BCC Photo Book Competition 

The Photo Book Competition is an opportunity for BCC members to create and share a complete photo book.  The competition is open to any subject matter.  Books can be photos only or photos with captions, technical information, or other text -- whatever you think best helps to tell a story. 

There are no restrictions on using winning images from any prior BCC or other competitions; however, you may not re-submit a book from a previous BCC Book Competition.  There are no size restrictions – any size book will be considered!  Book submissions may be hard or soft bound and are limited to 60 pages, meaning 30 pieces of paper with each side considered a page. There is no rule on the type of paper, glossy, matte or luster. Any book received that does not meet these rules will be disqualified.

Completed photo books are physically submitted a week or two in advance of the competition, which allows the judge sufficient time to review the materials and judge the competition.  Details will be provided.  In addition, the dates that the competition opens for photo book submissions and closes for submissions can be found on the BCC “Events” calendar.  Finally, please submit your book front cover when you have it (1 image). This image is supposed to include text and look like an actual cover. Taking a screenshot of your cover then crop it if needed would work fine.

On the night of the in-person competition, all of the submitted photo books are placed on a table where members can look at them during the first half hour or so of the meeting, in a process similar to viewing prints for the BCC Latimer Print Competition. The judge then typically gives a presentation on some aspect of bookmaking or their own work.  The judge then gives critiques to the books and makes awards.  

For more information on creating a photo book, see Ilya Schiller’s 2016 presentation, Body of Work. Please keep in mind that, while the vast majority of information within this 2016 presentation is timeless, some specifics might be outdated:  Most notably, the BCC Photo Book Competition no longer has book size restrictions, and the list of available printing options may have changed since the 2016 presentation was created.

Guidelines for the BCC Photo Book Contest (lightly edited PSA suggestions):

While some of the guidelines below might be actual considerations of our judge, there may be other considerations as well. The BCC does not submit books to PSA.

• Does the cover draw you into the book wanting to see more?
• Does the cover represent what the book is about?
• Does text on the cover fit with the image?
• Normal photo competition considerations are still in place for images used in the book.
• Do the images and/or text flow from page to page in a pleasing sequence?
• Does the book have a theme or story that is carried through the book?
• Does the text add to the book?
• Is the font used pleasing and go with the subject matter?
• Are there any typographical errors?
• Is the placement of text and images pleasing in the layout?
• Is the subject or topic well covered in the book?
• Is the layout pleasing? Is placement of text and images pleasing?
• Do captions make sense and add to the book?