Today I want to start a new tutorial. For the last year I was producing a photobook, so I wanted to talk to you about the whole process - the reason I started it -> building the concept -> designing my photobooks and making first prototype -> user research -> final prototype -> traditional publishing vs. self-publishing -> crowdfunding the project -> and finally printing an actual thing + conclusions.

We will be talking about the photobook specifically, but you can really apply every step to any big project. So, let's start.

Why did I decide to produce a photobook. They say you are not a serious photographer before you have one, but I think it's bullshit, there are many photographers I admire, who do well without a photobook it all depends on your business model. Another reason - making a photobook to bust your ego - I think that's just too much trouble - it can be done through less labor-intensive things.

What I was set up to do was to put my individual works in a larger narrative. On social media my work is too fragmented, and it's true, almost every shoot I do end up in a fashion magazine, but it's always different magazine, different viewer, and just one story at a time. I wanted to create something that will produce higher impact, will boil down my work to one core narrative and one core subject - complex emotions.

So here's the first landing page I made: https://alionakuznetsova.com/vague-sensations/

(to be continued): https://alionakuznetsova.com/photobok/