Art photographers now hold the power to publish their own work, and there are good reasons to – even someone previously published and exhibited in Parliament and the Saatchi Gallery can find that they face an uphill struggle when they present something that challenges the art world’s sometimes negative assumptions – but there are solutions!
It’s hard to imagine why a photographic ode to the simple glory of wild birthing – a series which has won two awards – wouldn’t be of interest. It is controversial (there’s a nativity setting) and there is no AI going on; this is real photography.
Natalie Lennard – with a number of works under her name, including two books published internationally by major publishing houses, found that her latest project – Birth Undisturbed – was, at the very least, going to suffer a pretty slow process.
In her opening salvos for her recent projects with major publishers she tells me that it wasn’t unusual to hear that publishers are “Busy for the next few years.” Add a publishing cycle to that (anything from six to 18 months, in my experience), and an art project might well have moved on, so you can see why Natalie Lennard would look to a self-publishing service like Blurb.
“You get complete control – as fast as you’re willing to work. That’s huge for me because I want to seize the moment to promote my projects when I’m in the heat of passion for them. Years later, my energy will likely be centered on something else.”
It’s also true that it’s possible to start with something physical if you’re aiming to reach a wider world.
All of which explains why Natalie has self-published her own book of Birth Undisturbed (indeed many books that start this way are eventually picked up by smart commissioning editors at traditional publishers) showcasing the series with breathtaking close-ups from the 100MP camera she shot them with. Using Blurb has allowed her to list the book on Amazon, which she has found from no other print-on-demand company that also offers its own design software.
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Lulu, a more cost-efficient platform that provides a template for users to create their book in InDesign, doesn’t currently allow Natalie’s 134-page art book Surreal Fashion to be placed on their Global Distribution program – for now, limiting it to Lulu’s own bookshop.
Her Birth Undisturbed book made on Blurb is pricier, even more so after adding Amazon’s commission, but she’s offered two sizes both on Premium Lustre paper and is upfront to her audience about the reality of costs in 2024.
Laying the book out using Blurb. (Image credit: Natalie Lennard)
“I won’t bullshit – the price of my book on Amazon is eye-watering” she admits, but “This is just what it costs in 2024 for an independent.” To be fair, it seems price-competitive with some of the best coffee table photography books, where it’s fair to say it’s harder to find a “beautiful birth philosophy and the insights of an artist who’s long given up being a pretentious prig.”
If your creative interest has been piqued, you can look into building your own book using the Blurb platform; you can keep them for yourself or give them as gifts as well as publish more widely.
Full disclosure – I’ve worked with Natalie (I was one of those professional publishers, before my time at Digital Camera World), so I can say just how good her books were, and I know just how well they sold – in multiple languages. I can also understand why modern print-on-demand holds so much more appeal for a working artist – who wants a book to come out years after your photo series was taken?
See our guide to the best photo books, if you fancy taking your first steps in self-publishing
