Training in the photobook discipline is an important component of contemporary photography education.
However the books created by students for assessment rarely get an opportunity to cross over into the public space. To help connect these photobooks to a wider audience we have once again invited institutions around Australia and New Zealand to nominate a student photobook from their 2023 cohort.
The authors of the ten books presented here have created innovative photobooks to act as vessels to contain and present their personal narratives. Though online it’s impossible to provide the same rich experience of the books we can still encounter the ideas and presentation of this work as images and texts.
This selection of books from 2023 are now outside the institution and available to you to read …
ENJOY…!
SEE an essay about the the photobook in education at the end of this post.
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The participating colleges and universities:
The STUDENT PHOTOBOOKS
PHUONG NGUYEN LE – SUNSHINE
STUDENT OF the Bachelor of Art (PhotoGRAPHY) – at RMIT University MELBOURNE
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ABSTRACT:
‘Sunshine’ delves into the Vietnamese community in Australia through exploring the suburb of Sunshine as a pivotal geographic anchor point. As the Communist government took over Vietnam after the end of the American War, thousands of Vietnamese fled their home to Australia, most commonly through boats. ‘Sunshine’ has become a faux representation of their homeland, depicting the adaptation of their new lives on a nation that once aided in invading their homeland.
By reexamining the history of the post-war diaspora, I reflect on my role as a recent migrant in Australia. This involves fostering collaborations within the community to depict the contemporary Vietnamese post-war identity, one that is often neglected in their home nation. Through this process, I aim to open up dialogues around the dynamics of cultural identity and integration within the broader context of so-called “Australia”.
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VIEW A VIDEO OF SUNSHINE “Click” HERE
BOOK DETAILS: Self-Published
BOOK DESIGN: Vanessa Le
THE PHYSICAL BOOK: 19.5 x 25.6 cm, exposed coptic binding.
NUMBER OF PAGES: 180 pages
EDITION: A handmade edition of 3, a large edition will be published in 2024.
PRINTING TECHNOLOGY: Digitally printed
PRICE: N/a
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CONTACT: PHUONG NGUYEN
Website: lenguyenphuong.com
Email: ln.phuong2509@gmail.com
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STUDY PHOTOGRAPHY AT RMIT: HERE
In the RMIT photo honours program we frame photography as an active, generative agent, central to cultural production, where technological and cultural energies intersect.
Nominated by Isabella Capezio – Lecturer, Photography
VINCENT BOLT – GUTTER
THIRD (FINAL) YEAR Bachelor OF FINE ARTS (SPECIALISING IN Photo Media) – Whitecliffe, AUCKLAND NZ
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ABSTRACT:
Vincent Bolt’s Gutter presents a life lived in the city of Auckland, Tāmaki Makaurau. The city is both his home and a place encountered anew with all of the surprise and unfamiliarity that this offers. It is the account of a city and a life opening up to new opportunities and connections. Vincent’s images operate within a poetic, pyschogeographic frame of reference and his hand made book offers a counter position to much of the glossy saturation of contemporary image culture.
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AUTHOR’S STATEMENT:
Our appetite for image production and consumption has never been as unsatiable as in our current environment of online personalities and global connection. As well as the problem of overstimulation and eventual burn out caused by our desire to see, the image landscape is filled to its endless limits with sights that are designed to persuade, to coax, to control. Burgers going for a low price, expensive treats and a new Apple iPhone. Influencers do amazing and horrible things that are then broadcast to the world, delivered to the public’s ever-present portals. Finance deals and cheap memes slapped together to sell cars. All these examples serve a purpose in a climate of capital gain and pleasure culture.
This projected outlook on life sits in dissonance with the less polished reality of how many people experience their daily movements and dreams. The city has a strange allure of its own, and it’s throughout these less advertised corners that an alternative viewpoint takes hold. Hidden pockets of space and material refuse, looming buildings, uncanny lights, transmitted radio waves and electronic dance parties. Life in an urban environment is at once a relationship of disassociation as well as constant involvement. Noise turns to tone then back again; distance turns to intimacy then falls away.
