SOFOBOMO: Rough Draft
A robot family in front of the homestead.
The rough draft of my SOFOBOMO book, Our Robot Overlords Revealed, is done. I still need to add some bits of text, touch up a few the photos, and maybe replace a few of the weaker ones, but the basic bones of the book are in place, and I’m happy with the results. I’ve still got a few days left for tweaking, but if I get no further before the deadline slips, I’ll let the rough draft stand. Comments, critiques and suggestions are appreciated.
Technical Notes
I used Open Office Writer to layout the book. Writer combined the virtues of simplicity and availability. It also has a built in PDF generator with a variety of compression settings. A more complex layout would have been possible with tools like Scribus, but Writer is fully capable of realizing my limited design abilities.
Download Our Robot Overlords Revealed in PDF format.
Very cool, Matt — innovative art. I’m a little afraid to walk out of the house now. I never knew we were surrounded by so many secret automatons. I think I have Robot Overlord Paranoia now.
Maybe this is a bit off topic, but I wonder if you have tried to photograph some rural subjects - after all it does not look like there are lots of terribly distinct urban subjects within your reach, so maybe you live in an agricultural wonderland :-) ??? I confess, that the shots of the uniformly featureless backyards you seem to like exposing depress me a little… Don’t take it as an offence Matt, but I think your talent is wasted this way - better insist on shooting more portraits !
Take care.
Marek
You say ‘agricultural wonderland,’ I say agricultural wasteland ;-). I do need to get a little further out of town - although its pretty desperate out there as well - but this is what I see everyday. The blog has been pretty heavy on this kind of stuff lately due to the SOFOBOMO project. Expect to see a broader range of stuff soon. Heck, I might actually use some color!
A very well seen and well produced collection of work, Matt. I would certainly buy this if it were available in book form. However, like Marek, I would love to see more portraits, even in colour! Best wishes, Graham
I plan on making some version of this project available for sale in the not too distant future. Look for it soon.
Hi Matt,
I have *no* idea how I stumbled across your blog—wait, I think I was researching opinions on the Zeiss rangefinder. Regardless, it was a lucky accident.
Brave of you to out the robot overlords; their thinly veiled disguises patronize the discerning photographic eye! Hmm, now that I’m thinking of it, why does my house have a gas meter when we have no gas service…
Seriously, good stuff. Please, more.
Cheers!
Matt,
great book and topic. I liked the subdued B&W tones you decided to process the photos with. Sometimes it give the subjects a surreal look that is really impactful.
absolutely delightful, put me down for a copy.
Robert & Rafa, thanks for a taking a look. I’m glad you enjoyed the book.
Those who say do more portraits do not realize what a very imaginative, and visually satisfying, piece of work is laid out here. There are only one or two that fall (marginally) below an excellent benchmark. The book is certainly in the top echelon.
John,
That’s high praise; thanks! I’d appreciate knowing which shots you think are weak. I know which ones I think are weak, but I could use a second perspective as a I start working on the printed book.
cheers,
Matt
Matt - I’ve replied separately.
I was out yesterday photographing a dance routine through the streets of a local town and found robots all over the place! I must deprogramme myself.
You really do have a wicked sense of humor. Now I, too, will be seeing robots everywhere. Drat. A fun book.
Anita, the robots are indeed infectious. Sorry to have given you the bug ;-)