Vanda Ralevska has had a lifelong love of books and now has started self-publishing. She tells Will Cheung the story behind her first two photo books
Making a photo book has become easier and more accessible than ever before. You can create a beautifully finished tome full of your favourite images with your choice of paper, binding and cover style, all without leaving home or spending a small fortune.
But producing a book for your own pleasure is one thing; selfpublishing is something else. Where do you start, what are the opportunities and, perhaps most crucially, what are the pitfalls?
Vanda Ralevska has loved reading and owning books since her childhood, yet it was only recently that she decided to get herself into print with a view to gaining a wider audience for her work.
‘My photography started when I was a teenager,’ Vanda says. ‘I grew up in a coal-mining city in communist Czechoslovakia with no opportunities to travel to exotic places and photograph spectacular views. Nevertheless, the camera taught me how to appreciate where I lived and what was available to me.’ She came to study in the UK in 1997. ‘It was the biggest milestone in my life, so the date is etched in my memory,’ she continues. ‘I travelled overland, because I couldn’t afford a flight, which was fortuitous. The first sight of the White Cliffs of Dover lit by beautiful sunrise light made me fall in love with the country there and then. At that time, I could only dream about living here.’ After university, she had an opportunity to stay and work here. A few years later she became a British citizen and now feels lucky to call the UK her home.
At first, Vanda explored the country capturing wider landscapes and big vistas. However, over the years her photographic style changed. She started to turn her camera to quieter scenes and smaller details, mostly closer to home. Her approach also changed from striving to capture single images that would stand out on their own to focusing on series of images, which then turned into photographic projects.
About ten years ago, she started taking photos of the English coastal towns out of season. ‘My childhood holidays to the Black Sea in Bulgaria made me long for living close to the sea. Little did I know that my dream would come true. I’m now fortunate enough to live in a country that is surrounded by the sea.
‘With winter being my favourite season, I spent many weekends at the seaside. I enjoyed capturing the solemn beauty of the deserted beaches, and the silence and solitude of walking along the empty promenades. I wanted to preserve the melancholic atmosphere and the sense of waiting for the ret
