Endnotes

Over the last few years, I've taken great pleasure in gradually building up a (very) modest collection of photobooks - so it's disappointing to read Grant Scott of the United Nations of Photography arguing that "the golden era of the self-published photobook may be coming to an end".

The reasons he suggests are legion, but all are ultimately (and inevitably) related to the current economic crisis: a probable reduction in the number and size of Kickstarter contributions, likely cuts to arts funding, the acute shortage of paper, the increased cost of printing, difficulties with distribution (both in terms of rising energy costs and Brexit red tape). It's hard to see how any one of those factors won't have a detrimental impact, let alone all of them in combination.

Scott acknowledges that the advent of digital publishing has been largely positive in democratising the process, but he refuses to dwell on the doom and gloom, concluding his article on a note of cautious optimism: "The future may look bleak ... but it may also force us to consider new options of dissemination. I have long believed that the so-called 'golden age' of photobook publishing has seen too many books published with too little reason for them to exist. Perhaps this will be a forced re-start, and the beginning of a new age of publishing. Only time will tell."

I take his point - but I do also hope that the self-publishing model, and small indies like the brilliant Bluecoat, are able to weather the storm.