The other day I got a big box delivered to the studio. It was taped up and packaged with so many layers that it took some dedication to get through. It was worth it. I’ve been in the process of revamping my portfolio book for some time now, enlisting help from Selina Maitreya and from book maker Scott Mulllenberg, and printing expertise from Lincoln and crew at Pushdot Studio, located in the other Portland. All told, it’s taken about a year, and the results were sitting in this box—over a hundred exquisitely printed portfolio pages destined for my two-book portfolio.
A quick note here for those that eschew printed, custom portfolio books as being dead or pointless in the digital age—I respectfully disagree. It’s true that the cost is far greater than, say, an iPad portfolio (which I also use) or a Blurb book (which I’d like to experiment with). To me, each has their uses and nothing beats the impact of finely-printed, large images displayed in a custom-bound book. (Boards are great, too, but I’d destroy those, I’m afraid). Expensive, yes. But impactful? Absolutely. I’ve been showing my new book around already and have gotten a great response.
As a photo editor, the packaging of a portfolio showed me as much as the work itself. In the newspaper world, this meant mostly digital presentations on CDs with the occasional board of slides thrown in. It may seem old school, but I always loved seeing portfolios on slides, partly because I knew just how much work it takes to do this right—and also because everything, from the labels on the slides to the tonal consistency from start to finish told me volumes about the applicant’s dedication to craft, consistency and detail. Someone who spent a weekend building a single portfolio probably would care about doing a good job even on the dreaded “Man on the Street” assignment. That’s the person I wanted on my team.
The printed book is much the same way. It’s tactile, it’s classic, and if done right it isn’t easily forgotten. And that’s why I’m busier booking dates for my portfolio than my high school senior class around prom time.
