To celebrate the launch of FotoMarket, the first ever crowdfunded photobook store, we got in touch with some of the best photobook publishers throughout the world and asked them a few questions about the photobook industry, their approach to photobook making, and what photographers should consider when looking to make a photobook. Sign up to our newsletter to be sure you don’t miss any of the interviews in the Publisher’s Insight series.
It’s Hannah Watson‘s turn to share her thoughts on photobooks and the photobook market for our Publisher’s Insight series. Hannah is the director of Trolley Books, a London based publisher approaching its 15th birthday. (Follow this link to read all the interviews we’ve released so far in this series).
Hello, thank you for this interview. Please introduce us to Trolley Books.
Trolley is an independent publisher based in London which focuses on photography, photojournalism and contemporary art books. We were founded in 2001 by Gigi Giannuzzi, who quickly established Trolley‘s reputation for publishing the ‘unpublishable’ – stories that were often important but underexposed. He pioneered books that were perhaps difficult to look at but still beautifully printed and designed. Trolley also published many first books of a photographer, such as for Paolo Pellegrin, Alex Majoli, Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin, Stanley Greene, Nina Berman, Alixandra Fazzina and Robin Maddock. However in 2012 Gigi passed away from cancer aged 49 and all the photographers and artists who had made books with him shared their stories in one big volume, Trolleyology. I worked with Gigi since 2005 and now I am carrying on his legacy as well as taking Trolley forwards with new publications. It’s our 15th birthday in September, so we’ll definitely be celebrating.
How would you define the photobook as a medium?
When I first joined Trolley there was a much more depressing outlook for book publishing. Everyone was concerned about bookshops closing and everything moving into the digital. However no one predicted that the opposite would happen, and that photobooks would thrive and become one of the most important and innovative mediums for both publishing and photography. There is no better way to read a photographic project, and combined with that create a beautiful object.
What qualities should a photographic project have to pique your interest in making a photobook out of it?
Originality. Great pictures. I don’t know how to define great pictures but they always just stand out somehow. When you see them, you just know.
Can you describe Trolley‘s approach to photobook making?
I’d say it’s rather personal. Hands on. Trolley is small so we can only bring out a few titles a year but for each one we commit to, I am there from the fundraising, to editing, design and on to the printers in Italy, then press and sales afterwards. A lot of the other publishers are the same, we’re one man/woman bands.
What advice would you give a photographer looking to make a photobook?
If you know that you are ready to make a book out of your work, then start showing it around and see if a publisher is interested, enter it into some awards or go to portfolio reviews and see what the response is, and don’t worry to much about having something fully edited or a perfect dummy made up – if the project is strong enough, it will be obvious. If you can’t find a publisher but still think it will make a great book, then think about the possibility of giving up a few months of your life to self-publish. Remember how many self-published books are already classics!
What are the most recent books in your catalogue, and what upcoming titles we can look forward to?
Looking for Alice by Sian Davey is our most recent title. For Trolley‘s upcoming 15th anniversary we are working towards a book of Nan Goldin’s photographs of just Gigi. His first book as an independent publisher, Ten Years After, was made with Nan in 1997, and there are quite a few photos taken by her of him over the years. Also a book with Scottish photographer Scott Caruth Molatham about Palestinian martyr portraits with his own images taken in the West Bank.
Can you share any figures about how many copies you sell per book on average, and which sales channels have proven more successful for Trolley?
Several hundred out of a print run of about 1000. The best places to sell are at the book fairs – Printed Matter in New York and LA, Polycopies in Paris and Offprint at Tate Modern. Arles was far too hot, I’m going to take a few books and sell by the pool this year.
Photobooks are often costly to produce and scarcely profitable. Is this the case for Trolley, and if so, what strategies do you use?
Yes! These days the book has to have funding in place before we go to the printers. It depends on the project but we’ve done 4 successful Kickstarters as a way to generate pre-orders. I also balance the publishing activity with our gallery side TJ Boulting.
What other limitations or flaws do you find in the photobook market? What do you think the industry needs to grow?
The financial limitations are definitely the biggest problem, but also in the same way that recession generates creativity, it has been a source of innovation in photobook making. The Zine tent at the NYABF is always a sight to behold, a hot tent outside PS1 Moma full of kids making their own. I think the industry has already grown a lot in the past 5 years, it needs to find a happy balance: we don’t want there to be too many books than there is a market for.
Does Trolley accept submissions? What should photographers do to reach out?
We do but each book has its own story of how it came to be. There are no real rules, unfortunately I don’t have the time to look through submissions and reply, so I would say it’s probably better to find me at a portfolio review or festival.
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