What Makes a Photobook Sustainable?
The Sustainable Photobook Publishing (SPP) network
What Makes a Photobook Sustainable? is launched to celebrate three years of research and conversations by the Sustainable Photobook Publishing (SPP) network. The book is a compendium of forty case studies along with roundtable discussions, essays, quotes and prompts, that collectively seek to demystify the publishing process - illuminating how books are made and illustrating why knowing, and asking questions, plays a fundamental part in making better, more strategic choices for both people and the planet. We hope this book will spark questions, new ideas, connections and conversations, whilst offering a starting point for piecing together the elements that can make a photobook sustainable.
The abundance of voices in the book are representative of the SPP as a now global network, and draw from distinct components and local contexts within the photobook ecosystem. Together, they show that there is no singular ‘right way’ of approaching sustainability – each individual must decide on their own approach and priorities, whilst also being mindful of the context that they are working within. In their own way, each of the contributors to this volume also offer alternatives to capitalist economic models. Whether it’s practical solutions (using local materials, minimising waste, avoiding unnecessary travel), ethical social practices, or decolonial initiatives that challenge the dominance of the Global North, these strategies give a glimpse of what a post-capitalist future might look like.
How can a book about sustainability and photobooks be used to further ideas that have emerged from its content? Given the international contributions, and the reach that we hope this book will have, we wanted to think deeply about how we get this book out into the world and how we get it to our contributors. This led us to printing the book in batches in an open edition, with distributed printing in different geographic locations - embracing the differences in production values that this may bring.* It’s small, informal and unbound to reflect the work-in-progress nature of the conversation so far.
BUY - £25 + P&P (UK & Europe)
BORROW - £10 (UK)
Other editions will be released with our international partners in 2025 - more info to follow…
Stockists:
Pony Books (Göteborg, Sweden)
The Martin Parr Foundation (Bristol, UK)
- Open edition
- Published in October 2024
- 180pp, 148 x 210mm (A5)
- Unbound
- UK Edition: Risograph (body) and EcoTank ink-jet (cover) printed on responsibly made papers
- ISBN 978-1-8384772-3-3
- £25 + P&P
Contributors: Aindreas Scholz, Alfredo Blasquez, Alix Breda & João Pedro Lima, Amelie Schüle, Anshika Varma, BLOW UP PRESS, Catriona Gourlay, Cince Johnston, Cristian Ordóñez, Daria Tuminas, David O’Mara, Delphine Bedel, Dolly Meieran, Ed Sykes, Editions JoJo, Emily Macaulay, Emily Sheffer, Eugenie Shinkle, Eva Voutsaki, Growing Pains, Highchair Editions, Half Letter Press, Hans Gremmen, Jake Green, Jesse Alexander, Jordan jordan édition, Julie Sleaford, Kshitija Mruthyunjaya, Loose Joints, Lukas Birk, Magdalena Wysocka & Claudio Pogo, Maren Krings, Mark Phillips, Marie Smith, Martin Bollati, Martin Usbourne, Mathieu Asselin, Matt Johnston, Michelle Dunn Marsh, Oliver Raymond Barker, Oscar Dooley, Paul John, Rebecca Lardeur, Ryan Paradiso, Sarah Boris, Sayako Sugawara, Sergio Valenzuela-Escobedo, Tamsin Green, Tanya Busse, Tim Clark, The Sustainable Darkroom, Tiffany Jones, Victoria Forrest.
Editor: Tamsin Green
Associate Editor: Eugenie Shinkle
Design: Tamsin Green & Federica Caputo
The publication was supported by a grant from the University of Westminster Sustainability Fund.