My image making practice has always been a way in which I can translate my own inner landscape into something that can sit amongst my lived visual experience. If we are living in a world of images and these images hold sway over our take on reality, it’s become important for me to construct a parallel if not opposed narrative to add to the matrix of visual information.
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BOOK DETAILS: Self-Published
DESIGN: Vincent Bolt
THE PHYSICAL BOOK: 12.5 x 17.6 cm, ‘Mist Paper’ stock
NUMBER OF PAGES: 40 pages
FIRST EDITION: 6 copies constructed and bound by the artist
PRINTING TECHNOLOGY: Self-printed on Konica Minolta C300i photocopier
PRICE: NFS
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CONTACT: VINCENT
Email: vbol211@mywhitecliffe.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/vini.torin
Students that specialise in Photo Media within the Bachelor of Fine Arts at Whitecliffe make a photobook in the first semester of their third year of study. The project allows students to develop a substantial body of work of their own choosing and to resolve it as a photobook with the necessary attention to editing, sequencing and visual narrative that this entails. The project is founded on an understanding of the importance of the photobook in the wider international photography world
STUDY PHOTOGRAPHY AT WHITECLIFFE: HERE
INSTAGRAM: @whitecliffe_photomedia
Nominated by David Cowlard – Program Leader, Photo Media
BREE GILL – MEETING PLACE
Final year Bachelor of Design/ Media and Communications student – SWINBURNE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, Melbourne
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ABSTRACT:
Meeting Place is about encapsulating the quirks and interesting people found at country pubs in Australia, and the value they hold as a meeting place for small communities. Although pubs are a popular place to socialise in many parts of the world, there is something specific about Australian pubs that showcase our culture of mateship and playfulness at any age. Hopefully, Meeting Place can inspire others to explore country pubs in a new way. An important aspect of pubs is that you never know the connections that can be made between travellers, locals, and everyone in between
THE AUTHOR’S INFLUENCES:
Growing up in a country town, I have always been exposed to different aspects of pubs at different ages. It wasn’t until I moved to the city that I noticed how unique to each town these pubs are and all the memories involved. In terms of photobooks, I was inspired by Porch Diaries by Alana Holmberg for its design, but also Andrew Chapman’s work around rural Australia.
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VIEW A VIDEO OF THE BOOK: “Click” HERE
DESIGN: Bree Gill
THE PHYSICAL BOOK: 23 x 30 cm
SPECIAL FEATURES: Exposed binding with hard linen cover and flap inside of back page. Embossed title and tipped-in image on cover.
NUMBER OF PAGES: 60 pages
EDITION: 1
PRINTING: White’s Law
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CONTACT BREE:
Email: none supplied
Instagram: none supplied
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Photomedia blends the two disciplines of Photography and Design allowing our students complete freedom as storytellers. The photobook represents this fusion of design, photography, narrative and storytelling.
STUDY PHOTOGRAPHY AT SWINBURNE: HERE
Nominated by Morganna Magee – Lecturer in Photography
ERIN GOSSELMAN – VISAGE MULTIPLES
PHOTOGRAPHY STUDENT, UNITEC – TE PūENGA NZ
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AUTHOR’S STATEMENT:
This series of images is a depiction of Robin Hyde through my research into her poetry and a memoir of her life. During my studies I was able to physically and spiritually experience the architectural spaces she inhabited when the Unitec site was occupied by Auckland Mental Hospital. She was a voluntary patient there for three years in the mid 1930s, during which time she battled with addiction and suicidal tendencies. She also wrote prolifically. The images are a continuation of an earlier investigation into spirit photography when I examined the space between the known and unknown, what is real and what is hallucination. It is this confusion and conviction that interests me and the strange paradox of them existing in opposition and simultaneously. Through the alchemy of the darkroom and working with a mixture of accidental and intentional processes I found a sense of unease that coincided with my reading of the poems she wrote.
