Le Space Photobook Workshop '24

Session One: Conceptualisation with Katrin Koenning
Saturday 10th February, 10 am – 3 pm  

In this first session, each participant will introduce themselves and their project. With approximately 25 minutes to present your work to the group and receive individual feedback from Katrin. We will focus on editing a selection from the wider body of work to use in your photobook and experiment with different sequencing techniques. Bring a wide selection of photographs printed at 4x6” to spread across the table or floor, plus any other elements you are considering including in the project. If you are already working on a dummy, bring this as well as the printed work.

You will need to bring
A selection of photographs printed at 4x6” divided into Groups A, B & C.
Group A – essential to storytelling
Group B – create rhythm and dynamism but not essential
Group C – outtakes which may come back to life
It may be helpful to write a short sentence on the back of each print about why you included it in Group A, B or C.

KATRIN KOENNING:
Katrin Koenning is a German / Australian visual artist and educator based in Naarm Melbourne. Katrin’s collaborative debut publication Astres Noires won the Australian Photobook of the Year Grand Prize, was shortlisted for the Pairs Photo-Aperture Foundation Photobook Awards and the Prix Nadar in 2016. Katrin gives workshops in photographic practice and thinking and was a guest artist at the Palm Tree workshops in 2023.

Session Two: Introduction to Publishing with Matt Dunne
Saturday 17th February, 10 am – 3 pm

With this week’s guest Matt Dunne, founder of Tall Poppy Press, an independent publisher dedicated to showcasing Australian photography, we will discuss the publishing industry at home and abroad and different ways to go about publishing. Following the discussion each participant will present a digital dummy through the projector for all to see and Matt will provide feedback on the work. Have your ‘elevator pitch’ refined and succinct so that you can explain it as you are showing the work and allow time to hear the feedback.

You will need to bring
A digital PDF version of your sequenced images and any other supporting material you may be considering including in your photobook, such as archival photography, documents, notes or other ephemera.

MATT DUNNE
Matt Dunne is an artist and publisher based in Melbourne, his work is all about how place reflects history, as well as the biodiversity loss of Australia. He has published several books of his work and exhibited globally. In 2021 he founded Tall Poppy Press, an independent publisher dedicated to showcasing Australian photography. He is a co-curator of PHOTO 2024's Photobook Weekend and regularly writes for and contributes to the photographic community.

Session Three: Design & Sequencing with Tiffany Jones
Tuesday 20th February VIA ZOOM, 7 pm – 10 pm

Tiffany Jones, founder of photobook publisher, Overlapse, will join the group from London via Zoom, this will be the only session not conducted in person. From 7 – 10 pm each participant will have approximately 20 minutes to present their digital photobook as it is forming so far. Be sure to incorporate your sequence of images and any other supporting material that may be vital to your project, including text and cover ideas. Tiffany will provide advice to each participant on sequencing, layout, format and other design elements.

You will need to bring
A digital PDF version of your photobook as it is forming so far including text and cover ideas.

TIFFANY JONES
Tiffany Jones is the founding publisher of Overlapse, a London-based photobook imprint started in 2015. With over 30 years dedicated to arts publishing and photojournalism, she is an editor, designer, researcher, and educator working with programmes and institutions around the world. She collaborates with photographers and artists to communicate through the making of unique, desirable, and beautifully produced books. Subjects and stories address social, cultural, and environmental issues, and highlight enduring and universal themes connected to human experience.

A few notable publications include You can call me Nana by Will Harris (finalist, 2021 Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation Awards), A Parallel Road by Amani Willett (top 10 photobooks of 2021, David Campany for ICP), and Beyond Drifting: Imperfectly Known Animals by Mandy Barker (nominated for the 2018 Deutsche Börse Foundation Prize).

Session Four: The Photobook as an Object with Ying Ang & Gareth Phillips
Saturday 24th February, 10 am – 3 pm

This session will be led by Ying Ang & Gareth Phillips and will build upon the feedback given by Tiffany Jones in the previous meeting.

In this session, Ying and Gareth will provide an overview of the next steps for each project, looking to fine-tune details in sequence, text, narrative formation and concept. All these elements will inform the final decisions that you will land on with developing the design of your book and if appropriate, we will discuss publishing options and different strategies to put your book out to the industry.

You will need to bring
The sequence in loose print format, along with a “B” selection and any other content that is to be included (ephemera, archival, text..etc..). If you have already developed a dummy at this point, please bring that too and any other references you have that inform your final idea.

YING ANG
Ying is a photographer, author, educator and director of Le Space. She is on the teaching faculty at the ICP in New York, the Director of Reflexions 2.0 - a photographic masterclass based in Europe and is a board member of the CCP in Melbourne.

Ying’s self-published photobooks Gold Coast & The Quickening have won multiple awards including the New York Photo Festival, Belfast Photo Festival 2021 and the silver award for the BIFA Documentary Photo Book Prize 2020.

GARETH PHILLIPS
Gareth Phillips is a photographer exploring contemporary definitions of the photobook, constructing them as objects, sculptures and installations. He has an established international exhibition and award history, was a finalist for the 2023 Aesthetica Art Prize, The KG+ Kyotographie Japan Award, The Gomma New Flavours Award and was the winner of the 2023 RAKFAF Festival Awards for Sculpture. He is an alumnus of the Reflexions Masterclass and lives and works between the UK and Spain, he is the artist-in-residence at Le Space for Feb 2024.

Session Five: Design Elements with Kim Mumm Hansen
Saturday 2nd March, 10 am – 3 pm

This final session will focus on design elements such as fonts, paper types and book structures, and ways to combine text with photography. Each participant will receive feedback on which design elements could be most suitable for your photobook. 

KIM MUMM HANSEN
Kim Mumm Hansen is a Danish graphic designer, living and working in Melbourne, Australia. Kim has worked locally for five years, in a collaborative realm, mostly within and around the arts; artists, galleries and educational institutions, including the CCP (Centre for Contemporary Photography). This results predominantly in the production of publications, posters, websites and visual identities.