Photo Book Publishing and Wanderlust with Mark Edward Harris

Mark Edward Harris is a world-renown documentary photographer who specializes in long-term projects that take him around the globe. He’s also one of those photographers who, while traditionally published, also uses Blurb for his work. He sat down with Dan Milnor to talk about getting published, going places, and landing a project with Vanity Fair.

DM: I first heard about you while dropping off film at Photo Impact in Los Angeles. I had come straight from the airport, and Jimmy behind the counter said “You and Mark always come straight from the airport. I think this means we are related in some way. So tell us about who you are and what you do.

MEH: I remember those days! There was something very exciting about taking my rolls of film out of my lead bags—to protect the film from airport x-ray machines—and handing them off for processing. Getting the contact sheets back I would head straight for the light table red grease pencil in hand. I’ve never lost that sense of magic about the photo process–freezing a moment in time–even though we now can get immediate feedback.

To sum me up, I’m a travel/people photographer with a strong leaning toward documentary work.

DM: You are a man of many talents. You shoot, edit, curate, write and do a variety of other industry related things. And you are successful at all of them. How is this possible?

MEH: I appreciate the complement. My fascination with history and my enjoyment of teaching have played strong roles in my career. I wanted to come face to face with the photographic greats and hear their stories. This led to countless Q&As for magazines and my first book, Faces of the Twentieth Century: Master Photographers and Their Work. To sit down with Alfred Eisenstaedt and hear how he made it from selling buttons on the streets of post World War I Germany to Times Square to capture his most famous image of the sailor kissing the nurse is unforgettable to say the least. When he past away, LIFE magazine ran my portrait of him as a final page tribute saying it was “The master’s favorite” image of himself. That same fascination with history also led me to explore places and subjects off the beaten path.

I’ve never lost that sense of magic about the photo process–freezing a moment in time–even though we now can get immediate feedback.

DM: I’ve always been impressed by the range of your books Wanderlust, The Way of the Japanese bath, North Korea, South Korea, Iran… Where do your story ideas come from?

MEH: Childhood driving trips around the country with my folks and my brother instilled me with a deep wanderlust. The Japanese hot spring book came about because of my personal love of the meditative ritual of the onsen as well as a desire to work on a long-term project in the country. Speaking conversational Japanese definitely helped me navigate the waters so to speak of this subject matter.

When I teach workshops on travel photography I always point out that in most cases a destination is not a story. You just can’t say to an editor, “I want to do a photo essay on Japan or France,” you need a hook, you need to get more specific. I discuss this in detail in my upcoming book, The Travel Photo Essay: Describing a Journey Through Pictures (Focal Press). There are exceptions to this rule…North Korea and Iran are off-the-beaten path in terms of photography books so I uses a broader brush to paint a picture of those countries.

DM: For a photographer to get ONE book published is considered a huge accomplishment. You have many. Besides great imagery what’s the most important thing for young bookmakers to keep in mind?

MEH: Look for hooks. When it comes to travel stories, I often tie them in with anniversaries such as the 70^th anniversary of D-Day. Books and exhibitions are a variation of the same theme. It’s very important to build bodies of work rather than a bunch of singular images.

DM: How bad does it feel when a publisher says “No, sorry, we don’t think this is right?”

MEH: They’re usually a little kinder than that but you can’t take it personally. They have their reasons. Commercial books cost a lot of money to produce. Even if it gets past the editorial staff the sales team might put the kibosh on it if they don’t see a clearly defined market for the book. If you really believe in the book project keep knocking on doors. If you turn around and go home after hitting the first obstacle it’s very likely that you will never get very far in your pursuits. That said, you do have to pay attention to advice, and if you keep running into roadblocks you need to figure out why.

You just can’t say to an editor, “I want to do a photo essay on Japan or France,” you need a hook, you need to get more specific.

DM: You wrote me recently and said you talk about Blurb/MagCloud in your workshops. First off, tell us about the workshops, and why talk about Blurb?

MEH: Blurb creates incredible high quality books. Of course it depends on the quality of the artwork that goes into it, but if the end product doesn’t look great, it’s not the fault of the printer. For my Fine Art of Travel Photography classes I suggest that my students create Blurb books from their individual journeys. That’s because it helps create a disciplined eye to paginate a book. “This photo would look good opposite this image.” “Do I use this ¾ environmental portrait of this shopkeeper or do I go with the full body shot?” You tell a story through photographs. Look how W. Gene Smith told stories with his camera such as Spanish Village, Country Doctor, and Minamata.

DM: How do you personally use Blurb? Have you ever used it to promote yourself or to get attention for a new project?

MEH: I was pitching a story for the digital edition of Vanity Fair. It was about the fifth anniversary of the devastating tsunami that hit the Tohoku region in 2011. I was actually in that area just before and after the catastrophe. I very quickly put a Blurb book together using my existing imagery to pitch the story. The visual aide really helped secure the assignment.

For my Fine Art of Travel Photography classes I suggest that my students create Blurb books from their individual journeys.

DM: Would you ever consider doing a Blurb specific project?

MEH: Definitely. I actually have a potential project that would be perfect for it.

DM: What’s next for the ever-busy MEH?

MEH: I put 200,000 miles on the road in 2016, which might have been pushing it. So I’ve been more focused on securing domestic assignments. However, I will be in the Dominican Republic, Greenland, the High Arctic, and Jordan, throughout the year. I don’t think there’s a cure for wanderlust.