Before starting a weekly newsletter on Substack I was sharing my thoughts on photography on YouTube and Instagram. One of the videos I made for YouTube was about the wonderful book For the Aliens by the photographer and director Léo Berne. Stardom on that platform does not lurk behind photo book reviews, but I want to tell you here about what I learned from that book because it’s been very useful in my own thinking about photography and photo book-making.
I’ll front-load it: Disparate images can be united by retrofitting an idea.
For the Aliens features a wide variety of disconnected yet descriptive images. Think sky, fire, woman, man.
Each image is paired with a simple statement of what the photo describes. This format remains consistent throughout the book, and when we consider the title, it’s clear what the photographer is up to: He’s using his photographs to introduce our world to aliens.
As the book progresses, the relationship between the descriptions and the images become a little less precise. What’s great about this, is that we as humans understand what is being described, but we also understand the ways in which the aliens might misunderstand or misinterpret the images.
This puts us as the human readers in the position of insiders - we can navigate this visual catalogue in a way that aliens cannot. Without trying to be too over the top, there’s kind of a gentle reminder of our shared humanity that’s inspired by this approach. Reading this book, I feel better connected to other people, if only in a small way.
Ok, back to why I’m telling you about this. My sense is that many of these images were produced before the book’s central idea was conceived. In other words, the photos preceded the idea. Nevertheless, the photos work perfectly in service of the idea - they’re effective in communicating the photographer’s point.
This book is inspirational for me because I’m the type that figures out what I’m shooting while I shoot it. Maybe one day I’ll conceive the idea before I pick up my camera, but up until now that simply hasn’t been my practice. For the Aliens taught me how I can use an idea to harness into a cohesive whole the images I already have, and this fundamentally shifted my relationship to the images in my archive.
Thinking this way about how to conceive of photo projects has directly influenced what I’m currently working on with Serial Music. I’ve built this project out of hundreds of photographs that I shot without a clear plan, but with a desire to see in a new way. I won’t go too deeply into that now, but if you’re interested in it, here’s my last update on that project.
I go into more depth on For the Aliens here. I recommend checking out the photographer’s website too. Here’s one more from the book, speak to you again next week.
Cheers,
Chris
