In Search of Frankenstein

I’ve found that I am paying more attention to the construction of a photobook than the images inside it lately. The amount of different styles and binding techniques has really opened my eyes, and there are artists creating books using styles that I could never have thought of! One such photographer is Chloe Dewe Mathews, and in particular I love her book, In Search of Frankenstein. The images themselves, are of course stunning, but they do not relate to my folio or ideas at all. However I adore the way that they images are inserted between handwritten pages in this book. It reminds me of a travel diary of sorts, and the images are different shapes and sizes, which adds to the scrapbook feel. I would really like to explore a similar style in my own work, to see if it would suit my project too. There is an almost hand-made nature to this book, which makes it feel quite intimate (of course, I have not seen it in person, so the actual viewing experience may differ from what I am envisioning.) 

Above are some closeups of the actual work, which is beautiful, simple, and geometric in its own right.

After doing a little more research, I discovered that the ‘handwritten pages’ are actually copies of the manuscript for Frankenstein, and the images were taken in the present-day landscape that inspired Mary Shelley to write the book. In the video below, Dewe Mathews talks briefly about the work.

(1) Dewe Mathews, C 2018, In Search of Frankenstein, photographic series,  viewed 14 May 2020, <http://www.chloedewemathews.com/in-search-of-frankenstein/>

(2) Impressions Gallery, 2018, Meet the Artist: Chloe Dewe Mathews, video, viewed 15 May 2020, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vPF44ZtgoI>