O n Monday I read a story about obsession. Some people have a compulsion to do their best, often at the sacrifice of what may be deemed as ‘normal’ behaviour. For the last four weeks before writing this article I have had a singular focus on creating an outstanding album for the New Zealand Institute of Professional Photography awards. There were many reasons why this was worth the effort. If I am successful it will be my third such award in a row. If I am not I have just created a wonderful piece of art. If it is unsuccessful, the learning exercise was intensive and beneficial. The outcome is a beautiful book of somebody’s dream. This is not without help however, as I had the constant support of Jo, my wife, and the efforts of Queensberry. At a late stage and incredibly busy moment for Heather we agreed on a design for the book and she spun her magic to create something truly amazing for us. I wanted to create a book that was like a personal and intimate journal. I wanted to tell a story in a less than obvious way I wanted the book to say these things before you even opened it. I referred to the feel of the album as being similar to your old, comfortably worn couch – this couch is the one where you sit in the sun and read while listening to the music that moves you. It gives you comfort and has a reality, almost a wisdom, about it that comes from years of being a couch. I wanted the viewer to feel an honesty and a beauty when they held this amazing book. I wanted it to suggest a quality that said way more than a bunch of photographs on a page. This album wanted to be suggestive of a rich reward to anybody who had the privilege to hold it, and the curiosity to look inside You could argue – “but it’s just a book of pictures!”. In one sense you might be right, but the truth is that it is somebody’s dream that we have retold. Dreams are worth more than that. Effectively I wanted the book to say ‘respect me’, but I wanted that respect to be earned I approached Heather Baugh from Queensberry about how this might be possible. By good fortune they were working on a new concept for their albums that would be unique, bespoke, and based on a very similar concept. I feel that Queensberry are very in tune with my needs. This is why they have my loyalty and support. I designed the album using PJ remix. I had an idea that story needed to unfold in a unique way – I started off being mysterious and not revealing the face of the bride until she was in the church. I thought it was a great idea but everybody else missed the point and asked why! I conceded and added some portraits. I wanted the story to unfold with “the answers coming almost in time with the questions”. I wanted to say that Weddings can be overwhelming, and that there is a fairytale part, that is flavoured with the love for each other, family, and friends. I chose to work with creative imagery punctuated by images that told more of the story. I wanted to reveal the feelings and the beauty. The bride was a paper conservator, so I was very aware of the tactile aspects of the album. The skirt on her dress looked like gracefully crumpled tissue paper. It was incredible. I desaturated the images to emphasise the tonality over the colour I changed the ‘tone of the monochromatic prints as the day progressed into the evening. This change was to represent the closing in of the darkness. But I wanted it to be a realisation more than being a statement. I enjoy the idea that even after several viewings of the album you might still discover new things each time I kept the design simple adopting a style which, predominantly, had a single key or art image supported by one or more smaller supporting images. The wedding was in Barcelona. At the time I was disappointed to have absolutely no time to create imagery with the daunting Spanish architecture. In hindsight we did very well – but it would have been fabulous to take the bride and groom on an exploration. In another bit of hindsight I would admit that the imagery was not about the cityscape, The imagery was about the bride and groom, their families and friends, and their feelings. I sent the design to the bride for inspirations and she replied with this note: “I loved the choice of photos... (a funny anecdote: you took a very good portrait of a stranger and used it for the album! We always found this so funny so we´d like the stranger to be there – after all, so many strangers clapped at us when we left the Salo de Cent, or afterwards when we were leaving… what a trip! \ “And the fountains on for us… also full of strangers smiling at us… we were in a cloud and saw them as part of us all… “I collected the album the other day and it was even better than I imagined.” So, the album is made it is a beautiful graceful friend. It is the keeper of a dream, and the teller of a story. It will live in a special place, and it will tell its owners that once upon a time in beautiful place there lived a handsome prince and a very pretty bride. – Johannes van Kan