Launched last month, Out of the Phone is the world’s first book publishing house dedicated to mobile photography. The project is the brainchild of publisher and mobile photographer Pierre Le Govic.
MPN sat down with Le Govic to talk about this ground breaking project, his inspiration for the idea and why he selected Koci Hernandez for the first release.
Can you tell us about your Out of the Phone book publishing platform? How did the idea come about?
The idea came about naturally. I was looking for a way to mix my passions and my experiences. I’m passionate about photography and books. I have also a long experience in printing.
Two years ago, I embraced the mobile photography world and I was fascinated by the power of photography as a way to interact. More importantly, I realized that behind the huge stream of photographs posted on social networks were hidden really talented people. So I decided to build a platform dedicated to mobile photography in order to highlight some unknown talents. The blog Emotion Daily which is now turning into an online photo gallery was the first stage.
Out of the Phone is the logical next step. Only a few professional photographers can afford offset printing process and it’s not so easy to find a publisher who accept to publish your work. Giving the possibility to be published to emergent artists is a real satisfaction.
How important is it to make real objects out of mobile phone imagery?
I guess it is not so important for everybody. A lot of people enjoy photography on their iPhone or iPad only. I know that my venture might seem weird but in the digital age, I think people still need to touch and to keep a trace of their snapshots. We are overwhelmed by images on different platforms. Paper, prints, books allow you to preserve the best of them. It’s a kind of memory. For me, emotion and sensation are essential and paper help to build a link between what you see and what you feel. I really think that touching physical objects is a primary need.
Isn’t mobile photography just photography? Why are you making the distinction?
Good question! Yes you’re right. Mobile or not, photography is photography no matter the camera but I think that this mobile photo movement is a combination of several elements that once put together gives something special to the photograph. As you know, the immediacy allowed by the mobile device brings back the spirit of the instant camera. If you add the other ingredients such as interacting on social networks, sharing, the permanent search of experimentations, etc… you get what I call the new generation of photography. I find this new impulsion very interesting.
This is NOT ONLY a question of difference between optics or megapixels, this is more than that, this is a different culture. The world is changing and photography is changing with it.Another reason for positioning my products on mobile photography lies in the fact that in a way, the mobile device is a democratic tool liberating the creativity of people. Story-telling is available for everybody. And we are looking for the good stories. More and more people can pretend to be a photographer so the need of curation is getting much more important.
What kind of mobile photography are you looking to publish? Why did you select Koci for your first book?
As a publisher, I make choices according to my own sensibility. I think that we are all influenced by our photographic culture.I want to focus on the singularity of the photographer’s eye. For example, in the first collection #onthestreets which focuses on street photography, it’s unlikely that you see famous places or monuments. Again, it is all about story-telling.
However, we will not focus only on street photography. More experimental approaches are very interesting, but it has to be artistic. For the first title of the collection, Koci was the obvious option. He’s considered the spokesman of mobile photographers, an emblematic figure of mobile photography. He did a lot to make this movement emerge and represents a good mix between Street photography and experimentation.
I first intended to launch the publishing house with several titles presenting the work of some photographers, each in its own city but I finally decided to publish titles one by one.
How does the book making process work at Out of the Phone? Who chooses the images and sequencing?
For now, the whole of the making process is supervised by myself. My experience as a printer for both publishers and famous photographers help me a lot. I had the chance to collaborate on many publishing projects. I make the first selection and then this is a discussion with the photographer, but it depends on the photographer. For example, for Downtown, Richard gave me total freedom to choose the images and to make the sequencing. He trusted me and for which I am much obliged to him!
Making a book is very demanding. A series which looks great on the screen of an iPhone can turn into something bland on paper. Everyone is not entitled to be published. I need time to immerse myself in the photographer’s work to find an angle. I feel the duty to respect the photographer’s work but also to bring something unique. Both content and form of the book have to be coherent.
Downtown by Koci Hernandez is available from the Out of the Phone site for €45. You can also grab one of two beautiful limited edition versions for €139.