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BOOK DETAILS: Self-Published
THE PHYSICAL BOOK: 14.8 x 20.8 cm
NUMBER OF PAGES: 142
EDITION: 3
BINDING: Perfect bound
TO PURCHASE: Contact Erin
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CONTACT ERIN:
EMAIL: eringosselman@gmail.com
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At UNITEC Photobooks are seen as a vital tool for the contemporary photographer to think about narrative structure for a potentially large number of images. They function quite differently from exhibition or web based platforms such as Instagram, and in many ways allow the photographer more control.
STUDY PHOTOGRAPHY @ UNITEC | TePükenga: LINK
Nominated by Allan McDonald – Lecturer in Photography, Unitec | TePükenga
CODY O’BRIEN – ONCE MORE FOR THE SUN
FROM THE BACHELOR PHOTOGRAPHY – PHOTOGRAPHY STUDIES COLLEGE, MELBOURNE.
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ARTIST’S STATEMENT:
Once More for the Sun explores our ever-evolving experience of home through considering the influence that people and place have upon our sense of identity and belonging. The project deals with the conflicting emotions tied to the experience of anticipatory nostalgia, provoked by developing an unexpected sense of belonging in a new environment while knowing that it would only be a temporary home.
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NOMINATOR’S COMMENT: Stephanie Rose Wood
Cody’s hand-bound photobook is a subtle and poetic outcome. Through a tender lens, he documents his immediate surroundings and those close to him. The book’s experimental sequencing generates narrative through the introduction of characters and moments of solitude.
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BOOK DETAILS: Self-Published
THE PHYSICAL BOOK:
SIZE: 21 x 15.5 cm
SPECIAL FEATURES: French fold pages with Japanese stab stitch hand-binding by the artist.
NUMBER OF PAGES: 23 pages
EDITION: 10
PRINTING TECHNOLOGY: Digital Press
PRICE: n/a
CONTACT CODY
Web: https://codyobrien.com.au/once-more-for-the-sun
Email: codyobrienphoto@gmail.com
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In second year at Photography Studies College, Melbourne, the students produce both a traditional folio of prints and a handmade photobook where they learn about sequencing and construction. This establishes the skills to make a photobook as part of their graduate outcomes. With the increasing interest in publications, this is a powerful tool for students to showcase their work in an easily accessible and sophisticated way to clients, the art/photography industry and submit to awards.
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MORE INFORMATION ABOUT PSC COURSES: HERE
Nominated by Stephanie Rose Wood – Bachelor of Photography Course Convener
.AARON DAVIS – LOOMLES
A BACHELOR OF ARTS DESIGN PHOTOMEDIA MAJOR – SWINBURNE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, Melbourne
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ABSTRACT:
Fashion designer Lilli McKenzie pioneers a sustainable approach to fashion by exploring hand weaving, departing from conventional methods to utilise the human body as the loom. Through manipulating warp and weft with weight and tension, she creates structurally intricate designs, incorporating circular cutting methods for comprehensive material recycling. Photographer Aaron Davis documents McKenzie’s innovative process and creations, emphasising the importance of showcasing young, forward-thinking Australian designers to drive innovation and sustainability in the fashion industry. This collaborative body of work highlights the transformative journey of discarded materials into wearable art, contributing to a broader discourse on the intersection of creativity, sustainability, and the evolving landscape of Australian fashion.
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BOOK DETAILS: Self-Published
DESIGN: Aaron Davis
THE PHYSICAL BOOK: 22.5 x 29 cm
NUMBER OF PAGES: 84 pages
SPECIAL FEATURES:
All images produced with Kodak Portra 400 film on 6×7 format
Swiss bound – exposed spine, section sewn. Cover printed with 300 GSM uncoated paper with a matt lamination, inside pages printed with 160 GSM uncoated paper. The book features 2 fold out spreads that open up to 67.5 x 29 cm.
PRINTING TECNOLOGY: Digital press
EDITION: Unique state
PRICE: n/a
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CONTACT AARON:
WEBSITE: https://aarondaviscreative.squarespace.com/config/
INSTAGRAM: @_aaronwdavis_/
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.Photomedia blends the two disciplines of Photography and Design allowing our students complete freedom as storytellers. The photobook represents this fusion of design, photography, narrative and storytelling.
