Thoughts 2

The title/image on the cover is what draws the viewer in, so it's really important. I just don't know what to do and I haven't come across any that seem right. I think of one throw it around and then quickly toss it aside for it's stupidity. If iI can't get the people to like the cover/title then they won't take a look at it's contents. I gotta hook 'em before I can sink 'em...See then I think "Hook 'Em, Sink 'Em" But then think too cheesey. Thoughts? Also have been listening to random songs for inspiration, but no luck really.

I am just at the point now because it's crunch time where I am like not even excited about my work anymore really. I look at everyone else's and I start to think "oh yeah, so cool/creative and organized/successful" and then I look at mine and it's the opposite. Just wondering if what I am doing in bringing something new to the table because it has been done before and done well by so many people. Just starting to doubt my originality. I am working really hard and maybe too much and starting to get sick of it. I am going to take a break for a but and come back with a new pair of eyes.

Also something to consider is if I should include a quotation, dedication, or a short introduction to what this book is. I ideally would just like it to be the photographs and for them to be self-explanatory, but maybe a little background is necessary. I was thinking about maybe putting it in the back if I put it at all, but I can't really take myself seriously enough to do this. I feel slightly lame writing about myself or how this came about, but it might add to it. I am still undecided. It can always be added in.

I also don't think I want to put my name on the cover. I just want it inside of it in the title page. Something Anibal also brought up when I asked him to just look at it is that I started with a double page spread. He told me that most photo books start with the one photograph on the right and a blank on the left to introduce us to it, but I liked opening with a double page spread because I think my book works the most because of the double page spreads and those were definitely the most important to me, than the overall group of photographs. It's made me think that maybe I should start and end with just one, but I am unsure of what to choose.

Also, do I start with the most ridiculous photographs or ease the viewer into them and get progressively ridiculous? Because I have both photographs that are bizarre, but also double page spreads that make a comment about our society and compare them. I am sad to take out the landscapes/still lives, but Stephan brought up a valid point in that they don't have issues. Even some good photographs don't make the cut because they don't go with the theme sadly, which I'm sure we have all come to terms with.

What I've found most difficult is going about this edit because I don't know if I should just make a large edit of photographs that go along with the theme, even if it's not the greatest photograph, or if I pick the best photographs, work with those, and then go back and look to see and find more if I need them. The problem with the first is that I have a lot of photos and just include ones even if they aren't that good and the problem with the second is that the best ones sometimes don't fit and don't work together, so then I have to go back and find more. I am probably going to try the latter approach because I am indecisive and too much at one time is, well, too much at one time for me to handle.