Birthday Book
Compiled by Carla Ciminera

This was a really fun project.  On the occasion of her brother's 80th birthday, this client commissioned this unique book to celebrate his life.  She asked the entire extended family to write messages and potted histories, collected photographs from all stages of their collective lives, including ancestral ones.  I then put everything together into a book for desk-top publishing.  I used a site that allowed for copies of the book to be bought by each member of the family as a memento, and the birthday boy received the special, beautifully bound copy you see below.

The front of the clamshell box. The lacy effect on the front cover is given by superimposing a special holey Japanese paper onto a second sheet of Japanese paper. The lacy paper was first hand-tinted by me to match the darker leather

Front and back of the clamshell box

The book revealed inside its case. The initials of the birthday boy were MW, hence the design

The back cover of the box within its case

An inside view of the book showing how the inside leafs use the same two Japanese papers. I love this effect

The front cover, with its inlaid initials in contrasting leathers. Very tricky and labour-intensive, but worth the effort I think

A close-up of the initials

Front and back covers, showing the diagonal lines effect

The wonderful thing about portrait books, is that they can show you and your loved ones in lots of different occasions and at different times, rather than just showing one static image that only captures one specific moment in time.

The wonderful thing about portrait books, is that they can show you and your loved ones in lots of different occasions and at different times, rather than just showing one static image that only captures one specific moment in time.

This is a great portrait ... but isn't it great to be able to showcase other sides of the personality? I mean, look at the photos that follows this one!

What a great way to be remembered!

Photos by Nikolaus Van Der Pas

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