Katie & I met back in 2019 when we worked on a book together, at that time she was first and foremost a book designer.  Alongside this, she was also an apprentice to Stanley Lane, the creator of what was then known as Gloucester Typesetters in Stonehouse. Since then, she is now the proud custodian of‘Rooksmoor Press’

I am in awe of Katie’s devotion to the craft, her curiosity and care is admirable.  In 2022 she wore the QEST Scholarship for typesetting and in 2023 with her sounding book ‘Letters from Titanic’, she won the Best Limited Edition category at the British Book Design & Production Awards, a remarkable feat and a nod to her dedication to the practice.

When Katie and I chatted maybe two years ago about how we could somehow produce something together, the cogs began turning and whilst I’d been capturing my own tulips an idea began to form.  This was the moment our worlds could finally collide and just the thought that this could happen was a very thrilling moment.

I have learnt over the year to never scrimp on quality and attention to detail is of paramount importance, without getting too caught up in achieving perfection.  The beauty of this process is that the imperfections are just as important & each book in unique.  I love too that the tulips I capture date back to a time when they might have appeared in a book of this kind, the subject matter and production all seemed to fit together.

Bringing us to the present day this book collection is the result of our collaboration.

The images themselves are printed in a way that melts into the paper, adding a depth that reflects the photographs in the exhibition, much like the title of my work, I literally want it to be absorbed into the paper.  Every image has been debossed to give a traditional plate feel, and the final flourish of 12gsm Bib Tenguio Japanese tissue paper is intended to enhance the turning of every page of each image. There are just 10 images in each book, but every one will reveal as a beautiful plate, a treasure.

The reason for my printing two volumes is so that the viewer has a different experience in how and what they see in each.  I found that the colours in the tulips can distract your eye from the rather extraordinary feathered and flamed markings, therefore felt it was necessary to print both colour and black and white. 

This is a limited edition of 200 books, each one is signed and numbered.

This is a limited edition of 200 books, presented in a keepsake box, if you would like to reserve a copy please click here to get in touch.