Happy Sunday!
I am excited to write you today from cloudy, cool Minnesota - the land of melting snow. My February was busy, fun, and creatively fulfilling. I can’t wait for spring to arrive and for a couple trips to Arizona and Florida in the coming months. In the meantime, I am happy to share Issue #22 of A Twenty Percent Creative with you. Best wishes for a fantastic month. I will write you again after blowing out 47 candles.
Cheers, Jeff
PHOTO BOOK UPDATE
I am excited to announce that my photo book project, INVISIBILITY, is now complete. INVISIBILITY highlights the elements of weather hidden in plain sight. The book (70 photos, 78 pages) is a photographic exploration of light, color, motion, texture, and atmosphere in changing weather conditions. Since I last shared an update on the project in mid-January, I made a lot of changes to the cover design, the selected photographs, and the order of the spreads in the book. I also added small font captions to many of the photographs to further tie the spreads together and to provide context for me when I view the book years from now. I have included some photographs of the book below.
I enjoyed making the INVISIBILITY cover design in Adobe Illustrator. It is a visual play as the title is unreadable when the book cover is viewed at certain angles. I selected purple, orange, and gray for the colors used in the cover design as they play well against frequently seen colors in the included photographs. I also like how the book’s spine contrasts nicely with the other photo books on my bookshelf. I am excited to take what I have learned in making this book and applying it to future books. There is something really special about holding and paging through a photo book that cannot be replicated on a computer screen or scrolling on social media. I am 100% hooked on this medium for my photographs.
If you are interested, Invisibility is available for purchase via Blurb. There are 3 versions of the book linked on my website at www.jeffreymkarp.com/book The versions differ by cover type, paper type, and whether or not a blurb logo is included on the last page. The books are shipped directly from Blurb and so they are not signed. You can follow this link to see a digital preview of the 15 first pages.
5 PHOTO SERIES
Here are five photo series that have caught my eye recently. I thought you might enjoy them too. Each series has a tremendous sense of story, atmosphere, and mood. I have included each photographer’s Instagram account in parentheses so you can see more of their work.
Dear Suburbia by Adriana Prato (adri_prato)
Everything and Nothing by Kris Desautels (lo2us1)
The Mist by Ross Buswell (atmospherics)
Lighthouse by Yana Kova (yana.kova_)
Mysterious film photography in the fog (a youtube video) by Reimann Pembroke (reimannpembroke)
WHAT’S NEW?
This weekend, I celebrated 6 months as a pescatarian. Still going strong!
It is dance season and college campus visit time in the Karp household.
I launched my poster store a few weeks ago at jeffkarp.darkroom.com.
It is tax return and spring cleaning time. So many projects to get done around the house.
Last September, you may remember that I made a PDF course on light and shadow street photography. Now, I am learning about teachable.com as I hope to offer the course there as an on-demand product with a live coaching component.
What is going on in your life? I would love to hear from you at jeff@jeffreymkarp.com
IPHONE SECURITY TIP
If you are an iPhone user, you should read and watch this story, A Basic iPhone Feature Helps Criminals Steal Your Entire Digital Life, published by the Wall Street Journal. At the end of the 9-minute video, the reporter shares a few ways to tighten up the security on our iPhones. On episode 524 of the Accidental Tech Podcast, the hosts gave a few additional recommendations like using a screen time password and enabling prevent account changes. They discussed the WSJ story (starting at 46 minutes 30 seconds) in the episode and included their tips in the show notes.
MAIL TIME
Last issue, I mentioned that I have been watching Ted Forbes mail time playlist on his Art of Photography Youtube channel. I love this idea of sending prints, books, postcards, zines, etc to friends, fellow photographers, and other people who enjoy the work. However, it can be a logistical challenge to do so without mailing addresses. I have also found that it can also be a test for imposter syndrome — deciding whether to send someone else (unsolicited) a printed version of our photography or other artistic works. I am working through this personally as I want to share my work more broadly with people in a printed form.
If you would like to get mail from me, please reach out with your mailing address.
I would really enjoy receiving mail from you as well.
Jeff Karp
3500 Vicksburg Lane N
Suite 400 #210
Plymouth, MN 55447
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Comments, questions, feedback: Please email me directly at: jeff@jeffreymkarp.com
Check out my photography at https://www.jeffreymkarp.com
Connect with me on Instagram: @jeffreymkarp