I’ve written a couple of articles on the Brooklyn Beckham photography book: What I See. And despite the fact that it’s out of print and was released way back in 2017, the internet refuses to forget about it, because it is once again trending.
But rather than add to any negative discourse, I’ve always taken a more positive approach. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that celebrity publications can be controversial, but Brooklyn was only 18 when the book was published. And you know what? The photos I took when I was that age certainly weren’t any better. In fact, they were much worse!
I've always hoped that Brooklyn used What I See as the learning experience that it was and that he's still taking regular photos. After all, I think producing a photobook is something a lot of photographers aspire to do and that it's actually very brave to put your work out there for all to see.
But you don’t need to have any form of celebrity status to create a photobook of your own. In fact, I wholeheartedly recommend making one. Here's why...
Why create a photobook?
The most obvious reason why producing a photobook is a great idea is that you get to see your images in print. It’s a bit of a cliché, but the digital age has robbed many photographers of the joy of witnessing their hard work in physical form. There’s something different about holding a photograph that you created and physically seeing it on paper. And if you don’t believe me, try it.
Another boon is that creating a photobook will give you a healthy dose of encouragement. Printing off an image is one thing, but positioning a series of images, tastefully within a book, complete with some nice, crisp minimalist borders, will do wonders for your photography. Even if there’s room for improvement (and there always is), viewing a selection of photos in a photobook just feels special.
Speaking about a selection of photos, another key lesson you’ll learn when producing a photobook is how to curate a series of images. Part of the enjoyment is learning to collect and present your photography as a series and not just individual photos. This also affords you the opportunity to review your images. Seeing your photography in print can create distance, allowing you to view your own work from a different perspective.
And finally, photobooks allow you to instantly look back at your work. Simply pull the book from your shelf and flick through. Some photographers regularly create photobooks so they have instant access to huge collections of work. But whether you make it a long-term commitment or produce just one, it’s a very useful process indeed.
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