So often, we consider books as the culmination of a long process of creation, editing, design, and those final, perfecting touches. We get it: Making a book is not a small undertaking, and publishing a book does carry with it a sense of authority and permanence. But what if we thought of books a bit differently?

One of the most empowering parts of self-publishing is that you are in control from start to finish. You get to decide when to hit print. Not quite happy with the result? Go back and tweak to your heart’s content; add, delete, rearrange as your perspective shifts. Even when you feel finished, nothing stops you from revisiting the publication in a month, a year, or even longer. Instead of seeing books as the final culmination, books become living things that offer you space to grow, experiment, and evolve. 

In this spirit, we caught up with Blurb creator Greg Lehming, who produced two editions of his photo book, Iceland. Along the way, he also took a dip into bookbinding—before deciding he would rather spend his creative energies on other parts of the photographic and bookmaking process. Lehming shares a range of honest insights on his bookmaking process and the bumps along the way. As Iceland shows, the real beauty lies in the journey itself.

Let’s begin from the beginning: how did you first pivot (professionally) into the field of photography?

Up until 2022, I was paying my bills by working at a restaurant. A couple of years had passed since the COVID lockdowns started, so I went on a two-week trip with my wife (girlfriend at the time), sister, brother-in-law, and nephew. It was my first time travelling since 2019, and also the first time in a while that I had a chance to take some landscape photos.

During the trip, I had posted some of my photography on TikTok. In one particular video, I compared the edited versus unedited versions of my photos. Someone chose to comment, “Yeah, don’t quit your day job. If this is your day job, you’ll improve! Keep working hard.” 

It was a tough comment to read, but it made me stop and wonder, “Why couldn’t I make this my day job?” When I got back home, I realized I had been needing a change in career path for quite a while, so I handed in my notice and started looking for photography work. I haven’t looked back since!

What was the genesis of the Iceland project? When did you know, “This is more than a series of photos…this project has to be a book”?

Growing up, I can remember flipping through many family photo albums. My grandma often scribbled notes on the backs of prints explaining who was in the photo and where they were.

I had been watching a photographer on YouTube talk about creating photo books, not necessarily to sell, but to create a physical memento of a time or place that you can keep for yourself. It reminded me of all the albums I flipped through as a kid, and pushed me to consider making my own photo albums, but printed as a book.

I decided to use my photos from Iceland as my first photo book because it was a trip I took with my dad, who also loves photography, so it became a perfect blend of work I was proud of and memories with my family.

It was four years after my trip to Iceland that I decided to turn it into a book. I had been revisiting some of my photography edits and trying to apply new skills I had developed in an attempt to improve the work. However, with how much time had passed since the trip, I didn’t want to post the images to social media. 

I felt that the photos had a limited lifespan online, but by making a physical book, I wouldn’t have to let the images sit on a hard drive. Even if nobody purchased a copy, at least I would have a way of looking back on some of my favourite moments. 

Publishing the book boosted my confidence as a photographer in a lot of ways. Seeing my work in a physical form really moved me. I felt that I had created a proper body of work for the first time in my professional career.

Tell us more about your experience with producing the book’s first edition. What was your approach going into it, what did you learn, what went well, and what left you feeling frustrated?

In the first edition, I felt that a lot of things went well. My main intent was to create something that I would enjoy looking back through in the future, and to this day, I still feel that it holds up to my initial goal.

My biggest lesson was learning how to sequence my work. I opted not to write anything about the photos except for a foreword explaining who I was with and where we went, so I wanted to make sure the photos could tell some kind of story. I had thought about sequencing the photos in the order they were taken, but it made the book feel disjointed. I ended up going with a more subtle approach, using composition and color to guide the flow. I’m not sure there’s a real logic to it, but I followed my intuition and made something that felt good to flip through.

It was nearly a year after publishing the book that I felt something could be improved. 

You then decided to give bookbinding a go on your own as well. Walk us through this decision and all the steps you had to undertake. In retrospect, how do you see this as a step in your growth and evolution as a photographer?

As happy as I was with the final result of Iceland (first edition), I felt it needed to be more accessible cost-wise. With the expense of printing and publishing, I didn’t feel great about how much I would need to charge people to make any amount of profit from selling my book.

