Chapbook: Planning

 

The Chap-Book: The Pipes, June 1895

William H. Bradley; Publisher: Stone and Kimball, Chicago

What is your final idea?  Please explain in two sentences the theme and the form your writing will take.

My final idea is a small novella form which will contain 4-6 chapters and I will use images that are my own and copyright free.  This book will be no more than 40 pages and is on the theme of disappearance. 

Considering the form, how do you intend to layout your book pages?

The form will be a novella using realism and I intend to layout the pages in the conventions of traditional book form and add appropriate images that add to the text. 

How many pages do you expect there will be?

30-40 pages

Are you going to use images?  Are these your own images (illustrations/photographs) or copyright free images that you will source?  

Yes, my own images and copyright free images that I will credit in the book 

What is the plan of your time and how much you will need to spend on this?

Remember writing is something that you will need time and concentration without disturbance - you must make sure that you plan time to do this.

12-20 hours 

What do you imagine the final book will look like?  

I will use a trade book format from Blurb and this is about 5 x 7 in - It will contain a designed front cover with my name (author) and Title of the book 

Have you considered the cover page/contents page/back cover with blurb?

As above - I will add this to Blurb and it will have an ISBN so it can be sold 

Drafting and redrafting will need to be done?  Who would you get to proofread your work?

I will ask my partner/colleagues to proofread

Write down any other thoughts or comments related to your plan on your blog post.

I will write this on Google Docs to ensure that I can share drafts and I can edit easily whoever I may be.

Creating a Chapbook: Initial Ideas

 Introduction to the project 

The second project in Creative Media Production this term is the creative writing project this will be created in the format / form of a chapbook and will be no more than 40 pages long and can include both text and images.  It can take any form of creative writing but must have an overarching theme. 

Chapbooks (the format we will be using) were circulated from the 17th to 19th centuries, bought cheaply and shared, and were popular with middle-class children. 'Chapbooks were normally printed on one single sheet of paper and then folded into 8, 12, 16 or 24 pages. They would usually have been sold unbound and held together by a simple sewing.'(Ray, 2021).  When I was at university I learned book making and used different sewing techniques to create a handmade book.  Today people online are still similarly making little books and also they can be printed cheaply and easily digitally in the spirit of the original chapbook. 

Chapbooks and Chapmen

Form and theme 

In my photographic project was working on my disappearance, I would like to use the same theme for my chapbook as an overarching theme.  I would like to explore absence and presence in writing and technically I would like to explore further literary methods for creating the story of disappearance.  

One of my favourite stories of disappearance was Joris-Karl Huysmans A Rebours (Against Nature, which was about 'Des Esseintes, a decadent, ailing aristocrat who retreats to an isolated villa where he indulges his taste for luxury and excess' (Good Reads n.d).  His departure from society leads him to explore all the excessses he can think of from exotic plants, exotic women, excessive demands, and jewels however this isolation and excess do not lead to the experience he is hoping for, and in his next book La Bas, he has renounced God and fully explores the limits of evil. Huysman's disappearance from society though is what is interesting here.

I looked at a couple of reviews on this and both reviews found the text quite hard work and did not like the literary reviews and references and needing to look these up in the notes (this is the part I enjoy most as often it does link to texts I know or gives a historical or literary context) Menon states: 'These critiques are punctuated with des Esseintes’ memories (often quite disturbing) as well as his ennui and ailments which seem inherently linked with his enforced literary lifestyle and symptomatic of everything he is trying to escape. Against Nature is often humorous and self-reflective, which compensates for the lengthy book reviews within the novel which can alienate the reader.' (Menon L: 12/09/2016)

In my own work on the disappearance in the text I intend to write, I may well include a withdrawal from working life and I have some ideas on how I affect that disappearance for the character I intend to create.  I may not experience every sensual desire that I can imagine like Des Essientes however I will explore all manner of new enjoyments that come with the freedom of the disappearance. 

References

Ray, A. (2021) Chapbooks: Fleet Street Time Travellers, Kings Collections. Available at: https://blogs.kcl.ac.uk/kingscollections/2016/07/20/chapbooks-a-fleet-street-time-traveller/ (Accessed: 05 February 2024). 

2. Chapbooks and chapmen (no date) University of Aberdeen. Available at: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/stories/chapbooks-chapmen/index.html (Accessed: 05 February 2024). 

Against nature (no date) Goodreads. Available at: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/210255 (Accessed: 05 February 2024). 

Lucy Menon (2016). AGAINST NATURE | BOOK REVIEW. [online] Buzz Magazine. Available at: https://www.buzzmag.co.uk/nature-book-review/ [Accessed 6 Feb. 2024].

