I did it. I am a photographer now.

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stefan_dinu

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Because I have the proof. I published a book. A Blurb book, of course.
Last year I quit my job as an insolvency lawyer to get out of the system and do whatever I loved to do. And that was photography. But the spiritual journey started three years ago, and I came so far from the one that I was before this trip. Going from India to Cuba, and through Istanbul, East Europe and Morocco, I came to learn a lot about life, values and freedom. It was not just about pictures. I was not interested in the place in itself, but rather at hat that meant to me.
There are many ways in which I profit from this journey, and selling this book would be the least important one. What I am putting here is a package, because the text is very important also. It is like a key to the images. Actually, the text could be read in the blurb preview. Is not big.
And the pictures are most from my first page from my website. All of them shoot with 35mm camera, 35mm lens, fuji astia/sensia 400, and no interventions on the image at all.
One thing that I learned from this experience is that the ultimate joy of an individual is almost always a way of connecting to another person. And this book can help the ones that appreciated my website gallery. I myself have a big shelf packed with photographic books, and I strongly believe in the power of the printed image.
Each of the image of the book was putted in its position, by a reason, and all of them have something to offer beside what could be visible in the firs 25 seconds. They need some patience and some real looking and participating.
I have to admit that I was propelled ahead to print this book after I attended the Magnum Masterclass held in Brighton, when they teach us how to finish a project and how to make a book. And this book is the offspring of that experience.
You can find the book here:
http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/518226
 
Congratulations Stefan, I hope this the beginning of a long and happy series of works that allow you practice what you love best about photography for many years to come.

Eli
 
Thank you. I do hope that this is the only one published with blurb. For the next projects I will discus them with a publisher from the beginning. But I needed this book now just to have a proof that I am not a lawyer anymore, to legitimate myself as a photographer now.
 
Krosya said:
congrats on the book! Looks great. Btw, I thought you had a bar in Bucharest, didn't you?
Click to expand...

Thank you all. What I forget to tell you is that this book will also help me to move forward. In order to start new projects it is essential to end somehow the old ones. Hope this advice help other that have projects hanging.

@krosya, I do have 30% share from a bar called Pe Baricade (On Barricades in Romanian), which is also the meeting point for the photographic community here in Bucharest.
 
Congratulations on your book. And good luck in your search for a publisher.

As an aside, how was your experience with blurb? I've tried a couple of books with them, but the results have been not satisfactory. They don't seem to have a good grasp of color management.
 
I follow all the infos about their technique and calibrated my iMac as such. With the special profile for their paper. The result....I will see when it arrives. I hope it is ok. Ordered both softcover and hardcover to see the difference in binding. Then I will order some more for friends that want to buy it and for sending to different publishers and galleries. I think this is the way to go. Unfortunetally, here in Romania, there is no market for that. And now, with this crisis, I think nowhere is much different. :)
 
Love that first image, those threes dancing around the tired man.
Love the second image, the colours
Love the third image, kinda classic but works very well
...
ordered it.

good luck, keep me informed about your next book
 
Congratulations on the book and on your work so far. Before reading that you have a shared part of a bar I wondered where the money would come from to do the photo-trips etc.;)
 
@DriesI, thank you very much. By buying the book, you established me as a professional photographer. I earn my first money from selling a photograph. The first win as a photographer was 500Euros for judging a photo contest. :) I was the judge, even though I never sold a single photograph before. That was funny, but I accepted. :)

I have a question for all of you. In general, do you read the text of the photo books. Because I used not to do it, and I did lost a lot by doing this. I rediscovered an old album that I had. India by Bresson.
I always got pass the introduction, written by Yves Vequaud, and after I read it first time I was able to see a lot of new things in the same photographs that I knew.
So, do you, or you don't read the text from an album? Or do you think that photographs should support themsalef without the help of the words.
 
Well, I feel that its about the pictures and so I look at them first. In any order and in any tempo I like at that moment.
After having 'read' the book several times this way over a period of months, only then I might read any text (including captions) and I always discover a lot because I already know the images.
For me, the introductions belong at the end.

You have the talent, but I still wish you a lot of good luck. It is far from easy to earn money from photography but the ones who persist seem to prevail.
I do admire you for your courage in giving up a job that in general is considered well paid.
 
@DriesI, if you receive the book these days, please do a little comment on the quality of the print to help others that want to work with blurb. And also a comment on the book as a whole, text, pictures, layout, would be greatly appreciated.
If I receive the copies that I ordered, I will comment on the quality issues.
 
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