Here we go again, bringing you the most exciting photographic record of new books at a bookstore that the land has ever seen.
Or something like that.
When I started at The Gothic Bookshop I was exploring new ideas for social media outreach. I’ll never forget the eureka moment. I found a library’s Tumblr site where they had posted a picture of a shelving cart full of newly bound journals. One whole side of the cart was full of identically bound journals. They were red. You could make out the gold lettering on the spine if you looked close.
But that was it. I was impressed by the banality of it. It was a boring photo. But I dug it. I mean, you don’t work in bookstores for going on 15 years if you don’t think books are beautiful. (I hope no one has ever done that!) So, I appreciated the utterly banal beauty of that simple, boring photo.
And so I thought, if this library can have a Tumblr site where they post photos of their newly bound journals on a cart, by goodness, I can do a Tumblr site for us here at The Gothic. I can take photos of books, in various positions of their ever languid repose. (Note: I wish I could find the photo of the bound journals and share it here. I wish I had bookmarked that library’s page. Alas, it all happened so fast. Now, I’ll never see that photo again. Well, thanks for the inspiration, whoever took that photo and posted it on that site.)
But I’ll tell you what I learned real quick. Taking good photos is hard. No matter how still your subject can sit. The lighting is hard, the focus is tricky, the results are all over the place. So, after my first few weeks on the job, things got busier as I learned my responsibilities, etc., and I found myself neglecting the enjoyable task of putting a few photos up here.
Now, I re-dedicate myself, and I will strive to keep it simple, so as to propagate more consistency. We’ll see. Today I offer up simple photos of a shelving cart with some new books. I received these books yesterday afternoon. This morning, as I write, Scott R., one of The Gothic’s intrepid student workers, is helping the books on the cart find their new homes in our shop. Here’s hoping that they all enjoy their stay with us, and that they all find good, loving homes, where they will live long and happy lives, being seen and read.
