NAYA - Part 1
Is the distance simply too far? NAYA is a contemporary art book that engages scale. Generated visual and textual content are designed to intentionally push past the rules and guidelines of the medium. The book has no formal structure. Ideally someone could pick it up and discover something even if they just glanced at a few pages. The individual parts cannot be separated from the whole. The book exists as a textural experience, meant to be viewed all at once. Embedded devices such as pagination and balance of layout enhance the process of discovery and develop over the course of the book. Accompanying text helps to provide a sort of framing device for the images without being overtly referential. NAYA is an edition of 5 case bound books, published in March of 2017.
Project Duration - 5w
In Full Collaboration - Mckenna Nicole Green
Roles
— Macro Photography
— Product Photography
— Book Design
Tools
— Adobe Lightroom
— Adobe Photoshop
Skills
— R&D
— Book Binding
— Digital Printing
Manifesto
Can the human mind ever truly understand 1/10th of a millimeter or how far we are from the sun? Or is the distance simply too far outside our comprehension? From the moment we experience life, everything we perceive is in relation to our own scale, a condition of our ocular senses that is developed out of necessity and survival. This relegation of scale to a pre-conscious level is to be expected, but skews our relationship with the world around us that extends beyond our first person perspective.
All we know and are trained to know is in relation to our own size, how it fits in the palm of the hand or how high it stretches above the head. The limitations of our sensory systems further contribute to our separation from scale, what our bodies are physically capable of seeing only extends so far. Anything outside of our range of sensitivity, whether it be vast or minute, ceases to exist or may have never existed.
As we strip away the context of the subjects we find ourselves immersed in vast landscapes and immense structures, within a non-scale environment. We begin to lose ourselves in the surroundings. This allows for assignment of new meaning and individual interpretation of the unseen. We become inhabitants of these non-scale spaces, rewriting what we know to be true of our own spaces to include the normally imperceptible extremities.
Photography
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Macro
The use of macro photography allowed us to re-contextualize the viewers perspective and draw them into deep image spaces. Merging vintage lens technology and modern high-resolution image sensors enabled us to zoom even further into an image before any noticeable loss of resolution. This completely removes any contextual clues, and forces the viewer to engage with the image based on form and color.
Product
After producing the book, it was important to document the work that went into the project to present digitally. Physical elements like gold leaf and die cuts don’t translate well in digital mockups, and in order to present these elements digitally product shots needed to be generated. This was an opportunity for me to expand my knowledge of lighting, photographing, and editing surrounding product photography.
Collaboration
This was my first experience as a photographer working with a designer in a fully collaborative setting. In the past I’ve typically generated assets and handed them off to clients. This was a unique opportunity to get involved in decision making surrounding design, conceptual content and physical qualities for the final product.
Photo + Design
Integrating photos into a pre-existing outline structure gave structure to the book, and helped to determine where non-image spreads would fit. Photography was used to create distinct focal points and enhance design elements. Images were produced with design constraints in mind, which expedited decision making for crops and photo treatments
Binding + Production
For physical production of the book, decisions about the physical form of the book were reached as a team. We embraced opportunities to make paper choices, design custom tip in’s, and share in the book binding process. Use of unconventional materials like translucent paper forced us both to experiment and adapt.
EKA - Part 2
Do you see it? The second in a series of contemporary art books, EKA engages and explores light. Generated content is designed to intentionally push past the rules and guidelines of the medium, and is simultaneously technical and intuitive. The individual parts cannot be separated from the whole; the book exists as a textural experience, meant to be viewed all at once. Embedded devices such as pagination, custom tip-ins, and a heavily layered layout enhance the process of discovery and develop over the course of the book. Accompanying text helps to provide a sort of framing device for the images without being overtly referential. EKA will be an edition of 5 case bound books, published in July of 2020.
Project Duration - Ongoing
In Full Collaboration - Mckenna Nicole Green
Roles
— Layout Design
— Book Design
— Photography
Tools
— Adobe InDesign
— Adobe Lightroom
— Adobe Photoshop
— Adobe Illustrator
Skills
— R&D
— Art Direction
— Fabrication
Typography + Color
Next Steps…
EKA is currently in progress, with the expected publish date in July of 2020. Check back soon for more updates.