Preserving a Lifetime of Work - the Folio

DPS (Digital Photographic Society) is exploring printed presentations this year (we try and have a specific project each year as part of our skill development). Specifically, it involves a project that will be shared by members at our September meeting, using the concept of the Folio. What’s a Folio? The Folio is a print photo presentation that is midway between a book and the single image. It includes a printed page or printed PDF that explains the photo project, with an Index, and a series of printed images that includes a title and signature (how many images are included is the choice of the artist). All is enclosed within a special ‘envelope’, or folio cover. Collections of single images in a folio allow the option of being framed by the buyer/owner of the Folio or kept in its Folio envelope and stored or kept on a coffee table or a bookshelf.

The Folio is an old concept for bringing together a collection of items – it’s often used in literature, but recently developed by Brooks Jensen of Lenswork Magazine (www.lenswork.com) for the photographic image. A number of other photo artists have folios being sold through the Lenswork site. And Alain Briot of Beautiful-Landscape is using the concept as part of his Print of the Month Collection. He calls it ‘The White Sands Fine Art Folio. Brooks Jensen of Lenswork is offering a DVD for workshop on exactly how he developed his process and how to replicate a Folio that fits your project. You might find it helpful.

The images meant for a folio should have something in common – a concept theme, colors, or a specific subject, a story, anything that makes sense to the viewer/reader. This might seem like a lot of work, but it can be a solution for handling a lifetime of work that is sitting in closets, in computers or in slide boxes. I have seen many families give away, or even throw away, years of work after a loved one dies – mostly because there is so much of it and they really don’t know what to do with it. The folio, however, or even a book, could be an ideal method of preservation. It is easier for a family to look at, to enjoy, and to pass on, images that are put in a format in which they can relate. The key is - if you want your work to survive you, only you can make that happen; and now is the time.