1. Research a photo-book and describe the story it is communicating with reference to subject-matter, genre and approach to image-making.
The Photobook I’m researching is Supreme by David Sims and it tells a story of skating and the riders lives. The approach they have taken to image making is very casual a few of the images have the riders posing for the photo and other images in the book are of the riders in their natural environment of the skate park.
2. Who is the photographer? Why did he/she make it? (intentions/ reasons) Who is it for? (audience) How was it received? (any press, reviews, awards, legacy etc.)
The photographer is David Sims, who does lots of advertising photoshoots for well known brands such as Prada, Gucci and Loewe. The book is for anyone who loves high demand, well known fashion and also for people who are interested in skating and have a passion for it. Their was a review from Goodreads about the book saying – it was beautifully produced, the book is the epitome of Supremes dedication to quality and design. This suggests that the book was hugely successful and was a big influence on the community of skaters.
3. Deconstruct the narrative, concept and design of the book and apply theory above when considering:
The narrative of the book is about the lives of the skaters of supreme and how they influence the younger generations of skaters.
How does the book feel/smell ?
The book smells very new and modern and feels very smooth.
Paper and Ink – use of different patterns/texture/colours or black and white for all images.
There are many black ad white images in the book and a few of the images have red in them which is the classic colour of the supreme logo. The images in the book are not the clearest photos and many of them are quite blurry images.
Format, size and orientation: portraiture/ landscape/ square/ A5, A4, A3/ number of pages.
The book has a portrait orientation and is A4 and has 64 pages in it.
Binding, soft/hard cover, image wrap/dust jacket, saddle stitch/swiss binding/ Japanese stab-binding/ Laperello
The binding is a saddle stitch binding and has a soft cover.
Cover: linen/card, graphic/printed image, embossed/debossed, letterpress/silkscreen or hot-stamping.
The cover is linen and has a printed image on the front of the book with no writing on it.
Title: literal or poetic / relevant or intriguing
There is no title to the book, just an image of one of the Supreme skaters, skating on a photo of someone’s lips which have red lip gloss on them, this already indicates what the book is about and what brand is being advertised.
Narrative: what is the story/ subject-matter. How is it told?
The story is told by all of the skaters that skate for Supreme having a portrait image taken of them and put into the book and then having images of them skating showing what life is like for them as being a skater for a well known fashion brand.
Structure and architecture: how is it designed/ repeating motifs/ or do specific features develop a concept or construct a narrative.
The portraits of the skaters are repeated throughout the book including full body shots and portraits of just their faces. There is no specific features that develop the concept of the book.
Design and layout: image size on pages/single page, double-spread/ images/grid, fold-outs/inserts.
There are no double page spreads and there are only single page spreads in the book.
Editing and sequencing: selection of images/juxtaposition of photographs/editing process.
The images have been selected so that they are not all just white images and so that there is a contrast between the images for example the all red image and then the white background image above that creates that dramatic contrast.
Images and text: are they linked? Introduction/essay/statement by artists or others. Use of captions if there are any.
There is no text in the book and no captions the book is specifically told through the images of the skaters.