# 6893-96 / landscape• poles • around the house ~ one thing leads to another

April 9, 2026

24 HOURS AFTER POSTING THAT SPRING HAS SPRUNG we got a morning dump of Spring snow. However, by mid-afternoon all evidence of it was gone. A weird coincidence of sorts.

Re: coincidences; over the same period of time as the snow dump event there was another even weirder coincidence – I was ruminating about the concept of Optimistic Nihilism (yes, there is such a thing) and how it might apply to my life, the contemplation of which led to the question, is there such a thing as Optimistic Nihilistic Photography? As it turns out, surprise, surprise, there is such a thing. Setting aside the idea of Optimistic Nihilism, life and photography wise, as a topic for another entry, I googled “name some Optimistic Nihilist photographers” and a few names came up, one with which I was very familiar – Saul Leiter.

That result was quite a coincidence inasmuch as I had been thinking about–per my intention of creating entries about photo books–a post about a couple of Saul Leiter books (see photo above). In particular, the Early Color book is in the running for the one book I might choose if I were to be banished for all eternity to a remote island with only one photo book (yet another topic for a future entry).

That written, before I made an entry–re: a Saul Leiter photo book–I thought it wise to be sure that the book(s) is currently available; turns out it is although that is, if you have $400-1,000USD to spent for the Early Color book. The Colors book would set you back another $500-1,500USD. YIKES! I had no idea; I acquired my absolutely perfect condition Early Color book decades ago in a small used bookstore in Manhattan for $45USD. Ditto the Colors book.

In any event, I will be making an entry about Saul Leiter. While I will recommend the Early Color book with the caveat of good luck finding one without breaking the bank, fortunately there is a good sample of his color work to be seen on the Saul Leiter Foundation website.

PS I am beginning to suspect that many of the books in my possession that I might write about / recommend just might be out of print. That written, I am hoping that, if they are out of print, the prices thereof will not have reached absurd amounts.

# 6572-78 / poles • common places • common things ~ sharing the joy of seeing

November 30, 2024

added 4 new photos to my ***poles*** body of work (on my WORK page)

ON MY LAST ENTRY, RE: Blurb magazines, Dennis left a comment / question:

“In an earlier post, you commented the Blurb was not your go to book maker. Has that changed? Who is/was your favorite?”

My long term POD photo book source is Shutterfly. It continues to be so for “showcase” photo books of my favored bodies of work cuz they offer-don’t know if any other sources do-6-color printing. Their quality of materials and book binding is very good and, if there is a problem with the results, they reprint without question.

That written, I suspect-with good evidence-that most POD photo book sources use a small number of printing sources. A practice which results in pretty consistent quality across the board. In any event, in many cases, the choice of which source to use for POD photo books comes down to their book making software. Some are quite clunky and non-intuitive. Also worth considering / exploring is the fact that some POD sources offer products-of which Blurb magazines are a good example-that others do not.

Re: book making software: Shutterfly-like most sources-allows creators to make books with their software in a standard browser window. Blurb requires a creator to download their software onto the creator’s computer. That written, in any event, I never use the source’s layout patterns. Instead, I set up my books with blank pages and place my page files-made to the exact page size (to include a white border and any text)-full-bleed, aka: out to the page edges, on each page.

Re: making full-bleed page files: I make my page files in Photoshop. This procedure gives complete control over all of the layout possibilities: photo size, placement, number of photos per page, size / color of border (always white for me), text typeface / size / placement / color and quantity,

All of the above written, let me suggest, yet again, that if ya ain’t making prints, ya ain’t making nothin’. Ok, I get it, some of you might not have enough wall space to do your body of work justice so that’s why the photo gods gave us books. In my case, I currently have 70 POD photo books of my work-all shapes and sizes. That is in addition to the nearly 100 prints I have on my walls. You might conclude that I like displaying and looking at my work.

But here’s the thing I like about books; they’re portable. I can take them anywhere and share them with any one I choose. And, in the case of Blurb magazines, they are so inexpensive that, if someone likes them, I can give them away. That is to write, I am able to put my work in front of other people’s eye’s and, if they desire, into their life, to have and to hold.