There should be no surprise that we at Momento Pro believe photographers can elevate their work in print. This philosophy inspired us to introduce a softcover book range that includes perfect bound books and saddle-stitched booklets. They are more affordable and lightweight format making them ideal for self publishing, exhibition catalogues, client guides, and leave-behind portfolios.

A group of talented Australian female photo artists, Lumina Collective, produced a series of booklets they could send to agencies, picture editors, galleries and fans, and below they share the story of their collaboration, and creation of various publications.

 

Who are the Lumina ladies?

Morganna Magee, Anna Maria Antoinette D’dario, Aletheia Casey, Sarah Rhodes, Lyndal Irons, Jessie Moylan, Chloe Bartram and Donna Bailey.

How did Lumina come to be and what guides your activities?

Lumina was formed as a response to a gap in the Australian documentary photographic community for a collective that challenged the traditional view of what documentary photography is. Although all our work is narrative based, most members work falls into more of an expanded documentary practice rather than more traditional photojournalism. In approaching who would be the founding members we took into account both the outstanding quality of each individuals work and their long-form processes. We are guided by a desire to support and push one another as artists.

What was your booklet series for?

We published a series of nine booklets, one for each of us to showcase our own works, and one for the Collective as a whole. We curated our work into individual series, as well as creating a cohesive body of imagery that could flow into a short book form, like a catalogue. The collection highlights how we are developing as individuals, and as a collective. With our individual styles and practices being different, careful consideration was given to showcasing the collective as a whole.

What was it like to curate a collection of your collective best work?

As members we are at different stages of our careers, and have bodies of work that are constantly evolving and emerging. Rather than a collection of our best work, we focused on images that best represented where our work is heading, which is a comment on its constant development and evolution. Curating the work was an exciting challenge.

How did you decide on the layout of the book?

We worked with a designer to design the booklet series, and agreed that a simple layout that complimented all of our varying formats was important, as was a consistency in design. Each booklet was based on a 20 page design, which also made for a more decisive edit. We wanted to use the booklets to promote our work so we approach each book as a teaser of what we do. It also worked well for what the booklets make evident; works in progress, an evolution of the collective’s identity as we grow.

How have you used the booklets? And what has the response been?

We have used the booklets to highlight the work of the collective to galleries and individuals, a nice way to showcase the breadth of our work, being able to give over a tangible object seems to connect more than sending an email of images. The booklet series is also now a part of the National Library of Australia’s archives.

How do you feel about viewing photographs in print versus onscreen?

For all of us print is still the pinnacle though we create imagery through varying mediums some of us use video for installation work however printing, be it for publishing, exhibitions or even for the purposes of editing is integral to all of our practices.

What other photography and print projects are the Lumina ladies working on?

As a collective we are working together on new bodies of work and individually we have exhibitions and publishing projects upcoming.

Anna Maria Antoinette D’addario’s recently created Farewell Angelina an autobiographical book responsding to the violent death of her sister. It is a magnificent homage, that won the renowned international Photolux 2019 Photoboox Award and will now be trade published by the legendary Ceiba Editions. The prize also includes an exhibition at Photolux Festival in Italy, and Miami Photo Festival 2020. The book has also been acquired by the National Library in Canberra and the State Library of NSW.

Momento Pro was proud to craft a custom inkjet printed edition from Japanese Mulberry Kozo paper, vellum pages, an individual inserted hand sewn booklet, inserted loose pages, as well as gatefolds. To complete the presentation, the book is finished in a black linen hardcover with white embossing, and packaged in a matching clamshell box with a black custom emboss title. Find out more about Farewell Angelina here.

Morganna Magee has also self published a book of her photographic series Teenage Wildlife to coincide with her first solo showing of the works, launching in Melbourne at Counihan Gallery from 30 August to 29 September 2019. Momento Pro was honoured to produce this publication as a limited edition of 50, as a Regular size section sewn hardcover book with Satin 170 paper. Buy a copy at morgannamagee.com.

Elevate your work in premium booklets

A recent PDN Online article stated, “If you want your images to be remembered, it helps to print them on paper. We’re so used to seeing things digitally every day, that sometimes it’s nice to have a tactile piece of paper. I remember things more when I’m turning pages and seeing things in a book versus on a screen.

About Momento Pro’s booklets

The booklets are staple bound with brushed metal staples and a square back spine. Available in quantities of 25 to 250 copies, 5 sizes and 5 cover and paper combinations. Minimum 8 pages and maximum 52 pages, and must be a multiple of 4 pages. Design via our InDesign plugin. Prices start at AU$4.40 and NZ$5.12 per copy and are available in batches of 25.

More details view the Momento Pro softcover book range.