PAPER PUNCH

This five-day intensive photobook editing workshop invites photographers and visual artists to develop their photographic projects into a coherent photobook.

Led by artist and editor Tiago Casanova, founding member of XYZ Books, the workshop guides participants through the essential stages of photobook creation: defining a strong concept, editing and sequencing images, understanding book design, and producing a physical dummy.

Working in a small group of maximum eight participants, the workshop combines daily lectures, group discussions, practical exercises and individual mentoring sessions. Each participant will receive one-on-one guidance while developing their project, allowing time for reflection, experimentation and critical feedback.

Throughout the week, participants will explore key aspects of photobook making, including:

• Developing and refining the concept and audience of a project
• Editing and narrowing down a photographic selection
• Strategies for visual sequencing and narrative rhythm
• Understanding how book design connects concept and object
• Exploring materials, formats, paper, covers and binding
• Preparing files and producing a printed dummy

The workshop places a strong emphasis on the relationship between idea, image and object, encouraging participants to think of the photobook as a complete artistic form rather than simply a container of photographs.

During the final days of the workshop, participants will design and print a working dummy of their book, which will be assembled together through a collective bookbinding session.

The workshop concludes with a lecture on the practical realities of publishing photobooks, covering self-publishing, working with publishers, printing techniques, costs, and distribution strategies.

This workshop is ideal for photographers and visual artists who wish to transform an ongoing project into a photobook or deepen their understanding of editorial photographic practice.