My Book - Removable

I wanted to create a book to show my images from my objects shoot. I wanted to show the contrast between the girls statements about how they feel about wearing make up, and the things we use to remove makeup, hair and other things of that nature. I still wanted the images to show how something so horrible looking, is creating something beautiful. 

 I chose the name Removable Beauty, as I thought this described all the objects well. These are all thing we use to remove something from our body, sometimes to become more beautiful or something that made us beautiful. I chose this image, as it allowed me to have the title on the front, with nothing obstructing the text. I also like how from the front, it may be unclear to what the object is, until you look at the back and see the whole picture. 

I created the book using a template from Blurb, in Indesign. I knew I wanted it to be simple and a sleek design. I chose to have everything only on one side of the page, with 40 pages. I have 8 images, and 9 statements, alternating between the pages. I chose to have a small square book, and this is why I cropped the images to be square, as I felt this looked the best. The images are very detailed, so by choosing a small book meant there was a less chance the image would lose detail. The book is 7x7 cm square.

I am not sure yet if I will put this with my exhibition, I want to see what it looks like. I need to consider if it adds to the work, or if it would just be a distraction. Either way, I wanted these images to be shown in some way, and I feel it works well in this book.

Displaying My Work

For my prints, I started looking at DS Colour Labs, a company I have used before. I looked at their printing options, and the costs. I wanted to make sure that they would be able to create the right size for me, and give a professional look.

The style that stood out for me, was the Aluminium Print Panels. 'how your images to great effect by mounting them to aluminium di-bond print panels. They feature a black polymer centre sandwiched between two aluminium sheets with a usual thickness of 3mm. The panels are perfectly smooth with a sleek, clean cut look making for a very contemporary, minimal look on which to showcase your images. All the panels come complete with wall fixing attachments, so all you need to do is decide where to put it. Available in standard sizes ranging from 8" x 6" - 24” x 36”.

But unfortunately, they did not create a small enough size for my work. The smallest portrait sized print is 8x6, which I could have used, but over all would be an extra 20 inches for my images. 

Another option would be mounting images onto MDF. I found a company called Spectrum, a company I have never heard of before, that creates MDF prints to size. Block mounting to 12mm MDF can create simple and effective displays for C-type prints (not recomended for Giclée prints). The edges are painted either black or white and are most commonly hung with 9mm Split Batten Fixings making it appear to float from the wall.

I feel that the MDF would be too think and heavy for such a small print. I do not necessarily want my images to appear to be floating off the wall, so using this would be a unnecessary aspect for me.  

The option I went for were white frames. I feel that this option works best for my work. I wanted my images to framed, rather than have the edges free. I chose Ribba 13x18cm frames from IKEA, as I needed 10, and I couldn't afford to buy expensive frames. These frame have inserts to border the image, after testing this, I have chosen to take these out and have the image full in the frame. I am able to collect these from the store, to make sure I had them in time, and print my images using the facilities at university. I also chose to print in glossy, as behind the glass in the frame, using matte paper would become useless. I also feel that my images suit a glossy finish. 

Final Images

For my final images, I chose 10 in total, to sow the process of adding the make up in this way. I felt this was a good number, and was able to select an image from each step successfully. I wanted my images to work together as a set of images, as well as individually. I want each image to be able to stand alone, and be strong enough to be shown alone and still show my concept. I chose images where the model is facing the same way, giving good continuity. Ive also made sure the background, and lighting are as similar as possible, as it is a set of images, I want them to look good together. 

I have chosen 10 images, and I want them to be printed 13cmx18cm or 5inchx7inch in size. I chose this size as I eel it is not too small, but with the limited space I have in the exhibition, I would be able to display all ten images. I haven’t chosen how I will display these images yet, with a few options in mind, I need to decide what best suits my images.

I feel all these images are strong, and show my theme. I want my audience to look at them, and appreciate the process the model and make up artist is doing. I want them to ask themselves if they would do this, and if so, would it become an everyday thing? Does make up make you feel beautiful?

Either way I print my images, I needed to do a test print. I made sure all my images were the size I wanted, and created this test print. Even though the images will be small, I needed to make sure that all the images were of a good quality, and none were blurred or distorted in anyway. I used the Canon 5D and 85mm lens, so this wouldn't be a big worry as I knew the equipment would create good quality images. I also wanted to check the brightness, contrast and saturation on my images before I sent them to print.