STUDY PHOTOGRAPHY AT SWINBURNE: HERE
Nominated by Morganna Magee – Lecturer in Photography
SAM KEEBLE – BANANA SPLIT
BACHELOR OF VISUAL ARTS (PHOTOGRAPHY) PHOTO STUDIO 4 – Queensland College of Art AND DESIGN
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VIEW A VIDEO OF THE BOOK: “Click” HERE
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ABSTRACT:
Banana Split is a visual exploration of my mixed cultural experience, and this is expressed through family, food, and festivities within my domestic space. Using a mixture of constructed and archival family photographs, the photobook explores the significance of food and celebration through culturally significant events. Set within a typical Australian suburban home, the rituals of storing, preparing and sharing food become the pillar that binds two differing, yet unified, cultures.
AUTHOR’S STATEMENT:
Born into a family with a Chinese Mother and English Father, this combination of cultures has enriched my experiences as well as struggles. Discovering that my normal day-to-day life, could be unusual to others, I have collated material culture from within my domestic space to share these unique aspects of my mixed culture. Working with the physicality of the photobook and particular devices such as gatefolds, the medium has enabled an interactive and playful encounter with the photographs and the familiarity of the home.
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BOOK DETAILS: Self-Published
THE PHYSICAL BOOK: 19.4 x 15.4 cm, digitally printed on 125 gsm paper, Kettle Stitch binding and Glued Torchon paper cover 250gsm
NUMBER OF PAGES: 53 pages
EDITION: Unique state artist’s dummy
AVAILABILITY : Price available on request
CONTACT: SAMANTHA
Email: Bocca19th@gmail.com
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The Queensland College of Art and Design (QCAD) is one of the oldest Art institutions in Australia. Based in the cultural precinct of South Bank Brisbane, QCAD prides itself on its strong studio-based culture and curriculum in the areas of Visual Arts, Design and Contemporary Australian Indigenous Art (CAIA). The college boasts world class facilities, nationally and internationally recognised practitioners and scholars, a commitment to community partnerships, internationalisation, exhibition and Museum programming, and professional and industry opportunities for students.
The Photobook Course:
Third year Photo Major students are introduced to the contemporary photobook as a medium that expands photographic thinking and practice. The course focuses on recognising and extending strengths and concerns within individual practice, developing unique ways of creating and understanding meaning that is enabled through the photographic, innovative visual and material relationships, and the tactile engagement of the photobook and its form.
FOR INFORMATION ON QUEENSLAND COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN PROGRAMS: HERE
Nominated by Amy Carkeek and Louis Lim – Lecturers
.GIGI WALLACE – TO BE A GOOD MODEL
BACHELOR OF VISUAL ARTS (PHOTOGRAPHY) PHOTO STUDIO 4 – Queensland College of Art AND DESIGN
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AUTHOR’S STATEMENT:
To Be a Good Model acts as a reflection on my complex relationship with my mother. I attempt to process childhood trauma by understanding the effects of ethno-Chinese culture on my mother. Within the folds I confront what is unsaid between my mother and I.
Through rediscovery of my family’s archival photos and found objects from my mother’s and my own childhood, I can begin to unpack the long-lasting effects of intergenerational trauma in diasporic households. Throughout the book I juxtapose the soft archival images against newer experimentally developed film photos. The griminess of the newer images and their use on tracing paper evokes a sense of taintedness, the injury that is trauma can never be erased. Within the few folds of the book there is an important letter and diary entries, things I will never be able to disclose with my mother; here I contemplate maternity and lay my vulnerability bare.
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BOOK DETAILS: Self-Published
THE PHYSICAL BOOK: 20x28cm, digitally printed on 125gsm paper, Chinese bookbinding with Rag matte paper cover, 308gsm
NUMBER OF PAGES: 98 pages
EDITION: Unique state artist’s dummy
AVAILABILITY : N/A
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CONTACT: GIGI
Email: wgigi001@gmail.com
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FOR INFORMATION ON QUEENSLAND COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN PROGRAMS: HERE
Nominated by Amy Carkeek and Louis Lim – Lecturers
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GRACE KAVANAGH – WHERE THE RIVER RAN
A STUDENT – WhiTI o Rehua School of Art, Toi Rauwharangi College of CreaTIve Arts, Massey Uni, Wellington NZ
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ABSTRACT from the Nominator David Cook:
Where the River Ran reimagines the rural town of Martinborough New Zealand. The rural small town experience is a common one within New Zealand. Towns surrounded by fields and winding roads – framing our adolescent experiences. Intertwined with feelings of longing, loneliness, and desire. This project explores emotion and memory’s relationship to place and the ways in which we document it, forming a narrative that sits between fiction and reality, past and present, familiar, and unknown.
