“Why are you taking photos of your books?” Certainly, I’m not the only one who’s had to answer this question. As long as you blog about books, are a bookstagrammer or post book photography on Tumblr, someone is bound to have asked you this as well.
While we might not actively think about our book photography habits, it does raise eyebrows among non-bibliophiles. When that happens, how do you answer? Do you answer with a coy, “Why do you take photos of all your food?” Do you pretend you didn’t hear them? Do you tell them about online book communities? Or do try to answer but utterly fail?
I realized that I respond with a combination of those answers. As much as I could go on doing that, I’m not satisfied with my fairly inadequate responses. My thesis was about photos and social media, for crying out loud. I should be able to talk about these things. This is why, I decided to dig up my research and see if I could gain any enlightenment that can solidly legitimise book photography in the face of these doubting questions.
Purpose of Photography
There is a multitude of reasons people take photos — these range from art to documentation and beyond. They’re useful tools to aid our memories as they help us remember things we otherwise might not.
On a personal level, photos used to generally be keepsakes for photo albums or stashed away in boxes. They were autobiographical images of sorts that represented our past.
[I]ndividuals articulate their identity as social beings not only by taking and storing photographs to document their lives, but by participating in communal photographic exchanges that mark their identity as interactive producers and consumers of culture.
—Digital photography: communication, identity, memory by José van Dijck
Besides remembrance, photos were and still are also integral to identity formation that support oral narratives of ourselves. While some photos are kept to ourselves, many are shared with others and so form a basis for communication as well.
Digital Photography
The advent of digital photography has made it a lot cheaper to produce and share photos. While analogue photos are dependent on how much we’re willing to invest in roll films and developing photos, digital photos are only limited by our disk space.
Before digital photography, I doubt many owned thousands upon thousands of photos. Today though, digital cameras and digital cameras have made it possible (or rather, financially permissible) to take hundreds of photos in the span of a day. Digital photography thus extend the purpose of photography from purely analogue days and has proliferated the presence of photos in our lives.
Social Media & Photography
Social media allows us to share photos wherever we are with people all around the world. When it comes to blogging, photos provide visual cues that compliment text.
Dijck goes on to suggest this:
Clearly, we are witnessing a shift…towards using photography as an instrument for peer bonding and interaction.
—Digital photography: communication, identity, memory by José van Dijck
This shift, I believe, is very much accentuated by social media. When we don’t have the luxury to interact face-to-face, photos become an essential means of communication. (At this point I’d love to go into why bother communicating and forming friendships with people online whom you haven’t met “in real life” but I’ll leave that for another discussion.)
The notion behind the intermix criterion is that online and offline cultural worlds intermingle and that this very intermingling is among the most interesting and important areas that we must understand.
—Netnography: Doing Ethnographic Research Online by Robert V. Kozinets
In short, what Kozinets is trying to convey is that the offline and online worlds are increasingly overlapping. In the context of whether the online sphere is any less real than the offline world, we cannot disregard the online sphere. The online and the offline can’t be seen as independent entities anymore.
Photography enhances the link between our physical and digital lives because it can represent things offline in online spaces.
Book Photography
Content Production
Book photography is another medium for content production. Just as I use my laptop to type the texts that go into my blog posts, I use my camera to capture accompanying photos. I need that photo of that book to accompany my post. Yes, it is necessary to take a photo of my bookshelf to validate my claims to an ever-growing TBR.
Expression Beyond Text
Book reviews aren’t all that different from book photos, in my opinion. Both are driven by the desire to share our love for books. Book photography opens up another level for communication. We can quickly show on Instagram which book we’re currently reading. Book haul posts on blogs are a lot more exciting when we get to see the books.
Basically, book photography opens up communication channels that aren’t accessible to us without photography. After all, “pics or it didn’t happen!”
Love for Books
Photos, as I mentioned above, are also part of identity formation. What am I without books? I don’t know. They are part of my life. Just as some feel compelled to share their every meal through photos, I choose to share the books I read. I feel a connection with people who read the very same books. Perusing Instagram for the tags related to the books I read allows me to find others who love the same books as I do.
In a Nutshell
Don’t judge me for taking photos of my books. We take photos of things that are important to us. If those things include books, then it’s only natural that book photography matters too. But of course, I’m mostly preaching to the choir here.
What are your views on book photography? Do you have any stories to share about others asking you why you’re taking photos of your book(s)?
Confab ˈkän-ˌfab, kən-ˈ noun an informal discussion, often about a particular topic
Discussion posts are some of my favourite posts to read. New ideas get shared that way, or old ideas are revisited and given a new spin. And of course, I get to be my opinionated self as I hoist my views upon others, while pretending to be objective. Or maybe not. I do welcome alternate views and I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
I love this post! I’m not very good at bookish photography, but I LOVE looking at it. I think that pictures of books can be quite beautiful, and I like to look at things (like books) that I love :) Those people who ask questions can just shove it. I’m taking pictures of books because I want to!! Nobody else’s opinion matters, haha.
I’m glad to see this post resonated not only with me but with others too, including you :) We get better with practice, so just keep going and do your thing ;) And yes! It’s our prerogative to take photos of whatever we please! :D
No one asks me any such thing so hooray, but I just like taking photos of books because it tests my skills as a photographer. And taking photos of what I love and having such an enthusiastic community is such a big bonus. And taking photos of books makes me happy, and gives me something to do. It’s such a win situation for me.
Every opportunity to practice photography is a good opportunity :) And yeah, I love the enthusiasm that the book community exudes online and it keeps encouraging me to try out stuff, even if they don’t work out the way I intended because I can only learn from it. So yes, it’s a swell win-win situation :D
I’d love to see a post on how you take your book photos, because they’re so good! You obviously put a lot of thought into them.