Creating a Website: Contact Page & Social Links

 I then wanted to add a contact page so that it would be easy for people to get in touch.  I did this by using the 'Add' Button on the left hand menu and went to 'Contact and Forms'.  I then placed the contact form in the correct position on my page and I I then set the notifications to ensure they came to my gmail address.  

Then I began to customise the form starting with ensuring that all fonts were the same as my homepage and so I used the 'Bitter' font again and I used this on the form, title and all buttons.  I then changed the input fields adding a little colour and the submit button I changed to match the background of my page.

I then just clicked on the 'Add' button on the left hand menu and then I clicked on image and then upload image and I uploaded one of my own test images from a project for the moment. I clicked on Save and the previewed to check everything is working.

The next thing I did on my website was add a social bar.  I went to add button the left hand menu and then chose 'social' and then I chose the social bar that I wanted add to my website.  I clicked on this and then I dragged this into my footer.

I then set all my social links for Blogger, Twitter/X, Linkedin and YouTube.  I then saved all my settings and work and then previewed and then I tested that the links worked correctly. 

I then checked my mobile view on the contact page and I adjusted my Header as my title of my site was not showing I then check ed that I had a back to top button and I moved the menu button to the right hand side as this was more pleasing and people tend to look right first.  I saved and then previewed to ensure all changed worked correctly.

Photography Project Plan: Disappearance

 This my project plan from Week Five, I will update on this posts over coming weeks.

Update - 29th February 2024

Initial Research  - Yes - Paul A Photography research

Initial Photo shoot with development - First Shoot for Disappearance 

Further Research - Family of Man, (Outstanding Target Market and One more research Lissa Riveria) 

Software Practice and and Concept Board

Second Shoot for final images (outstanding) 

Add any Process post x 2

Photography: Sustainability & Wellbeing

Photography Curation and Adding Images to Gallery 

Website updates and UX Testing

Creative Writing: Writing Exercise One

 Emotion: Sadness

Jasmine woke to the sound of someone shouting what sounded like Jonny's in the hole, save Jonny!' over and over again. Jasmine groaned this happened, every morning at 6.00am, Mrs Wilson was one of the old dears who lived in the care home downstairs and Jasmine from her attic room where the night staff lived, was woken by this cry. It was almost like having a cockrel, Jasmine groaned again, rubbed her head and crawled out from under the warm sheets.  The heating was on full blast so she already felt hot and sweaty, the day stretched ahead like a long piece of twine that got tighter and tighter as the day forged on.  Jasmine took the faster shower in recorded history and then dressed rapidly, she desperately wanted to see the day outside before she was sucked into work.  Jasmine flew out the door nearly tripping over Tommy the house cat, who yelped and hissed at her as she ran towards the beach, which was just over the road from her front door.  Jasmine arrived and as the sea lapped rather aggressively at her bare feet (she had thrown off her shoes and gingerly tip-toed over the stony beach), the salty sea hair filled her mouth and the clouds loomed ominously.  Jasmine felt the full weight of her sadness course through her veins, she put her shoes back on started walking rapidly down the promenade to try to race away from her looming darkness. 

Creating a Website: Homepage

 Today I will be creating my own website using Wix and my website will showcase my work in Photography and performance.  I am beginning with a template and then I will customise my homepage.

I picked this template as I liked the clean white background and two clear images on the homepage, it was nice and simple and I think I can make this showcase my own work well. 

I will begin by changing text of the name I double clicked on the text and got the text dialog box up. 

I had to change my first page as this was a portfolio page which I did not want on the front of the website.  I wanted a dedicated homepage.  I added a new page by clicking on the left hand side menu on pages, I added a page and then renamed it 'Home'. I then used the font I had chosen for my name which was 'Bitter' at 80 pts.  I changed this in the dialog box.  I then also added my progression route which is Photography but as I work in other areas it was 'Photography and Performance' This again was using the 'Bitter' font but this was at 60pts. 

I then added an image, this is just a holding image until I add my own.  I did this by right clicking on the section background and changing the image which I downloaded from Unsplash and then uploaded to Wix. 

I then went the footer and changed the copyright to the correct year and my own name.  I also deleted the 'lets chat' button as this will not be used and I also deleted the social media bar as I will be creating this later. 

I moved my navigation to the centre using gridlines to ensure it is centred in the Header so it appears on every page. To ensure consistency I also clicked on the text opened the design dialog box and changed the font to 'Bitter' at 22pts, Bold.

I went into the left hand menu and to pages.  I deleted the pages I did not want by clicking into the three dots and clicking on 'delete' in the drop down menu.  I then used the 'Add Page' button and created the two new pages that I needed so I would have Home, About, Portfolio and Contact pages in my navigation bar in the Header  so that it would appear on every page.  

This is my finished homepage for the moment, I will be changing the image to an original image, however I am pleased with the design I like the Layout and I do think one image that covers the section has good impact and the navigation bar is easy to use and I have previewed and checked all the pages work. I| have saved all my work, as I have gone along, to ensure I do not lose any of my changes. 

