Thematic: Photobook Analysis ''Ik ben jou''

Book facts

Title: Ik ben jou

Photographer: Milou Abel

Year: 2013

Edition: 300

Size: ca 20 x 25 cm

Language: Dutch

Price: 60 EUR

Content

Subject: The book is about a woman around the age of 40. She looks like she doesn't take good care of herself: her hair is greasy, her skin is bad and her apartment is messy. The images of the photographer show the woman in her apartment and the apartment itself which is full of clothes which seem to be cheap and from second hand stores. There are also images of the woman in younger years where she likes to pose for the camera, sometimes nude. These images are intertwined with the current images by the photographer.

Photography: The images by the photographer are in a directly flashed giving them a snapshot style. Almost all images of the photographer show the woman sitting or lying on her bed which suggests some sort of stagnation. You get the impression she does't expect much from life anymore. The older images are staged amateur style photos with studio lighting, some of them nude shots.

Cover: The book is beautifully covered in gold foil. It only gives the title, there is no image on the cover

Publisher: Self-publised

Form

Overall design: The book is delicately designed. The book opens to the left and right so zyou get three pages at the same time. Sometimes three images are placed next to each other, sometimes one vertical images stretches over two pages and therefore the page displays two images. There is a strict reading order because the pages are intertwined left and right. You can only look at the book if you follow the given order. The paper is slightly yellow which gives the images an old feeling.