The Quiet Front started out as a collection of the photography that I find most compelling - it’s the type of work that is at odds with convention; it’s provocative; it’s beautiful; I was and still am completely obsessed with it.
The site has grown over the last two years; it has benefited from a few good links but mostly from the steady accumulation of people who find it and stick around. There are a lot of people who share this obsession and this site is now a lot bigger than just me.
I now want to push this into being more than just a reflection of the work that is already out there, I also want it to be a catalyst for artists and photographers to do the work they love.
There are some fantastic artists committed to Book 1.
On Creative Freedom
Artists shouldn’t be told what to do; they should be able to do whatever the fuck they want without any regard for anything but their own vision.
On Contributing Artists
The contributing artists are going come from the pages of this blog; some of the photographers are well established but I’m also going to make point of choosing artists that aren’t well known - there really is no point in making these books if I’m not risking it on the young. There is nothing more exciting than seeing new artists come up. I’m also going to make a point of showing artists from all over the world.
For now the books won’t be open for submissions but that may change in the future
On Paying Artists
Each book is going to be limited to a few artists and the lion’s share of the budget is going to go directly to them; as the publication grows, so too will their budget.
On Design
There is no design; nothing is going to get in the way of the work. Don’t expect fancy title pages or credits all over the images (they’ll be tucked away at the end of each set).
On Digital vs Print
There are obvious advantages to both of these mediums; digital books mean we can dedicate a much larger portion of the budget for artists and physical books have an intrinsic beauty. We’re going to stick to digital in the beginning and at the end of each year we’ll collect the work into a high quality physical book.
On Platforms
We’re on our own; this is mostly because of the overbearing restrictions of all the major platforms. A lot of the work is going to be provocative and will be subject to either outright censorship or the passive censorship of simply making your work impossible to find. There is also the issue of DRM which is a clusterfuck all round. The books will be DRM-free and sold directly from this site using Squarespace’s built in commerce.
On Pricing
I am still weighing the cost of the books. We are not going to cater to the broadest market and advertising / sponsorships are never going to be an option. I want to try to get the right balance between offering good value to the audience and also supporting the artists and this site.
The blog will always remain free.
On How and When
I am finalising the contributors for Book 1 and putting together an Indiegogo campaign which should go up in a few weeks time. (We can't use Kickstarter because of regional restrictions - I run this site from Cape Town)
I would love feed back on this project; if you have any ideas or comments then hit me @thequietfront.
If you would like to keep posted on the release then you can subscribe here:
Update:
You can find the list of contributing artists here.