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BOOK DETAILS: Self-Published
DESIGN & EDITING:
THE PHYSICAL BOOK: Section sewn casebound with Buckram covering
NUMBER OF PAGES: 60 pages
EDITION: First
AVAILABILITY : Contact the author
CONTACT: GRACE
EMAIL: gracelulukavanagh1@gmail.com
INSTAGRAM: @gracelulu
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Toi Rauwhārangi is Massey University’s College of Creative Arts, based in Wellington, New Zealand. It is the nation’s oldest and most comprehensive creative arts school, offering undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Design, Māori Visual Arts, Fine Arts, Commercial Music and Screen Arts. The photography major includes a strong focus on the language of the photographic book in its expanded forms. Toi Rauwhārangi is a key partner in Wellington’s biennial Photobook NZ Festival
STUDY PHOTOGRAPHY @ MASSEY UNI: LINK
Nominated by David Cook – Senior lecturer, Whiti o Rehua School of Art and Ngā Pae Māhutonga – The School of Design, Massey University.
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RAGHAV KUMAR – THE PARTING MEMORY
Student in the 2023 MASTERS of Photography, RMIT University.
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ABSTRACT:
‘The Parting Memory’ is a double sided concertina book that combines studio portraiture, still life, family archival images and documentary photography to narrate the intergenerational lived experiences of refugee families who endured the Partition of India in 1947.
Employing storytelling as a key methodology, Kumar delves into the role of intergenerational memory in shaping a sense of belonging among successive generations. By reinterpreting the aesthetics of traditional Indian studio portraiture in his practice, Kumar seeks to decolonize and subvert anthropological photography.
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AUTHOR’S STATEMENT:
‘The Parting Memory’ is photographic series that uses still life, studio portraiture, archival family photography and documentary photography
to document and preserve the intergenerational memories of refugee families that were impacted by the Partition of Colonial India in 1947.
This practice-led research project examines the formation of cultural identities in subsequent generations through the utilization of intergenerational memories inherited from preceding generations as evidentiary material. The research is compiled and displayed in the form of a double-sided concertina photo-book, consisting of two different series running parallel on each side. The first side features staged family portraiture of first-generation refugees and their successive generation who experienced the first generation’s struggle with Partition through memory. Conversely, the book’s other side delves into the intimate micro-histories of Kumar’s upbringing in a post-Partition refugee household.
The resulting narrative unfolds in a non-linear fashion, contributing to a fragmented sense of belonging. The subtle differences in each image were key in deciding to create a double-sided concertina photo book. It’s like a vessel that brings together both series, making them a cohesive body of work that feels democratic and inclusive. The physical aspects of the book reflect the delicate nature of the subject, connecting the process of creating the work with the final product in a meaningful way.
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SEE A VIDEO OF THE BOOK: “Click” HERE
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BOOK DETAILS: Self-Published
THE PHYSICAL BOOK: 20 x 25 cm
SPECIAL FEATURES: Double-sided concertina book with special inserts. Hard cover binding with fabric book jacket.
NUMBER OF PAGES: 48 pages
PRINT TECHNOLOGY: Digital inkjet print
EDITION: Unique state
CONTACT: KUMAR
WEBSITE: raghavkumar.com
EMAIL: raghavkumaaar@gmail.com
INSTAGRAM: @raghavkumaaar
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STUDY PHOTOGRAPHY AT RMIT: HERE
The Master of Photography enables socially engaged photographers to lead developments in the technological, cultural, environmental and political role of photography today.
