Friday, June 11, 2010

In Print!

Click here to view this photo book larger

I abuse my photos. I print them out and stuff them in albums, and then come back two days later to pry them out for use in some sort of crafty thing. But the crafts never- ever- get completed, and the photos are never seen again. So I decided to make a book out of my Chile photos from the past year, and have them professionally printed. Shutterfly was having a 50% off sale on their hardcover, 12" by 12" photo books, so for four spastic days I did nothing but re-touch photos and arrange pages on Photoshop. I hit 'order' at midnight, about 4 minutes before the offer was up. And then, the waiting commenced.

Well, it finally arrived at the post office! I ripped it out of the cardboard and paged through the whole thing: it was glossy, pristine, and perfect. For a whole 20 minutes. As I was bringing it in from the car, the two corgis attacked each other in the yard. Hitting them with the chuck-it stick was not effective, so I had to put the book down in the grass and pull them apart with my hands, which was sort of terrifying. When I picked up the book again, the cover was stained with dog blood and had a few deep scratches in it. Sadly, I'm not lying.

The book has 50 pages, each one 100% photo- there is not one bit of white. I included lines from Pablo Neruda, the Chilean poet I taught in my World Literature class- and one Avett brother lyric at the end. There are no other words besides those.

And, why yes, it is called "Chile: The Wild Coast". I may have only ever had one idea- but hey, at least I'm consistent. Enjoy!

(My favorite part, the back cover:)


8 comments:

emery said...

i love the back cover that picture was my desktop for a while granteed it wasnt the same picture love you miss you
em

Darla said...

that's a great idea! i have tons of digital files and tons of prep 2003 prints but since than ... not much. this would be great for all the different trips. your photos are brilliant!

Kerry said...

While these fancy new photo books are super cool, I have to admit, I still like the hand cut, hand glued New Zealand version I received, circa 2002!

Anonymous said...

Thanks to you and your supercool book I finally figured out a father's day gift. Not your chile pictures, as he wouldn't really "get" it, but a book all his own.

Heather Ann said...

That's so cool. You're so cool! I love your vibrant and colorful memories from Chile!!!!

Gambler said...

Beautiful photos. Such a wonderful trip. I'm envious...

Palmer Miller said...

Dear Melina,
I have decided to go into modeling and I would appreciate it if you would send your photos of me to Vogue..... hahaha I love your book and am so jealous of it!
lots of love!
Palmer

Cassandra said...

Dude you should make this book available to buy... People would totally go for it. Or maybe make a new book with the Wilder Coast: best of.