Self Publish, Be Happy

Self Publish, Be Happy

Status	Active
Founded	2010
Founder	Bruno Ceschel
Country of origin	UK
Headquarters location	Ridley Road, Dalston, London
Publication types	Books
Nonfiction topics	Photography
Official website	www.selfpublishbehappy.com

Self Publish, Be Happy (SPBH) is an organisation founded by Bruno Ceschel^[1] in 2010 that aims to help aspiring photographers to self-publish their own books.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} It does so through workshops, talks, exhibitions, live events, on/offline projects and publicising of books. It is based on Ridley Road, in Dalston, London, where it keeps a library of some 2000 donated self-published zines and books.^[7]

Since 2012 Self Publish, Be Happy has also published photography books as SPBH Editions.^[2][8] Ceschel is its director and Antonio de Luca its art director. It has published books by Broomberg & Chanarin, Cristina de Middel, Mariah Robertson, Lorenzo Vitturi and others.

SPBH produces various series of publications — SPBH Book Club, which are sold as part of a yearly subscription as well as sold separately; SPBH Pamphlets, pamphlets with photography and text, including one by Anouk Kruithof; and Self Publish Be Naughty (SPBN), books of intimate pictures of people by their romantic partners.^[5]

In November 2015 Ceshel's book Self Publish, Be Happy: A DIY Photobook Manual and Manifesto was published by Aperture.^[6][9][10]

Reception

Parr and Badger include Self Publish Be Naughty (2011) in the third volume of their photobook history.^[11][12]

Critic Sean O'Hagan, writing in The Guardian, said "An accurate measure of SPBH’s importance to the contemporary cottage industry is the array of photobooks they have featured that I would cite as contemporary classics."^[10]

Publications (selected)

• Self Publish Be Naughty. London: Self Publish, Be Happy, 2011. OCLC 777945637. 122 photographs from 75 photographers, and text. Edition of 1000 copies.
• AB&OC. SPBH Book Club Vol. I. By Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin. London: Self Publish, Be Happy, 2012. ASIN B00ECAIIFI. Edition of 250 copies.
• SPBH Book Club Vol. II. By Brad Feuerhelm. London: Self Publish, Be Happy, 2012. Edition of 250 copies.
• SPBH Book Club Vol. III. By Cristina de Middel. London: Self Publish, Be Happy, 2013. ASIN B00D18UQ0C. Edition of 500 copies.
• SPBH Book Club Vol. IV. By Mariah Robertson. London: Self Publish, Be Happy, 2013. ASIN B00K8KVUQK. Edition of 500 copies.
• Dalston Anatomy. By Lorenzo Vitturi.
  • London: Self Publish, Be Happy, 2013. ASIN B00GI7KR6G. Edition of 700 copies.
  • London: Self Publish, Be Happy, 2014. Edition of 1000 copies.
• SPBH Book Club Vol. V. By Esther Teichmann. London: Self Publish, Be Happy, 2014. ASIN B00MP2Y6J2. Edition of 500 copies.
• SPBH Book Club Vol. VI. By Melinda Gibson. London: Self Publish, Be Happy, 2014. Edition of 300 copies.
• SPBH Book Club Vol. VII. By Lucas Blalock. London: Self Publish, Be Happy, 2014. ASIN B00VA3BUB4. Edition of 300 copies.

Events

• 2010: Self Publish, Be Happy Weekend, Photographers' Gallery, London, 5–6 June 2010.^[13][14]
• 2013: Compilation Tokyo, Tokyo, 6–7 April 2013. A SPBH Live event where artists produced a publication live in front of an audience. This event produced Compilation Tokyo (2013) with Itami, Koji Kitagawa, Taisuke Koyama, Shinryo Saeki, Masafumi Shirakami, Hirosh Takagi, Hiroshi Takizawa, Nerhol, Kenji Hirasawa, Daisuke Yokota and Anne Schwalbe.^[15][16]
• 2015: Jimmy Limit with Self Publish, Be Happy, Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival, Toronto, Canada, 2 May 2015.^[17]
• 2015: Offprint London, Tate Modern, London, 22–25 May 2015.^[18][19]
• 2015: Business as Usual: Self Publish, Be Happy in Residence, Photographers' Gallery, London, 20–27 November 2015. The SPBH office set up in the gallery, plus daily events.^[20][21]

Awards

Awards received for Self Publish, Be Happy publications:

• 2016: Fire in Cairo (2015) by Matthew Connors won Artist's Book award, Infinity Awards, International Center of Photography, New York, NY^[22][23]

See also

• List of self-publishing companies
• Small press

References

1. Christiansen, Hanne (14 July 2015). "The most exciting new photography books". Dazed. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
2. Jobey, Liz (27 February 2015). "Why photobooks are booming in a digital age". London: Financial Times. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
3. Everett, Lucinda (19 April 2014). "The photobook today". London: The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
4. "Self Publish, Be Happy: DIY zines and books are shaking up the publishing industry". Huck (magazine). 28 October 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
5. O'Hagan, Sean (14 April 2013). "How photographers joined the self-publishing revolution". The Observer. London: The Guardian. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
6. "A Manifesto to Self-Publishing Your Own Photobooks". Time (magazine). 21 September 2015. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
7. Christiansen, Hanne (23 September 2015). "Want to publish your own photo books? Here's how". Dazed. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
8. O'Hagan, Sean (25 July 2012). "The DIY photobook phenomenon". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
9. "Self Publish, Be Happy: A DIY Photobook Manual and Manifesto By Bruno Ceschel". Aperture Foundation. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
10. O'Hagan, Sean (25 November 2015). "Self Publish, Be Happy! The DIY saviours of photography". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
11. Parr, Martin, Badger, Gerry (2014). The Photobook: A History Volume III. London: Phaidon. p. 103. ISBN 9780714866772.
12. Nicholson, Geoff (26 April 2014). "Geoff Nicholson on The Photobook: A History Volume III". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
13. "Self Publish, Be Happy Weekend". Photographers' Gallery. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
14. O'Hagan, Sean (4 June 2010). "Self-publish or be damned: why photographers are going it alone". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
15. "Compilation Tokyo". Self Publish, Be Happy. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
16. "Compilation Tokyo: Remix". Aperture Foundation. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
17. "Jimmy Limit with Self Publish, Be Happy". Scotiabank Contact Photography Festival. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
18. Rogers, Sam (22 May 2015). "Play with me: Tate Modern hosts weekend of fun with Self Publish, Be Happy". Wallpaper (magazine). Retrieved 10 October 2015.
19. "Offprint London". Tate. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
20. "Business as Usual: Self Publish, Be Happy in Residence". Photographers' Gallery. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
21. Sritharan, Brennavan (20 November 2015). "Self Publish, Be Happy takes over The Photographers' Gallery". British Journal of Photography. Apptitude Media Ltd. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
22. "Infinity Awards". International Center of Photography. 3 February 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
23. Durón, Maximilíano (3 February 2016). "ICP Gives 2016 Infinity Awards to Walid Raad, Zanele Muholi, David Bailey, More". ARTnews. Retrieved 3 February 2016.

External links

• Official website
• Interview with Bruno Ceschel at Photomonitor.
• Studio Visit: Self Publish Be Happy by Patricia Karallis at Paper Journal.