As part of the 2023 Photo|Frome festival there was a free to enter exhibition of photobooks, zines and printed publications. Photo|Frome looked to showcase a range of work – local and international, diverse in subject matter, by students and professionals – that demonstrated the possibilities and potential of the photobook format. 

Entries were selected by the PhotoIFrome curatorial team, and exhibited at Frome Library throughout the festival in June and July 2023. There was a juried cash award for the strongest submission that connected with the festival theme ‘Decolonising Environments’ and an Honourable Mention for diligence and innovation in sustainable photobook production and/or publishing.

Sustainability initiatives trialled as part of the book award process

These initiatives were developed by SPP network in collaboration with Jesse Alexander, Photo|Frome steering committee.

An Optional Sustainability Question: Asked to applicants as part of the submission process. If environmental and ecological sustainability were considered at any stage(s) in the production of your book / zine, please tell us how. Or, tell us about the specific challenges you encountered in your efforts to reduce the environmental and ecological impact of your publication. Would you do anything differently next time?

Sustainability Honourable Mention: An opportunity to showcase and celebrate the sustainability answers gathered as part of the application process. Selected by the members of the jury: Amak Mahmoodian, Christiane Monarchi, Colin Pantall  &  Tamsin Green. 

Packaging: Entrants were asked to use fully recyclable packaging when sending books

Transportation: Submissions were posted directly to Frome Public Library where they were exhibited as part of the photography festival. The review process was undertaken within the exhibition itself and the authors had the option to collect their books from the library once the exhibition ended, while any uncollected books were donated to the library. This eliminated the need for any additional transportation of the books once they were submitted.

Responses

92 books were submitted, from five continents. 

The Optional Sustainability Question

• 65% of the submissions included an answer to the optional sustainability question
• Of the entrants that completed the sustainability question, the majority focused on their selection of materials (choice of paper, printing), as primary considerations. Many mentioned their use of uncoated, FSC and recycled papers, vegetable-inks, and working locally as well as choosing a sustainable printing partner
• The key challenge that was faced by entrants centred around the local availability of sustainable choices, especially by applicants from outside of Northern Europe
• Some of the entrants mentioned their reduction of resource use through optimising book size to paper size, producing small books, small numbers of books, or print on demand
• A small number of the entrants mentioned distribution, sending books by sea freight and overground instead of airmail, printing in multiple locations to reduce transportation

The Sustainability Honourable Mention

This book award is the first we know of to select an honourable mention for sustainability. The winner was Alfredo Blasquez (Mexico) for his book La playa de los juguetes perdidos. More information about the book & sustainability can be found in the SPP Case Study, Collection II.

Judges comment: Alfredo Blasquez's work is incredibly tactile and demonstrates an exceptional appreciation for the materiality of his photobooks. The work draws the viewer vividly to the challenges of plastic pollution, creating a highly engaging object and narrative with unique materials, features and details. The judges were inspired by Blasquez's determination to use sustainable paper stocks and processes in spite of his suppliers' and manufacturers' objections and reservations, showing his commitment to producing an object with the greatest integrity that could be achieved within his locality.

Packaging

95% of the submissions were sent using recyclable packaging (5% were harder-core foil laminated bubble wrap envelopes). Nearly all of the packaging has since been either recycled or reused by the festival team (Including the small amount of flexible plastics and polythene, which were recycled at the local supermarket)

Observations and Notes

The Sustainability Question

"In many respects it’s easier to make a dummy with a lot of consideration of sustainable materials, which might advantage an individual artist / their book over a larger publisher. But the ecological impact of a smaller production change by a larger publisher might be significantly greater." Jesse Alexander, Photo|Frome steering committee

This award welcomed single book dummies, zines and artist books as well as more traditional photobooks. The number of books being made is a key factor in the choice of materials and processes. Should there be different criteria / awards for edition sizes above and below 100 copies?

The process needs to be robust enough to gather quantifiable information without allowing applicants to greenwash. It is also important that environmental credentials are not seen as a form of gatekeeping that are only possible for publishers of a certain size or location. How could the sustainability questions be better structured to capture these nuances?

Packaging 

The high response rate of 95% of submissions 'getting the brief' to use recyclable and/or reused packaging indicates that this is an easily implemented step to reduce waste to landfill. Especially when it's coupled with responsible management of packaging by the awards team.