writing is good, too, giving some insights into the shooting and hectic schedule. I was particularly tickled by the driver's bemusement about why she was shooting just the #17 route. Because it is special. That captures one of the things I love about photography. We can use it to explore anything in such detail that what might appear to be mundane can be made special, just by the attention and care. Amy does that in this slice of life in Portland.
Ron Dowd is a lucky man. You can tell this by looking at the stunning scenery he got to explore while making his 2009 SoFoBoMo book, clear light, high country. This ten day trip around New Zealand takes in a lot of ground. Mountains, lakes, farmland, all unroll in front of Ron's burnt orange Camry and camera. I'm struck how much New Zealand reminds me of Scotland, not just because they seem to have pinched many of the same place names. Dramatic light, high mountains, threatening clouds and snow all conspire to provide a great road trip and some lovely images.
Somehow I struggled through and finished SoFoBoMo, just in time. About 37 other people have reached the finished point and uploaded their books to the site now. I've started looking through the books put together by the other participants and there are some impressive results.
So far, I really enjoyed the photography and layout in Julie Matkin's book, Lightness. The images are beautiful, with a lovely sense of timelessness and gorgeous light. I feel transported to a beach, long ago. I also liked the non-standard layout on one long, wide PDF page. Once you get the zoom level set right in the PDF viewer, the images just unroll in front of your eyes. Worth a look. It creates a great sense of place.
