{KG} PROJECTS EXPERIENCE PHOTOGRAPHY ABOUT











Manual Thinking
A book that explores experimental ways of approaching, seeing, and thinking about photography.




Publication          Storytelling          Photography        Book Binding        Copywriting       Design Systems      Composition     Design Research      





CONCEPT

Manual Thinking invites photographers to move beyond passive documentation and toward a more deliberate, exploratory engagement with their medium. The project proposes that photography is not an instantaneous act, but a sustained practice of observation and interpretation. DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

This book must embody the idea of manual creation, taking on a handmade quality that considers composition just as much as a photograph would. Simple black and white design system visually balances out expressive qualities of the work.
CREATIVE APPROACH

All aspects of this work were built from scratch; concepting, research, photography, writing, editing, typography, and hands-on construction. 












CONCEPTING

Through several rounds of research, interviews, and writing, I was able to solidify the intention of this project, to propose that
In an age of rapid photo-taking, the practice of documentation, with awareness, can be slow, explorative, thoughtful, and expressive.






















07.24.23

“In creating this project, I’ll have to keep in mind that the manual setting is not as important as the creative thinking that goes into a photo.

Take it as ‘manual thinking’ over ‘manual photography’.

Every camera owner should know that it is not the camera that determines the outcome of the photo, it’s the photographer. I want to emphasize that even the simplest photography methods can be used in different, unconventional ways.

The rules that you learn about photography can be broken.”











CONTENT ORCHESTRATION


I made the decision not to gather content for my book, but to create it myself. This was a risk because of the time commitment, but I needed to trust my ability to be decisive, intentional, and generative to achieve my specific vision.
A book that aims to enable others to slow down and create should be born from fitting process.



























ARTWORK CREATION


The creation process involved printing out all of my photos and title words to create over 100 pages of hands-on compositions.
I aimed to balance experimental chaos with compositional skill to visualize creative thinking.























FINAL PHOTOGRAPHY







































The best thing I ever did
   was train my eye to dance in the details.

I searched for a great life
until it gripped me
that the most valuable
    moments
people
  thoughts

        are the ones of simple beauty.




                Ask me to define beauty and
                I will tell you it is anything
                in its purest state.



A raw patch of dirt that absorbs any weather
compels me as I turn my head away
from the sensation of the city




    to get lost a second longer




and its innocence.



Don’t bother me with your credentials
or press your explanations in words
you memorized for this moment

        Don’t puncture my patience
        with points of pride.



Show me what drives your hunger


what turns your head


what you strive to be.



        Anything proven is nothing of reverence.



Be that patch of dirt
next to the modern marvel


    absorbing rain

embracing ice

    outlasting every innovation



basking in the sun
    as it wakes up your cells
and stirs the world beneath you,



beckoning it to the surface.