The Book Collecting Dilemma

Dust unto dust, the saying goes — and books, hat boxes and ceramic figurines unto dust. Especially books. Unlike speech, text survives when the writer is long gone. The voice fades but a well-bound book could last forever — as long as someone bothers to keep it on a shelf somewhere, clean, dry and free from the onslaught of hungry cockroaches. (They feast on the glue used in bindings.) Books dominate our house, thousands of them, mostly about art and design.

We love our library which entombs a lifetime of fleeting interests and enduring obsessions, but we're also oppressed by its physical and emotional weight. Like many others we worry about what will happen to all these volumes when we're gone. Do books have souls? Is there an out-of-print afterlife? Do midlist titles die and go to hell on a flaming kindle?

—Ellen Lupton
How to Lose a Legacy, NYT

I have a modest photography book collection at home and I often struggle with the decision whether to add to it or not. The quote above triggered it. The author’s point of view appealed to my practical side. However, I have a deeper relationship with photography books that conflicts with the logical side of my brain.

I finished the only three photography courses that were offered at the university I attended in Manila. Still, I had this insatiable need to learn more about the medium. Not having the internet as a resource then, I was thrilled to discover a collection of photography books at the Thomas Jefferson Library which was affiliated with the US Embassy in Manila.

Books helped keep my passion for photography alive for several years before I enrolled in photography school in Santa Barbara. When I worked in Boston prior to that, I used to habitually plop myself in the corner of the bookstore near my workplace and peruse the latest monographs. I worked at the library when I was a photography student and I learned about many photographers while putting books and magazines back on the shelves.

Today the internet provides more information than a physical library could ever hold, and I love it for its accessibility. But clicking a mouse or swiping the screen is a completely different experience from holding a book in my hands. Sure, the latter can be cumbersome. But it is precisely for this reason that I am better at absorbing and retaining its content.  It is a slow process that allows me to focus. It holds my attention longer. The weight of the book, the act of turning the pages and the feel of the paper — these enhance the viewing experience for me. I must admit  though that once I own the books, I only retrieve them occasionally. But when I go through my lethargic periods and need some inspiration, I do pull them from the shelves.

I have to strike a balance when it comes to adding new titles to my collection. I limit myself to a maximum of 5 books a year. It is a hard choice to make especially in the midst of a resurgence of independently published books. The options are endless. And of course, books are expensive and I have to keep within a budget. 

Someday, I hope to pass on my small collection to a worthy institution back in Manila. Hopefully a few kids will rediscover the magic of the printed page again just like I did so many years ago.

Jessica Hilltout: Amen Grassroots Football

Photograph by Jessica Hiltout

About the project:

This book pays homage to Africa. It is a tribute to the forgotten, to the majority. All the people who live and will remain in the shadow of the World Cup deserve to have a light shone on them, not just for their passion for the game, but more so for the fundamental energy and enthusiasm that shines through.

Purchase the book.

Days with my Father, the book

Publisher: Chronicle Books

I wrote about Mr. Toledano's project Days with my Father two years ago. What began as a personal project with its own microsite has now turned into a published book. I bought a copy and it arrived in the mail yesterday.

10: Ten Years of In-Public

10: Ten Years of In-Public
Nick Turpin Publishing

Publisher’s Description
‘10’

‘10’ is published to commemorate ten years of the In-Public international street photographers group and features ten images from each of the groups 20 photographers.

Over the last decade In-Public has played a major role in bringing Street Photography to public attention, it has demonstrated that Street Photography is a unique, specific and very vital way of picturing the world. With a foreword by in-public’s founder Nick Turpin, an essay by the Guardians Design and Architecture Editor Jonathan Glancey and interviews by photography writer David Clark, ‘10’ is the first survey of contemporary Street Photography talent since the second edition of Bystander.

The book is only available currently through the publisher’s website.

Raymond Meeks: Artist Books

I thought about Raymond Meeks as one photographer who has been experimenting with the book form for quite sometime now. This was actually triggered by reading several conversations across the blogsphere about the future of photo books. I just wanted to point him out as I thought he was doing something unique and unconventional. Also, here is an interview with Darius Himes about his creative process.