Other Notes
Book Launch: Polycopies - Bateau Concorde-Atlantique, Paris: 8 Nov 2024 - 6pm
Book Launch: BOP-24 - Paintworks, Bristol: 19-20 Oct 2024
SPP network Case Study Feature
Public Collections
The British Library (UK)
The Photobook Museum (DE)
Victoria & Albert Museum, National Art Library (UK)
Westminster University Library (UK)
Testimonials
"A wonderful book and a must read for all makers." Christiane Monarchi, Photomonitor & Hapax Magazine
21. Losing Ground - David O’Mara (Self-Published: 2018)
22. The Problem Horse & Other Stories - Julie Sleaford (Self-Published: 2022)
23. NECK volume 3 - 38 contributors (NECK: 2022)
24. Views - James Newton (Highchair Editions: 2023)
25. La playa de los juguetes perdidos - Alfredo Blasquez (Inframundo: 2021)
26. Traces Within - Eva Voutsaki (Self-Published: 2020)
27. Good Morning - Collective | Anonymous (Editions JOJO: 2023)
28. Eternal U - Hubert Humka (BLOW UP PRESS: 2023)
29. Freddy and Ceydie - Cynthia Johnston (Self-Published 2022)
30. We Are Making a New World - Aindreas Scholz (Self-Published: 2022)
31. In Search of InBetween Spaces - Kshitija Mruthyunjaya (Self-Published: 2023)
32. unbroken.solutions - Mark Phillips (Self-Published: 2023)
33. Extraction: In Conversation with Anna Atkins - Marie Smith (Self-Published: 2023)
34. YANGON FASHION 1979 – Fashion=Resistance - Lukas Birk (Fraglich: 2020)
35. Displace - Cristian Ordóñez (Another Earth: 2023)
36. Guftgu - ed. Anshika Varma (Offset Projects: 2020, 2022, 2024)
37. In Pieces - Sophia Bulgakova, Lia Dostlieva, Ola Lanko, Katia Motyleva, Kateryna Snizhko (Growing Pains: 2023)
38. The Banda Journal - Muhammad Fadli x Fatris MF (Jordan, jordan Édition: 2021)
39. Morphogenesis - Eugenie Shinkle & Tyrone Williams (Self-Published: 2024)
40. What makes a Photobook Sustainable? - SPP network (manual.editions: 2024)
1. Trinity - Oliver Raymond Barker (Loose Joints: 2021)
2. (Copy) 80. The Schwarze Mönch - Sayako Sugawara (Self-Published: 2021)
3. Kunywa Jasho Langu: Coffee Kenya - Jake Green (Leyton of London: 2018)
4. this is how the earth must see itself - Tamsin Green (manual.editions: 2021)
5. The Space Between Us - Ed Sykes (Self-Published: 2021)
6. Fastidiosa - Jean-Marc Caimi & Valentina Piccinni (Overlapse: 2022)
7. Recorder - Miranda Lichtenstein (Loose Joints: 2021)
8. Book Waste Book - Temporary Services (Half Letter Press: 2022)
9. re.source - The Sustainable Darkroom (Folium: 2022)
10. Contranatura - João Pedro Lima (Selo Turvo: 2022)
11. Creative Climate Investigations - Climate & Cities (Folium: 2022)
12. Beyond Drifting - Mandy Barker (Overlapse: 2017)
13. 67-P - Magdalena Wysocka / Claudio Pogo (PogoBooks: 2019)
14. Curator Conversations - 1000 Words (1000 Words: 2021)
15. Monsanto® - Mathieu Asselin (Actes Sud / Verlag Kettler: 2017)
16. The Silent Land - Jesse Alexander (VIKA: 2021)
17. H is for Hemp - Maren Krings (Self-Published: 2022)
18. Geometric Forests: Struggles on Mapuche Land - Ritual Inhabitual (Actes Sud: 2022)
19. One Hundred Years - Jenny Lewis (Hoxton Mini Press: 2021)
20. Iconoclastic Inventory of the Chilean Insurrection - A.A.V.V. (SED Editorial: 2021)
The edition has been made with the following principles in mind: Design out waste and the use of harmful materials, make locally, prioritise recycling.
Design
The book has been designed to be printed on a standard sheet of A4 paper that requires no trimming. This standard A size paper format allows it to be simply printed and bound on different types of printing machines worldwide, where the A size is supported. The book is small, informal and unbound to reflect the work-in-progress nature of the sustainability conversation so far, as well as to reduce the labour | energy involved in its assembly.
Distributed Printing
The book is released in an open edition that allows for future batches of books to be printed in response to market demand. The book will be printed in different geographic regions utilising local printing processes and materials of varying numbers, and embracing the differences in production values that this may bring. The price of the book will vary by region to reflect the different cost of production and audience affordability.
More information coming soon on our international partners...
UK Edition
The first batch of books will utilise the materials and processes that we currently have access to in London; a Risograph printer at the University of Westminster, and the in house Munken Lynx paper stock. The insert paper is by PaperWise, and is made from 100% agricultural waste – the stems and leaves left over from the harvest, which is often burnt. The natural shade is a result of the pulp being unbleached. The cover will be printed on an Eco-Tank inkjet printer by manual.editions on G.F. Smith Gmund Bier, a textured yellow card made using elemental chlorine-free pulp and spent brewer's grain. The textured card stock will allow the book to age gracefully. The book is unbound and secured with a fabric cord sourced from Yodomo, a textile reuse hub in East London.