Let me introduce you to a new campaign. The Shelfie.
Here's how it started: remember when I showed you, just after Christmas, some new reads? The book "Unpacking My Library: Architects and Their Books" got my attention because I loved the simple format of the photos of shelves, filled with books….and it includes a fave: Michael Graves. Some of the pages have highlighted specific books with front cover views and credentials. Here is the book description from Amazon:
What does a library say about the mind of its owner? How do books map the intellectual interests, curiosities, tastes, and personalities of their readers? What does the collecting of books have in common with the practice of architecture? Unpacking My Library provides an intimate look at the personal libraries of twelve of the world’s leading architects, alongside conversations about the significance of books to their careers and lives.
Photographs of bookshelves—displaying well-loved and rare volumes, eclectic organizational schemes, and the individual touches that make a bookshelf one’s own—provide an evocative glimpse of their owner’s personal life. Each architect also presents a reading list of top ten influential titles, from architectural history to theory to fiction and nonfiction, that serves as a personal philosophy of literature and history, and advice on what every young architect, scholar, and lover of architecture should read.
An inspiring cross-section of notable libraries, this beautiful book celebrates the arts of reading and collecting.
You'll see they also published a Writers version.
I got to thinking what a mess my own shelves are, and that I should make it a goal to start getting them organized. By topic, by size? Then I thought it would be cool to photograph my shelves and make a journal about it so I could write some of the stories behind the collections. Why did I get this one? Who gave me that one? It would be a chronicle of my interests and influences, plus I would have evidence of the full array, possibly saving me from duplicating (again). But most of all, this project would re-introduce me to some gems that have been unopened in a while. Don't you love your books? And your shelves? Mine are peppered with all kinds of things – cool stuff filling in the space at the face of shelf, shoved over top, and other cool things are pinned right into the wood, dangling for my visual stimulation. What we read, what we select for our personal libraries, says alot about us. Topics of interest, places, hobbies, fantasies….we have learned from, been informed by, and just plain entertained by thousands of pages under cover and standing at attention on shelves.
So I'm paging through the book, motivated to make these grand plans for myself, when a news program came on tv with a retrospective of 2013. Half listening, I notice that the presenters are doing a segment on "selfies". Bleh. Don't get me wrong, I'm not casting judgement. Personally, I don't like to have my photo taken so applause to those who are comfortable with it. And it came to me: Shelfies! I burst out loud laughing. I could see it roll out before me – a new wave of shared photos featuring shelves not selves.
I did a quick serach online and discovered I was not the only person to think of this. Click HERE to see submissions of shelfies as requested by The Guardian.
And for a peek into some celebrity libraries, click HERE. OMG! So cool! I've been looking at alot of libraries – I think the first (unattributed) library belongs to actress Diane Keaton. Check out Keith Richards, Rod Stewart, and Karl Lagerfeld.
You are cordially invited to share your shelfies. Do something different this year! Just post the photos or take the opportunity to talk about the content of the photo. Pick an entire bookcase or single out one shelf or one subject. Tell us a story about a particular score, sentimental connections to a book, where it came from, how long you've had it, or just let the spine talk. If you're like me, you will need to get things in order – but that's a good thing, and was part of the inspiration for the campaign. We will gather up monthly, but you can participate at any time.
I've asked a few good friends to help me launch this campaign. Judi, Julie, Lisa, and Lynne. Below are small peeks into their collections. In the following months I will continue to share photos of books from my studio and I will likely segue into shelves of tschotskes…you know, the collections of stuff on shelves. And I'm going to continue to ask friends to share. Why? Because it's just another way to get to know someone better. I looked at Lisa's shelves and nodded along, "got it, got it, need it, got it." I've never been to her home, but now I'm getting an intimate look at her, in a different way. I'm impressed with Julie's neat rows of thread, but it doesn't surprise me because she is the same way with her paint. (She would pass out if she ever came to my studio). I've been a guest in both Judi's and Lynne's homes – beautiful studios and books of every kind that overflow to every corner. You just want to tell them to forget dinner plans, let's go look at books.
How fun will this be? Can't wait to see what we have in common, to see what I need to read, and what surprises await us with what you are comfortable sharing from your shelves.
Here are two of mine. Sorted slightly by topic, and a little by size. I wish there was room on some shelves to keep an entire category together but some books are just too big, and some are too small. I even fanned out some of my favorite books and magazines by David Carson. The Maribor book is a very special find – a publication documenting a workshop. I sent for it from Slovenia. More next month!
JUDI RIESCH'S SITE: www.itsmysite.com/judiriesch
VISIT JULIE PRICHARD'S SITE: www.TheLandOfLostLuggage.com
Julie's Shelfie post: CLICK HERE
VISIT LISA HOFFMAN'S SITE: www.LisaHoffman.typepad.com
VISIT LYNNE PERRELLA'S SITE: www.LKPerrella.com
If you decide to play along and share your Shelfies somewhere, leave a comment here with a link so we can come visit. I'm setting up a Pinterest page (ShelfiesPosted) to gather all the photos in one place, including yours. And for those of you who prefer to post on Facebook, I have set up a page: ShelfiesPosted. Start snapping!
Oh, and if you want a label to add to a photo, or a blog post, here is a large and small label to right click and save.
