A couple of years ago I was searching for photography books on children and came across the work of William Ropp. That Christmas I was given his book to me as a present, immediately I fell in love with his work. Several months later I received his '20 years of photography' book for my 40th birthday. As I sat waiting to start my Wet Plate Collodion course I passed the book around to my fellow students. Anyway, several weeks ago I got a phone call from William (can't tell you how nervous I was) to say that he had spoken to Alexander Scholz of Galerie Vevais and they would like to publish my work and William is to be my editor. Surely this is what dreams are made of? I love the work that I have seen by Galerie Vevais,(I have William's Dreamt Memories of Africa) their books are beautiful, crafted and individual. I cannot think of a better publisher for my work. I want my work to be all of these things and more than anything, I wanted it to feel personal and something that if you buy it you will love it and cherish it. So I am so happy to announce that Galerie Vevais will be publishing both my "September is the Cruellest Month" and "Stillness in Time" series. It is early days of course and much has to be done but I am patient and as we all know time passes very quickly.
As I sit here typing there are two things that strike me about my 40th birthday. One was that I had no idea how life enhancing it would be. I never imagined I would ever cross paths with William Ropp let alone he would be my editor. I didn't even know if I could do a wet plate, let alone have a book made from my work. I came across a quote yesterday "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone" and I have to agree. I am always pushed out of it .. from the first post of putting my work up publicly on the internet, to doing the wet plate course & so far I am pleased I did.
As always thank you to everyone who has encouraged me throughout .. x
Congratulations Deborah, that is fabulous news, it is always inspiring to hear that dreams can come true. I look forward to hearing how this develops. Well done!
ReplyDeleteDEBORAH!!
ReplyDeleteThat is so fantastic, well done you. You should be nothing but incredibly proud of all you have accomplished this far, both series are beautiful, interesting and have that je ne sais quoi that makes what you do so special. So happy for you.
Thank you so much Penny, it is lovely to hear from you and yes, dreams do come true ;) It's early days but I am very excited and can't quite believe it .. can't imagine having it in my hands. Anyway, hope you are well .. have you got out with your LF lately?
ReplyDeleteThank you so so much Sara for your lovely comment ... always so lovely to hear from you and i will always appreciate the support and encouragement you have shown me and my work over the years. I hope you are well and loving your new job x
ReplyDeletedear deborah, i awoke early this morning to catch up on FB and go for a run. as always, your beautiful work and the glorious news sweetened the early hours with pleasure.
ReplyDeleteyou know i have been a constant fan, and i represent the many you have gathered, as you shared work regularly on FB. it is easy to see greatness, especially when it all comes from the heart of a very talented woman.
bravo!
Great news! Makes me so happy and proud :) And what a proof of the power of dreams, or more about 'just being it' ! This inspires me as so many times before. Hope the books will be able to buy.
ReplyDeleteMy darkroom advance...managed to make it dark - finally! So this winter....will keep you updated about the work later on.
Congratulations Deborah <3
After all the worries and self doubts about your abilities Deborah, I am so pleased for you that the quality of your work has finally been recognised. You have shown that with a great deal of determination, hard work and a considerable amount of talent that dreams do come true. I remember about a year or so ago looking around for books by William Ropp after you wrote about him in your blog. These are exciting times for you, I do hope that this is just the start of bigger and greater times for you. Well deserved and all the best to you and your family.
ReplyDeleteI'm so so pleased for you Deb!!! You must keep us all up to date on when they'll be available!
ReplyDeleteHoney, I cannot express clearly how much your kind words mean to me .. I wish I was in a room with you right now to give you a hug of gratitude. Thank you so much, I hope we might meet one day x
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Maria, it is so lovely to hear from you :) I am so happy that this inspires you and even more happy that you have your darkroom. Please, please do let me know how you get on .. I loved seeing the last work you sent me :)
ReplyDeleteit is so lovely to hear from you George, thank you so much for your kind words of support and encouragement, not just now but in the past too .. particularly as you say in those moments of self-doubt. It was you actually George that helped my find William Ropp's 'Dreamt Memories' book through photo-eye which I got for Christmas last year .. I am waiting for another book of his to come out to put on my Xmas/birthday list again.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, thank you and I hope you and your loved ones are all well :)
Hi Mel, lovely to hear from you and thanks so much for your kind comment. Of course I will keep you up to date .. you know me lol!! Hope all is well with you x
ReplyDeleteWhat wonderful news, Deborah, I'll be buying both books when they are available!! Congratulations.
