Brief
Capture large format illustrations of artist and author Sophie Grangerat in camera. Deliver high quality, high resolution, print-ready digital files to the creative team at Samir.
Role
- Photography
- Retouching
Year
2018 - 2019
Type
Client (Samir)
Context
For their second collaboration, illustrator and author Sophie Grangerat and Beiruth-based book publisher Samir were partnering to create "A l'ombre du cerisier", the artist's second children book. In addition to Sophie's texts, the book was to feature her original artwork characterized by colourful, finelly detailed drawings and intricate collages, created on large canvas of paper.
Goals
Due to their size and physical characteristics, the artist's illustrations could not be transferrred to digital by way of classical reprographic methods. As a result I was commissioned to capture these large formats in camera and produce high quality, high resolution digital files that would allow the creative team at Samir to resize the illustrations to the book's desired dimensions and assemble the various book assets. The goal was also to achieve maximum tone and colour fidelity, detail and texture so the final product could stay true to the artist's delicate and colourful original work.
Challenges
I approached the project with two main challenges in mind, one technical, one artistic.
First, being on top of all technical and methodological aspects including proper studio setup and lighting, and a well defined workflow from artwork setup to digital capture to post-processing. This was necessary in order to ensure accuracy, consistency and efficiency.
Second, engagement with the artist and the publisher's editorial and creative team was critical to the artistic success of the project. It meant listening, asking questions, gaining proper understanding on objectives and constraints, identifying difficulties and providing solutions on the way. all this was essential to delivering files that would stay true to the artist's original vision and execution while meeting the vision of the creative director and the art director for the final book.
Behind the scenes
Outcome
Sophie's latest children book went on sale in May of 2019. Titled "A l'ombre du cerisier", the book tells the sensible tale of a brother and a sister who get to find fulfillment each at their own pace. With a cherry tree as a backdrop to the story and a witness to the passing of time, the book explores in a poetic and moving way the complexity of sibling relationships as well as the topics of illness and coping.
Originally written in French, the book is also available in Arabic at the time of first publication.