Case study - First light, Joe Cornish

The third product I am researching falls under photography, exploring the other side to the poetry within my book. Photographer Joe Cornish has a book under the title 'first light' describing the thoughts that go into taking a photo beforehand, along with the aesthetical qualities that the end photograph has. The subtitle being 'A landscape photographer's art' making the genre/ type of photography clear to the audience. The response towards the book has been positive, due to the production of other and further books, such as 'Gallery' and 'This land' Though I could not access, from the online research conducted I have seen that the composition of the pages explore a layout I would like to conduct, with photographs following onto the next page and small pieces of writing. In terms of content in First Light, the photography is aesthetic and high in vibrance, and the writing is insightful. This caters for said target audience, this being aspiring photographers, improving or beginning specifically in landscape photography, for example.
Layout wise, the cover itself seems contrasted to what's within the book. The monochrome grey background contrasts with the saturated foreground image, along with contrasting the photos within the book. On initial sight, the book does not look intriguing. The lack of consistency in texts also causing this result, the cover does not reflect the excitement or adventure landscape photography can have. In terms of front cover, I will not be taking inspiration from this book.

Within the book, explanations of photographs are separated into sections, this including 'TLC - Timing, lighting composition,' 'foreground background' and ' the point of return' the immediate language to describing sections of photos intrigues purely a photographic audience as they are aware of these terms. An example of a photograph which has been analysed under the category TLC is 'twilight' taken in Teesside. The language used to describe the photograph is formal and technical, e.g 'darkness might bring some simplification, and with it, some focus' Language techniques such as similes have been used to describe the overcrowd of city events - 'like a map on which all the words are the same size' Cornish may have used such language techniques to fully describe his photography passion, and relating subjects to more things we see on a daily. The perspective for all descriptions are first person, as Cornish describes his experience of taking the photograph - this also including the journey taken to find the perfect angle and composition. In twilight, he embarks on his trip by passing hills, a river, and an anchor, climbing up a hill in a Teesside, the north east of England to the contrasting view of industry and landscape. I feel as though the creative intention behind the photo links to something I could experiment with, the contrast between landscape and nature, particularly signposted with the road cutting straight through greenland, this also being the main subject, as described as a 'key element' by Cornish, making the photograph overall unique. The contrasting industry and landscape links to the dream and reality side of my theme, the road being the deprived city before the characters dream and the landscape being after, further linking to Waltham Forest before borough of culture and after. That idea continues and links to a similar piece I created in unit 7, my documentary on city life vs country life. Incorporating all these ideas, the photograph could be a way in which I will end the book - by combining beautiful landscapes with bright city lights. The technical side of writing where the exposure is mentioned, the element behind creating the glow sunset with visibility of city features links to the informative genre, and is structured at the end of the description after the information where the photo was taken, the journey and aesthetical qualities. The writing may have been structured this way to capture the audience first and reflect the passion the artist has for his work, and how this eventually was all possible. Somewhat trying to convince the audience to read on until the end, where the main aspect they wish to read is.
The product has been advertised on the photographers website and the photographs are visible in his gallery collection. Rather than the actual product advertised, Joe Cornish's photography in general is mentioned in places such as photography articles and information sites Britain's best photographers, this leading to his website where collections of books including First light are advertised / available. The target audience possibly researching known photographers where Cornish would be mentioned, though there is not much advertising on social media to younger audiences. The company who have published the book are aurum press, and the book has been forwarded by Charlie Waite. Aurum press /Quatro knows themselves having Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Pinterest pages. The publishing company specialises in entertainment, sports, travel and unique books, along with the ability to have books translated in various languages, making their reach worldwide.
Finding where the book has been advertised has been difficult on the internet though the stated names are in the acknowledgements.  The book has been processed and printed, issues are similar to the previous case studies, this being copyright and reproducing of material.