When I started putting together my next photo book, Duration, I tried to come up with a way to create something unique that people could support without having to break the bank. I already owned a printer by this point, so I decided to try learning how to bookbind.

I went through Kickstarter to act as a pre-sale and raise funds for bookbinding tools (paper, an awl, linen thread, needles, wax, book board, book cloth, glue, a bone folder, etc.). People who wanted to show support but couldn’t afford the price of the book were rewarded with prints and digital copies of the book, while those who had the extra funds were rewarded with a completely handmade copy of my book and some extra goodies.

I ended up making six copies of the 120-page hardcover book. The final product definitely has a homemade feel, but also a really nice polish that I’m quite proud of. At the same time, I ultimately lost a lot of time and money on the project; my printer broke at one point and cost a good chunk of change to repair. I battled perfectionism. I constantly worried about the fact that if I made a mistake anywhere along the process, I would have to scrap the copy, buy new materials, and start over.

Going down the bookbinding route was a great experience, regardless. I learned a lot about marketing a project, managing project scope, and budgeting for error. Plus, I gained a huge amount of respect for the craft of binding. Books are so commonplace in many lives, but having the experience of making them myself allowed me to value them so much more.

If I were to do it again, I would downsize the book significantly. I’m sure my craftsmanship could improve on another attempt, too, but I think for larger projects, I’m happy to go back to Blurb. 

Iceland, across its two editions, is a great example of how you saw your book as a work-in-progress, almost a living thing, that still had room to grow and evolve. Tell us more about how you approached the second edition and what you hoped to get out of another version.

Part of battling with a sense of perfectionism is certainly to just make the thing, but I think it’s important to revisit past work. New or developed skills can help refine the work to better express something you intended to share in the first iteration. Plus, I personally find that revisiting work helps me see how I’ve grown as an artist.

When I decided to create the second edition of Iceland, I had a collection of images I had revisited and rediscovered since publishing the first edition. There were photos I had abandoned because I didn’t think I could salvage them with an edit. Thanks to some technical improvements to Adobe Lightroom and some new editing tastes I had developed, I unearthed a solid number of photos I wanted to include in my book.

My main hope for the second edition was to create a version of the book that included a larger collection of photos while also being more affordable. When I made the first edition, I wanted it to be the best, most premium book possible. This time around, I decided that if I wanted to both include more photos and make a book that more people could afford, I had to take out some of the more premium options. 

Since I already had to reconsider the sequencing of images with the new additions, I took the opportunity to look for other ways to improve the book. I ended up re-editing many of the photos from the first edition. I switched from a luster to a matte paper, which I believe suits my photography better. I managed to reduce the paper cost so that more people would be able to afford a copy.

Now that I have this second edition, I get to see a physical example of how I’ve improved as a photographer and how my taste has adapted as I’ve gotten older. I hadn’t planned to make multiple editions of this book when I first created it, so it’s hard to know if this is the “final’ version. That’s a cool aspect of being an artist—sometimes inspiration hits, and you realize a project is ready for the world. At the same time, the work then becomes a part of you and can grow with you. It’s then a matter of deciding if you want to share that growth with the world.

For now, I’m very happy with this edition and proud to know it’s out there and available for others to enjoy.

What’s next for you as a creator? 

Through the process of producing my work on physical media, I have also been creating and selling prints, postcards, and posters.

Currently, I sell the postcards and posters out of a local Toronto shop called Arts Market and on Etsy. The limited-edition prints I sell on my website are printed on various materials like textured matte paper, brushed metal, and acrylic, which I would love to display in art shows or galleries. 

Beyond the physical side of my work, I offer lifestyle photography services for a variety of occasions. I like to spend some time with my clients before the photoshoot so I can get a better sense of their comfort and help them ease into it. In a world full of hustle and bustle, I like to slow things down and make sure my clients know I have the time for them.

Ultimately, I hope to create more photo books with emphasis on storytelling or themes, collaborate with more artists in my area, and perhaps branch out into other art forms. I’m curious by nature and would love to let that curiosity guide me forward in whatever future endeavors I take on. 

***

Have you been thinking about making a book but feel intimidated about where to start? Blurb offers all the tools you need to make the process easy and fun. Remember, no book is perfect on the first go-around. Start your publishing journey today.