ReplyDeleteSuzanne
Thank you so much Suzanne, you are very kind and it means a great deal to me .. :)
ReplyDeleteDeb, I think your photography is always true in spirit, and so this kind of success should come as no surprise. I can't wait to have copies when they are available. The soul of a work is many times more important than all the technique in the world for me but I really think you manage to marry both medium and message so beautifully.
ReplyDeleteMark
Huge congratulations Deb. I'm glad it's going to be personal - it's all about the relationships and that's what makes the photographs so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteWow!! Thank you so much Mark for such a lovely comment. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to think that you see my work in this way. I always hope to come across as sincere in both my work and my life .. you can never tell how other perceive it so it is nice when they tell you :) It is lovely to think of the process & message as a marriage and not one at the expense of the other .. that again makes me very happy .. so thank you again :)
ReplyDeleteOh, Deborah, this is SO wonderful!! I'm really happy for you :)
ReplyDeleteCount me in as one of the first buyer! Remember when I sent you an email last year, when your work was published on one of Lenscratch's posts and you said you had not been able to scan and print them yet?! And look at you now! Not one but two books!
Hugs!
Eleonora
Thanks so much Colin for your kind words. I agree, it has to feel personal and thankfully they seem to be very encouraging of this idea too. As yet I couldn't say what it will finally look like but from initial discussion the publisher seems to know exactly how I feel & what my work is about. Hope you are well x
ReplyDeleteHi Eleonora, it is so lovely to hear from you and yes I do remember talking to you about the printing. I spent ages trying to get the paper right and the size, with borders, without .. c-types, silver gelatin lol! You have a good memory. As you can imagine, I can hardly believe it :) Thank you again for all the support & encouragement you have shown me and will of course keep you up to date about the books x
ReplyDeleteHi Deborah, sorry for not getting back to you sooner...child antics, sickness bugs & one broken arm, as well as trying to get my work ready for assessment has left me catching myself coming backwards!! The large format hasn't been out at all recently. My next module is likely to be landscape based which will mean I'll hopefully have time to go out with it a bit more. Please let me know when you're up this way, it would be lovely to see your work at Keswick and to meet up too. Best wishes again. Px
ReplyDeleteDeborah, this is excellent news - and fully deserved! Well done...
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear all your bad news Penny, sounds like it has been a tough time. Never need to apologise to me about getting back, I know exactly how that feels, in fact I am the worlds worse at times .. easily distracted too. I will definitely let you know when I am next in the Lakes, hopefully soon and let me know how you get on .. would love to follow your journey too :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Michael, really appreciate your kind words and also the support you have shown me :)
ReplyDeleteHuge congrats Deb, so very happy to read this, it's really, truly well deserved! Keep up your awesome work and be inspired! Take very good care!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Codrin, it is so lovely to hear from you and share my news. I hope you keeping well and you are also feeling inspired too :)
ReplyDeleteI am so very very pleased for you Deb. I have since checked out William Ropp and, indeed, bought his Children book - really inspiring work. Interesting what you say about turning 40. I did so 2 years ago which is when I took up photography and things have never been the same since. In good and bad ways. But it's the personal journey which is important. I look forward to buying the books when they come out :-)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations and very well done - so good to see your news. Your work is incredible Deb, beautiful, emotive, full of extraordinary moments, wonderful serendipity and so much more. Enjoy :)
ReplyDeleteLet me know when and how to get both :D
Lovely to see you and your wet plates in August. Thank you again. Take care.
Anne
x
Thanks Lucy, sorry for the delay in getting back, I hadn't realised you had commented here :) I am glad you like the work of William .. he has been my favourite photographer for a few years now and I feel so privileged that he has put his name to my work. Now I just have to be patient EEK!!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Anne for your lovely comment, it is so lovely to hear from you - I hope you are well (and your family too). I love your description of my work, I'm truly flattered .. it feels even more special as you have seen the work first hand :) I will promise to let you know as and when the books are published - take care and hope to see you again soon x
ReplyDeleteHi Deborah,
ReplyDeleteI'm another fledgeling recently taken under the Vevais wing. I approached Alex after having bought Alvin Booth's Osmosis (very impressive presentation and contents). I've just been looking at the Frankfurt Book Fair stuff on Facebook. That's my photo (young woman on box reading book) on the front of their brochure!
Anyway, the best of luck with your project!
Cheers, Eric
Hi Eric
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for stopping by. I have seen your beautiful work on Galerie Vevais, it's so original. I haven't got the Alvin Booth book but it something I would like to have - it looks wonderful. I have William Ropp's books and I 'met' Alex (haven't met in person) through William. I love the work of William, it is like a dream come true for him to be my editor. I shall look forward to seeing your work some day - been to your website already, fantastic :)
Take care, deborah