Awww. Thank you for noticing, Amy! :) I’ll keep your request in mind and try to put together a post in the coming weeks.
I love taking photos of my books! :) Although a little snafu has caused me to lose access to my Instagram (both bookish and personal), so I haven’t been able to lately. :( I like taking photos of them just stacked, or maybe open to a certain page with a cup of tea in the background or next to them on a desk. I like to record bits of my life, whether through words, photos or videos, and books are a part of my life. :D
As for my response to someone who asks me why I take book photos, I’d just go “because I like to.” If people can take photos of their food/dog/collection of riverdance medals without being questioned, then I shall take my book photos. :P
Why! What happened? :( I did wonder why your instagram account seemed to be abandoned. Can’t you reset the passwords? Yeah, I like recording things in my life too and photos definitely help. When a week was crazy hectic and I don’t remember what happened at all, I refer to photos to jog my memories.
Riverdance medals. HAHAHA. How true. There are quirkier things to take photos of.
I think it’s because I stubbornly refuse to update to iOS 7 because it’s a battery hog, and my friends who HAVE updated seem to like the old iOS 6. I tried to update Instagram and it said something like “please delete app and redownload to update.” So I did. Then when I went to redownload it, it turns out the current version of Instagram supports only iOS7 on iPhones and not the older iOS versions. -_- I can’t even get a previous version of Instagram to use. :|
Ah, ok. Makes sense. Haha. I succumbed after 3 to 4 months of refusing to update to iOS 7. Now I hardly even remember what iOS 6 was like. But I have an iPhone 5, so I had no reason for worries. My sister updated while she had an iPhone 4, which did make her phone lag a lot. It sucks when app developers abandon the older operating systems :( That’s why I was so happy to see Spotify actually has an app specifically for iOS 4 users. Pretty nifty of rmy iPod touch that can’t be updated beyond iOS 4.
I don’t take pictures of my books often as I usually buy e-copies and I think it’s more fun to photograph hard copies. I do like making pictures to accompany my posts, I recently made some pictures for some of my discussion posts (not of books though) and I usually try to make some random picture to include in my Sunday Post.
While I don’t have an instagram account or make a lot of book pictures, I do enjoy seeing other people’s book pictures!
I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone ask me why I take book photos. The one time I went to do it in front of Dave, he actually gave me input on which books he thought he would look good in the shot. I guess I’m just lucky!
But I do agree. I think book photographs are just another way to share our love of literature. And in many ways, it can be a quicker and easier way to share the love as people’s attention spans are much shorter online. A photograph is much more likely to capture their mind, and can say just as much as text, if not more. (Though that doesn’t stop me from typing, typing, typing away with each one.)
I do think it’s quite odd that I keep my photography and blog posting entirely separate. As in, I never take really use my pictures for my blog or take pictures with the purpose of accompanying a blog post. I guess I’m just used to having my blog be text-heavy (and I do think photography works better on blogs like yours over mine due to my blog’s layout, cartoonish pictures look better, or at least they do when Kelley uses them). But I like having each separate social media outlet to use in varying ways. I hope to incorporate them more as a whole someday, but we’ll see. I’m always trying to figure this social media thing out ;)
Hahaha. I showed my dad a series of photos I took. He didn’t question the excess of books as subjects but I think he thought I was practicing photography in general. Which is true for me but I take photos of books for both purposes: practice and sharing. My sixte,r on the other hand, raised her eyebrow the first time she saw me photograph a stack of books. Now she’s used to it.
Yeah, when I’m not in the mood to write anything, I gladly reach for my camera and take photos of books instead. I also like how Instagram offers a platform for instant sharing of photos and interaction about books. It’s perfect for days I’m feeling more laid back because I can share photos a moment’s notice without staring at my screen (as I did for a good part of the time I spent writing this post).
Incorporating photography is part of the reason I chose this layout and the minimalist design. Heh. I still use the different platforms for varying purposes but once in a while I like using my photos tie Word Revel together as a unit. When it comes down to it, it’s still me behind everything Word Revel and I like how photos can help reflect and establish that.
As for your blog design, Kelley’s main concern was to allow each one of you to maintain your individuality, aye. With that purpose in mind, she did a splendid job of designing your blog to accomplish that :)
My fiance used to walk out and see my taking photos of books and ask why. Now he just stares and shakes his head… and wonders if there is a support group somewhere for significant others of book obsessed individuals.
There are so many books out there that are so pretty. All the colors and designs and textures. Why not take photos of them? Why not play with different color schemes and such and then share it with others who will appreciate?
Lol. Awww man! It paints a funny picture but I feel for you. On the other hand, I think this proves that he loves you even if doesn’t always understand you. That is something to be thankful for! :)
Yes to sharing with others who appreciate it too! This is why I love the online book community. It freely allows us to share our love for books :D
LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS POST. You said it all, Josephine! I definitely agree that photography is a way to keep our love for books (or for anything really) and think it’s fantastic that book photography is so accessible for us all through digital cameras! (I’ve tried taking photos of books with my film camera and it’s so hard to get a good shot and not waste a film roll.)
As for what I answer when people ask me why I take pictures of books, I usually tell people that it’s because books are gorgeous and precious to me. :)
That is A LOT of love, Hazel! ;) I can feel your love across the seas right now <3
Yes! If not for digital cameras, book photography would be rather prohibitive. Plus, I'd rather send my friends a book than photos then if digital photography didn't exist. But digital photos make it so easy to share bookish loves, how can anyone resist?! Once you start, it's very hard to ever part with (book) photography.
Yay! I like your answer!