A decade ago, I made up a photo book of Paula’s best glamour images. The book is beautiful. There is something different and better about seeing a full-color print of a glamour photo in a hardcover book than seeing it on a screen. However, in that it was made in 2014, it does not include many wonderful images of her. Nearly every year from 1992 (when she was 31 years old) to 2021 we did at least one planned glamour shoot: thirty years.
I brought up with Paula the idea of making a new book spanning the entire 30 years of Paula as my primary muse right up until she got sick and could no longer do glamour modeling. The idea would be to make a 10x10 book with her best photos and short comments about the circumstances of each photo set. It would be quite a project, but given where we are in life, it would be a real keepsake.
In the discussion, I asked her what she thought of making the new book available for purchase to those who follow this website. I told her that many of you have been following me for a long time and have a connection with her through her photos and the narrative about our life. She thought it was a great idea.
It is not a new idea for a photographer to chronicle his wife over the years in photos. I have a book on my shelf called The Model Wife by Arthur Ollman which features the work of nine photographers who shot their wives over the years. Not to sound full of myself, but my collection of photos of Paula is better than any of the artists featured in that book. But the idea is a good one. Of course, in my case, I will just have one wife featured, but I think I can make a compelling presentation in photos and text.
So, my question is would you be interested?
If you are, I would like your input on how to do this.
The simplest way would be to order a couple of dozen copies of a book I have printed by Shutterfly or one of the similar companies that specialize in photo books, then use the e-commerce feature built into my web host (Wix) to sell them. I’ve never used that feature, but Wix is actually primarily designed for e-commerce, and it seems pretty straightforward.
The downside is that they will take a percentage of the price which would increase the cost. And by mailing the books myself shipping will be steep. And, of course, I’ll have to print the books up-front and bear the entire cost hoping to recoup my money when people order the book.
One upside of that approach though is that Paula and I could inscribe each book to the purchaser… if anyone cares about such things.
But I really need some input from you, our followers, to decide if this is a project worth pursuing. To do it right, it will take several months. SO, let me know what you think.
An E-book would be the best way, and most likely the cheapest way. And, of course you can change it after publishing with new pictures or other pictures that are better!
E-Books might be a better option in this case than a physical book
A physical book would be too dangerous for me to order. My parents would kick me out if they ever saw it or opened my mail haha. It’s a good idea though!
It sound like a great idea, but living in South Africa with mailing cost very high and our postel service not functioning such a wonderful book would be lost. I have lost a few books I ordered at a high price. Count me out.