Photographic Diptych

Well, my upcoming photography assignment was stressing me out this morning. (Technically I guess it still is morning. Not quite noon yet.) But anyways. I had to do some type of narrative with some sort of issue behind it. I don't really do "issues." I feel like if I were to take photographs that commented on war or poverty or animal cruelty, it would come off as insincere and fake. Forced. And while some people can get away with creating art with intense and sometimes controversial subject matter, I simply can't bring myself to do it.

So, I looked at the book industry. And the recent popularity of the Kobo reader, iPad, and things like that. E-books. The downloading of literature and the very gradual shrinking of people who buy actual books. Well, I personally like actual books. I'd rather hold a book in my hand than some sort of electronic device. I can't exactly go over a text on costume history in a Kobo reader. And certainly not a book on photography. And how exactly does a parent plan to read Love You Forever on an iPad? Part of the fun for kids is turning the actual pages of a story. Holding the actual book in their hands and looking at the pictures.

With all that in mind I shifted about some of the books on my shelf and snapped a few pictures. And within an hour my project is all done. Just needs to be printed. Now my only concern is if I want matte, glossy, or metalic paper. Oh, decisions...

And as for the narrative aspect of the photographs, it's basically someone picking and actual book off an actual shelf and reading it. None of this e-shelf business. Real books. Ironically I went with Jane Austen's Emma. Which is, of course, usually free in the e-bookstores.