Lastly I checked my mobile view on my homepage as I had already adjusted header setting and menu I did not have to complete any further adjustments or edits at present - I previewed and everything is working correctly.

Update - I have now changed my homepage to my own and adjusted the background and colours.  I just right clicked and went 'change section background and then I uploaded my own image and added this as below.

I also checked my mobile view and this did not need any adjustments

Photography Research: The Family of Man

 In this post, I am going to talk about an image from The Family of Man.  This exhibition was; 'to showcase the beautiful universality of human experience. Its mastermind, Edward Steichen, honed two million pictures down to 503, capturing everyday life in 69 countries. It started out at MoMA in 1955 then toured the world, being seen by nine million people.' (“The Family of Man: Photography That United the Planet – in Pictures”:2015)  The image below shows an empty forest with a naked child (a girl) in the foreground.  The light plays in the background on the higher ground in the top third of this image, the middle third is undulating dark ground covered in forest leaves and in the last third in the foreground, the naked child lies slightly off-centre.  The immediate question is; Is the child dead or alive? Barbara Bullock Wilson, the child in the image now states on her site, the questions that were asked of her family about the image of the child asleep or did something dreadful befall her? Does she belong where she is, did she come willingly, or was she brought to this place forcefully and then abandoned? Perhaps the figure is not a living thing at all, but rather a statue.

Child in Forest, 1951, by Wynn Bullock

Barbara Bullock Wilson also states; -  'He [Wynn  Bullock, her father] would invite them to look at the photograph again. "Be with the child, feel her presence, see the leaves adorning her hair. Put yourself in the forest, watch the light, sense the life." He would go on to say, "There may be a mystery here, but it isn't sinister. It's the mystery of difference and of oneness, of universal forces and relationships, of dimensions we can only begin to glimpse."' (Wilson Bullock B:2015)

The relationship in the image of the forest to the girl is interesting, her naked and innocent body lies exposed to the elements and the forest has created a soft bed for her to lie on, the forest around could be seen as protective and warm.  It also represents the idea of life and creating life as the forest holds so many eco-systems and child perhaps grows like the trees.  The light falls on the white skin standing out from the dark of the forest and this white against the dark heightens the innocence of the child against perhaps darker forces of nature. This image has many readings and that is the success of this image

Looking wider at where this shot was shown in the exhibition of the Family of Man the exhibition took place at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, from January 24 to May 8, 1955. The U.S. Information Agency popularized The Family of Man as an achievement of American culture by presenting ten different versions of the show in 91 cities in 38 countries between 1955 and 1962, The images came from Life magazine and also Vogue or Ladies Home Journal. Photography agencies such as Magnum, Black Star, and Rapho Guillumette these images were then cut down to the final images and curated by Steichen and grouped in thematic sections that 'narrated a generalised story of human life' (“The Family of Man: Photography That United the Planet – in Pictures”:2015)  The exhibition was criticised by Barthes as he felt there was no historical context and it was an essentialist depiction of birth and death.  Miriam Webster Dictionary states; 'Essentialism is the practice of regarding something (such as a presumed human trait) as having innate existence or universal validity rather than as being a social, ideological, or intellectual construct' (Essentialism definition & meaning: 2024). It was also criticised by others as being liberalist, from a Western point of view, cultural colonialism, and silencing photographers and Steichen creating his own narrative. This was probably true and it certainly was Stecichen's vision of humanity and how it should be presented to the world.  This is the interesting thing about curation when others place a narration on your images the story will change and it may not have been at all the vision of the original photographers and all the images were taken from their original context.

As time has passed critics have been more forgiving and saw the exhibition as historically important and representing views and ideas of the time from a Western perspective. What is interesting is how non-western photographers viewed the world and the study of the original images in the exhibition and how they are presented is still much debated today. 

References

“The Family of Man: Photography That United the Planet – in Pictures.” The Guardian, 6 Nov. 2015, www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2015/nov/06/the-family-of-man-photography-united-the-planet-edward-steichen. Accessed 29 Jan. 2024.

Tīfentāle, Alise . “The Family of Man: The Photography Exhibition That Everybody Loves to Hate.” FK, July 2018, fkmagazine.lv/2018/07/02/the-family-of-man-the-photography-exhibition-that-everybody-loves-to-hate/. Accessed 29 Jan. 2024.

Barbara Bullock Wilson (2015) “Wynn Bullock Photography - Child in Forest, 1951.” Www.wynnbullockphotography.com, 2024, www.wynnbullockphotography.com/highlights/palm-beach-2012/child-in-forest-text.html. Accessed 29 Jan. 2024.

Essentialism definition & meaning (no date) Merriam-Webster. Available at: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/essentialism (Accessed: 04 February 2024).