Stull
say's, "My work has allowed me to venture past the camera into the realm
of a humanist, an artistic life, delving into the intellectual, a more cerebral
life experience, creating what I call 'connectivism.'"
His
ongoing work is based in large-scale digital photography accompanied by
sculpture/body casts, composition art, painting, poetry/prose and drawings.
His art is then integrated, collectively, into exhibitions to provide the
viewer a once in a lifetime experience. The presentation of the work is
delivered to the viewer in a unique and emotionally powerful way.
Stull,
71, a self-taught artist, works in many artistic disciplines. Educated at San
Diego State University
with degrees in psychology, economics and philosophy during the 1960’s, amidst
the backdrop of the counter-culture revolution and the Viet Nam War, where his
social consciousness and political views were shaped. Stull emerged from a
Catholic Irish/German family, one of five children where work, discipline and
religion took precedence over emotional expressions of the self – a different
kind of loving environment. Being a husband of thirty-plus years and father to
two has taught him the power of kindness, love and commitment.
His latest
book is the fine art photography book, Encounters.
Visit his website at www.patrickstull.com.
BOOK BLURB:
With photography at its base, Stull offers a nuanced explication of his encounters to allow the viewer an opportunity to form a relationship with his art. While looking within ourselves, exploring our own feelings, he hopes that he will inspire greater humaneness in response to his art.
ENCOUNTERS is the second
in a series of six large-format books in which artist, photographer and author, Patrick Stull
explores a wide
range of experiences. Using light and
the physical body,
the written word and his artistry he creates imagery
that examines aspects
of the lives of women.
Stull brings
a powerful sense
of the surreal and the spiritual to his work
as he plots a course
along the many paths
of the human experience. His imagery runs
from the ghostly
and ephemeral to the flowing and fiery.
As much as he concentrates on the human
form, Stull never
forgets to focus
on the humanity
of his subjects. His
choice of the coffee-table style
book format draws
the viewer into
an experience both
intimate and universal.
Stull’s first
book in his series, titled
EVOLVE, was published in 2006. A third book,
titled HIDDEN DIMENSIONS, is completed and awaiting publication. Future titles
in the series
include DHARMA, BEING
DIFFERENT, and YOGA, A
HEALING MOMENT.
Stull hopes
that his readers
come away from the book with “a love for art and a respect
for the female
who gives us life
and challenges us to be better human beings.
ORDER YOUR COPY HERE
Thank you for your time in
answering our questions about getting published. Is this your first book?
Encounters is my second book, it contains 232 pages of unique imagery, prose, odes
and drawings. I have five more books headed to print over the next two years.
With
this particular book, how did you publish – traditional, small press, Indie,
etc. – and why did you choose this method?
I
self-published and found the book printer in Asia through
a Los Angeles fine art printing firm. I chose to self-publish, while
sourcing the printer myself. When creating reasonable quantities (1,000 plus),
you can’t efficiently print in the U.S. due to costs. Much of the cost is labor due to the
hardcover binding process. If you are not producing a hardcover, if the volumes
are 500 or less you might look into U.S based printers. I chose to print in Asia where I
found a good balance of all factors.
Can
you tell us a little about your publishing journey? The pros and cons?
The process of creating Encounters was daunting. Even though it
was an effort of love, it required the integration of imagery and text which is
somewhat unusual. This made things somewhat more challenging to promote to the
publishing world. However, I did reach out to some publishers to understand the
process. Once I had this understanding it was clear to me self-publishing was a
better choice. Specifically, the publishing world is very difficult to navigate
within a given timeframe. Costs and control over the product is relinquished by
the author. It became apparent that self-publishing would be the best
alternative for me. Finding a high-quality, fine art printer and deciding how I
was going to market and sell the book presented additional challenges. Self- publishing a book, allows control over costs, marketing and distribution. An author has complete ownership of the outcome. On the other hand, employment of a publisher affords a greater opportunity to generate attention to the book and perhaps greater income from sales.
What
lessons do you feel you learned about your particular publishing journey and
about the publishing industry as a whole?
If
you are an unknown author the probability that you will financially break- even
is challenging. When you look at the costs related to creating a book one must
consider that the development, printing, shipping, fulfillment and storage,
credit card processing and publisher’s expense leave little proceeds unless you
can scale sales.
Would
you recommend this method of publishing to other authors?
I am
at the beginning of this publishing adventure so there is little to say except,
I would reach out to publishers before self-publishing. This way you educate
yourself as to what works for you. Keep in mind that self-publishing does limit
your market exposure.
What’s
the best advice you can give to aspiring authors?
My
advice is “less is more.” Avoid saturating the reader with who you are and what
you think. Never allow your ego to dominate the message and always approach
your reader/viewer with humility. This allows truth and reality to rise to the
surface for all to enjoy.
If you
decide to self-publish you should first consider what it is you are trying to
accomplish: financial success, notoriety, the exercise of skills or simply
personal gratification. Each of these things influence the effort. Life is
random, so expect nothing from your efforts however, dream that the world will
embrace your work and that you will have the opportunity to create more for
their enjoyment.
Be patient and never stop doing what you love. Persistence is powerful.
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