From… To…
Book Design Degree Zero
This large square photo book with a softcover and yellow dust jacket made of an unusual paper combines extremely pared-down design with elaborate, manual image management. Over 1,500 square photos by Jiří Makovec are arranged on a double page in four columns of three images each. The only typographical element is the page numbers at the outside bottom corners. The list of images is included as an insert in a somewhat smaller format and makes clear that the photos are grouped in a reverse chronology from 2018 to 2002 but have been freely arranged within each year. The composition on the double pages is matched to the form and content of the individual photos with great subtlety. The unusual public scenes that Makovec frequently captures combine to create enigmatic and highly allusive narratives, blending archival presentation with the appearance of a travel diary. Due to its weight and size – identical to that of a record sleeve – and its softcover, the object is not entirely easy to hold in one’s hands. The weightiness of the content is such as to question the book’s very form.
