Morgan  Bailey  

Photobook  

Caldwell  

5/7/13  

Mentor  

  I  did  not  have  a  mentor  photobook.  I  searched  around  for  weeks  and  came  up  

with  nothing  that  resembled  my  grandfather’s  work  or  his  character.  So  instead  of  

get  inspiration  from  another  artist  in  a  book  dedicated  to  a  photographer,  why  not  

use  the  artist  himself.  So  for  my  photobook  I  took  my  knowledge  and  the  work  of  my  

grandfather  and  created  a  book  inspired  by  it.  This  book  was  also  made  to  honor  his  

work  so  simplicity  was  key.  My  grandfather’s  style  had  a  strong  sense  of  family  yet  

disconnect  from  the  outside  world.  His  photos  depicted  himself,  a  family  man  who  

was  disconnected  from  the  world  and  often  lonely  and  depressed.  As  he  grew  older  

his  photographer  changed  along  with  him.  Moving  from  standard  landscapes  to  

more  complex  works  using  moving  object  and  people.  The  older  he  got  the  more  

family  oriented  his  work  became  and  it  could  be  seen  less  as  art  and  more  as  

documenting  his  travels  in  a  unique  way.    

  This  book  I  have  created  uses  his  simple  outlook  on  life  yet  as  a  play  touch  

laid  in  every  so  often  to  represent  his  whimsical  family  style  while  keeping  the  clean  

stark  lines  of  his  most  famous  work.  A  book  of  panoramas  needs  to  be  long  and  lean,  

allowing  the  viewer  to  see  all  the  small  details  in  such  a  large  and  awkwardly  

shaped  photo.  I  found  the  longest  book  out  there  (11X13)  and  made  every  page  a  

full  spread  double  page  layout.  This  brings  the  work  right  up  to  your  face  and  

doesn’t  make  you  lean  in  too  far  to  see  everything.  The  “stronger”  work  was  left  

alone  on  the  page  and  the  more  standard  color  travel  fare  was  doubled  up  as  to  

break  up  the  black  and  white  imagery  refreshing  the  viewer’s  eyes.    

  My  grandfather  was  nothing  without  my  grandmother.  She  was  his  rock,  the  

only  thing  keeping  him  afloat  from  his  depression.  They  traveled  everywhere  

together  and  90%  of  his  photographs  have  her  in  them  somewhere.  Honoring  their  

relationship  in  this  book  was  key.  The  double  images  represent  their  partnership,  

and  I  put  their  photo  on  the  back  to  show  that  she  was  always  behind  him  in  

everything  he  did.    

  My  grandfather  loved  to  make  people  happy,  just  not  himself.  He  was  

completely  selfless;  I  think  this  took  a  toll  on  him.  He  never  did  anything  for  himself.  

His  work  was  never  published;  he  never  got  paid  for  it.  The  few  galleries  that  did  

show  his  work  did  so  for  free.  He  spent  his  life  teaching  photography  to  students.  He  

focused  on  the  weird  and  unknown  side  of  photography.  He  asked  his  students  to  

experiment  and  make  bounds  to  bring  something  new  to  the  art.  This  book  means  a  

lot  to  my  family  because  his  work  is  finally  easily  accessible.