24 Hours of Darkness - Willem Verbeeck - Walking Svalbard
I have always wanted to photograph at night, except I am afraid of the dark, so I don't do that. I am also very tired at night so that might be a second reason. So finding a place where there is night pretty much the entire day doesn't sound very appealing to me. Yet, there is something magical about this place I was able to experience through the photographs of Willem Verbeeck. Let's take a walk, shall we? Let's walk to Svalbard.
You probably already know Willem Verbeeck, the NY-based photographer and video-maker, since he has a few more subscribers than this channel. The walking Svalbard is a result of a 10-day project spent on Svalbard which is an island in Norway.
The town is called Longyearbyen and it is the world's northernmost town. Now, because of that, it’s dark four months of the year. That’s unique, and along with lighting conditions, was the reason Willem picked this location.
I guess, some pretty great night photographers might live there.
The book has 47 pages with 37 images shot both on film and digitally and honestly, it has one of the best designs I have seen so far on this channel. Seriously, this book definitely stays in my collection. If I ever need inspiration for my zine in the future. The plastic cover adds a snow layer which is a very fun idea. The stitching is done perfectly so it allows the book to open fully flat. The print quality is excellent which is important, especially if you have a lot of blacks in your images. The images evoke strange feelings in me. The places often felt abandoned, even though, you know people are living there. Yet, no one was really around. I mean, it has to be pretty cold outside. Just strange, strange feelings.
Willem discusses some of the challenges in his video about the book such as camera issues due to low temperatures or problems with capturing the pitch dark atmosphere with long exposures and how he overcame that. So check it out if you want to find out more firsthand.
What pleasantly surprised me is the overall quality because when photographers publish something and call it a zine it is very often just a cheap way to get a bunch of photographs to their audience. Now, the downside is that it is often at the expense of the quality or the design. Now, this zine is a little bit expensive, but the quality really shows.
Self-publishing photography books and zines is not an easy task. There are so many things you have to take care of. You are not just the photographer for the publication. You have to take care of sequencing, design, distribution, or marketing yourself. Or find someone who will do it for you. That is why it is very often difficult to produce something this nice and playful. But this kind of unique topic, which I think taking night photographs during the day time really is, has a wonderful design and I have to say, I like the overall package a lot.