Nominated by Dr Pia Johnson – Program Manager, Master of Photography
ASH BIRD – METAMORPHISIS
A BACHELOR OF ARTS DESIGN PHOTOMEDIA MAJOR Photomedia student – SWINBURNE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, Melbourne
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ABSTRACT:
This series of digital and film photographs embodies the journey of growth and self-evolution through the eyes of Ash Bird. The series shows expression in being comfortable in your own skin and being one’s true self. Learning to love ones self, forgive ones self and continue to grow is made up of many conscious thoughts and actions which result in change and is not something that happens overnight.
DESIGN: Ash Bird
THE PHYSICAL BOOKS:
Book 1 – A5, paper stock Eco Star 120gsm, 48 pages, section sewn hard cover with black cloth and clear embossed writing.
Book 2 – A6 paper stock ‘Bulky news 80gsm, 28 pages, saddle stitched with translucent cover.
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CONTACT Ash: Contact to be supplied
Email: none supplied
Instagram: none supplied
ashley.chau.77@gmail.com.
Photomedia blends the two disciplines of Photography and Design allowing our students complete freedom as storytellers. The photobook represents this fusion of design, photography, narrative and storytelling.
STUDY PHOTOGRAPHY AT SWINBURNE: HERE
Nominated by Morganna Magee – Lecturer in Photography
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OBSERVATIONS: THE ROLE OF THE PHOTOBOOK IN ACADEMIA
In the contemporary world anyone is, or can be, a photographer. Digital technology has disrupted the film and the darkroom and the need for trained technicians to wrangle out of chemical technologies a high quality result. The camera has also been subjected to digital transformation that has turned every photograph made and printed into a masterly Zone System perfect result.
Now that anyone can master the technology where does this leave photographic education? While I must concede that digital technology demands that training must be undertaken to master the range of expected outcomes required for commerce, family and art. The true purpose of contemporary photographic education must be centered on the development of visually aware people capable of creating highly successful communication in the form of still images, sequences and video.
Today’s academically trained photographer will transcend the milieu of ‘photomakers’ by their ability to tell stories in their photographs through representing what is before them through unique, innovative and conceptually profound viewpoints.
For the teacher the challenge will not be about mastering technology but rather these aesthetic capabilities. The answer as to how the mind, eye and the image can be honed and developed could be found within the idea of the photobook. Rising from obscurity 20 years ago the photobook has become a behemoth in the world of both trade and personal publishing.
The making of a photobook requires the development of a concept, planning and coordinating the creation of images, photo editing – not only digitally but also the sequence of images that are being considered. The bookmaker will need to articulate their ideas and perhaps write components of the book or collaborate with others chosen for that task. Ancillary knowledge and skill in areas of typography and book design, capabilities for collaboration, understanding the prepress, binding industries and time management will also be required.
The photobook then becomes a holistic or capstone assessment task for any photographic training institution. And through this process the student will not only be able to provide evidence of skills and knowledge and but also their achievement in creating and presenting a significant body of work.
May many other institutions offering photography studies consider embebding photobooks in their training and assessment strategies.
.Dr Doug Spowart
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BIOG: Doug Spowart has for over 50 years collected photographically illustrated books and in 2012 completed a PhD on the topic of self-publishing in the digital age. He has extensively researched, judged and commentated on the photobook in Australia and New Zealand including a presentation at the 2017 Vienna Photo Book Festival.
As publisher and content producer for the Antipodean Photobook Blog he promotes internationally activities, events and publications emerging from our local region.
Spowart curated a collection of Australian and New Zealand photobooks to extend the Martin Parr collection of Antipodean photobooks in Tate Britain. In 2019 and 2023
he coordinated World Photobook Day events at the Ballarat International Foto Biennale.
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Please let us know what you think about this post …
Feedback is always appreciated …!
UNTIL NEXT YEAR ……
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Copyrights in all book photographs reside with the book’s authors.
Book mosaic DESIGNS have been created by Doug Spowart to best illustrate the book from photographs supplied by the sTudent or institution. The copyright in those mosaics resides with Doug Spowart ©2024.
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Photobooks in Australia + New Zealand 