Marybeth Flower and Joe Bauwens of Ketchum, ID joined us in Santa Fe last week to take Mary Virginia Swanson's workshop, The New Business of Photography. Part of their intention in taking the workshop was to better market their book Piazza: Italy's Heart & Soul that they wrote, photographed and self-published through their company Eccola (or 'here it is' in Italian) Press.They spoke with Susan Hayre Thelwell about how they studied photography through the workshops for almost a year just to photograph the book and about their other adventures in self-publishing.
As Marybeth explained, upon completion of the publication of their first book, their instructor Jay Maisel said, "You two are like bumblebees. A bumblebee does not know that dynamically he is not supposed to fly. The two of you did not know that you were not supposed to be able to do a photographic book after shooting only a short while." Marybeth says that compliment means the most.
Marybeth: I was passionate about the (Italian) project but didn't know how to photograph so we asked around to find the best place to take photography classes and people said "Santa Fe." So we came here and took out first class with Marcia Reifman.
Susan: Together?
Joe: Yes, together. Loved it!
MB: Then we took the National Geographic Expeditions On Assignment workshop in Tuscany with Jim Stanfield, Connie Phelps and Elizabeth Opalenik. Then we came here for Jay Maisel's workshop on Light, Gesture, Color, and Perception.
Joe: You forgot about Mexico.
MB: Oh, we went to Mexico and he took Arthur Meyerson and I took Eddie Soloway's workshop. Then we went to Italy and shot!
Susan: So five or six workshops over a year...
MB: I took five workshops because I also took Photoshop with Genevieve Russell and then we did it.
Marybeth and Joe worked with Connie Phelps who designed the book and they all went to Wisconsin where the book was published.
Joe: The most exciting part is when you see the cover come off the press. You just go, "oh my God!" And then about two days later they put the gloss on it which punches up the color a little bit and makes it silky. But that was a real high.
MB: Yes, and then they send you home with a sample copy that you can take around and show to local bookstores and key people.
Susan: How many did you publish?
Joe: We published 5,400 and have sold 3,200 copies.
The couple worked hard at placing their book as they did the marketing and distributing for the book.
Susan: So, knowing what you know now, would you do it again?
Joe: Yes.
MB: Oh, absolutely. It was the best thing we ever did.
Joe: Well, every step of the way, including the photography, we didn't know what we were doing. But by the end of it we figured it out.
Susan: So, what are you going to do with all this knowledge? Are you going to make more books?
MB: We have several ideas but we want a publisher for them. We are now working on a project with abstract landscapes.
Joe: In Idaho.
Susan: As a book?
MB: As a gallery show.
Susan: You guys are something else!
MB: Crazy!
While Joe and Marybeth are retired they joked that with the current economic situation they may have to, in Joe's words, "go back and work hard on photography. We'll be doing weddings!" he joked.
To explore the book that Donald George, the former travel editor for the San Francisco Chronicle, reviewed as "...sensual, robust, colorful, stylish, passionate, illuminating and altogether enchanting as the inimitable institution it celebrates," visit the Workshops bookstore or www.piazzabook.com.
