Books by Mark L. Power
Books on Demand:
For the past year or so I have been doing a series of printing-on-demand books, working with blurb.com’s design software. To date I have done twelve POD books with Blurb.
My primary reason for doing these books was to archive some of my work in a form that would be readily accessible to a viewer. The book form is ideal for this purpose as unlike a boxed portfolio of prints, a book tends to be self explanatory – a book shows how a photographer thinks with his or her images.
When resurrecting past work, I couldn’t resist changing past work, in some cases slightly, and in others, drastically. Some of the books are more recent work, done in the last several years.
Books of past work:
Cross of Gold: 13×18 inches, hardcover only: photographs of Mexico and Holy Week in Spain, the result of three trips from 1964 to 1985.
Sample double page spread from Cross of Gold
My Heart’s in My Mouth: a fictional rendering of a family album by the actress Rita Hayworth, a project first exhibited in 1975. An experiment with words and images. Extensively revised, 2008.
Sample double page spread from My Heart’s in My Mouth
The Collaboration: 13×19, ( with Victor H. Carroll) hardcover only: an experiment with fiction consisting of text and images, exhibited in 1982 and much revised and expanded for the 2008 book. Primarily a book of writing with accompanying photographs.
Sample double page spread from The Collaboration
War Stories: 8x10, hardcover; softcover: my first experiments with digital images, 1984. A treatment of appropriated images from World War One.
A Date with Dan: 1997. 8×10 hardcover, softcover. A documentary work: color photographs of a found young girl’s diary.
Sample double page spread from A Date With Dan
Beauty and the Beast, 1975, 8×10, soft and hardcover. A photographic exploration of the fable, revised 2008.
Sample double page spread from Beauty and the Beast
SATX82: 13×19 Color photographs of San Antonio, Texas from the year 1982. First printed in 2009.
Sample double page spread from SATX82
The Dinner Party 8×10. A short story illustrated with photographs of farm animals, domestic and wild. A group of friends sit around a dinner table reminiscing about their experiences with rural life.
Sample double page spread from The Dinner Party
Recent Work:
Fibonacci’s Face: 13×19, hardcover only. Text and images exploring a photographer’s ( who may or may not be me!) relationship with the medieval mathematician, Fibonacci. The first version of the idea was in 1997 with text and black-and-white photographs. For the book I did a completely new set of color photographs, most taken in 2007 and 2008.
Sample double page spread from Fibonacci’s Face
The Red Book 2008: 13×19, hardcover only. A ‘daybook’ of the photography done in 2008.
Hands of the Masters: 2008 8×10, hardcover and softcover. Color pPhotographs of how various renaissance (mostly) painters rendered hands.
Sample double page spread from Hands of the Masters
Foreclosure: Documentary work done in Lehigh Acres, Florida in 2009. See posting: “Dispatch from Ground Zero”.
Previewing books:
All of these books and others can be previewed at www.blurb.com. The links in each book description should take you to the preview site for each book. If not, type “Mark L. Power” in the Blurb bookstore’s search panel.
Purchasing books:
My main interest in doing the books was to get my work into a coherent form for viewing. Sales were not my primary purpose in producing the books but of course, sales are welcome.
You may purchase any of the books directly from www.blurb.com. Most are available as either hardcover or softcover versions or with a dustcover. The softcover versions are the most economical way of purchasing the books although the larger books don’t offer a dustcover.
You may also purchase a book directly from me via Paypal. The price will be the same but I will be able to sign the book for you. The other advantage of purchasing it through me is that if there is a glitch in the printing, I will handle the re-print details. Blurb has been good about correcting printing mistakes which has happened although rarely. Finally, if you purchase the book from me I will know who the buyer is and can keep you in touch with new developments unless you request otherwise. Blurb.com doesn’t release information about the buyers of books. Email me at mpower1112@comcast.net if you are interested in purchasing a book from me as opposed to purchasing it from Blurb.com.
Another option is purchasing a book along with a print from the book. The print would be an original signed inkjet print printed archivally on 13×19 inch paper. This would add $400 to the cost of the book. As my prints usually go for between $700 and $1000 this option represents a considerable saving.