Sequencing

Today I did an initial sequencing session, as I am trying to see which images in my series naturally speak to each other, and what kind of narrative or flow I can construct. I am quite tactile, so I decided to print out all the images and do this physically, before replicating my combinations in InDesign. At the moment I am planning to make my book A5, as the size is quite intimate, like a personal diary, but not too tiny. So I printed the images out at that size to play with. 

I began by spreading them out on the table, to try to see connections, but there were far too many, so I ended up making a space, and pairing a articular image with other combinations until I could see a pair that ‘matched.’ From this, there were definitely some that worked really well together, but also lots of combinations that I feel are ‘ok’ but not quite perfect. I also found that some images seemed to work better alone, so for now I am planning to have them facing a white page.

When I was done, I made the same combinations in InDesign. Then I was able to play with the flow of the book, but moving the double page spreads about. This was easier to do digitally because of space. I also found that some images didn’t really go with anything, which tells me that there are still gaps in my folio.

Whilst I was creating the InDesign file, I also edited some of the book scans that I took earlier this morning, and added them in. On some occasions, these seemed to fit well with some of the images that were lacking a facing image.

Of course, this is just the rough draft of the layout, and my first attempt at sequencing a photobook, but I can feel the story starting to come together a bit more. I think I still have a lot more refining to do, but I am learning.