It was fascinating to photograph in colour after eight years of working exclusively in black and white. I had to allow myself into the vibrant world of colour, even though my mind was still thinking in monochrome. Colours can be unpredictable, and it took practice to master colour balance, contrast and saturation in different ways. I had to embrace them as part of the journey and a way to grow as a photographer.
It was an exciting and somewhat intimidating experience.”
– Bart Kuykens, 2023
The interior consists of:
288 pages on Arena Rough White 170 gsm, printed recto/verso in LE-UV quadri – for optimal colour reproduction on tactile, uncoated paper.
40 pages in the middle on Forever Banana 120 gsm, printed recto/verso in LE-UV black – a visual and substantive pause that subtly evokes the atmosphere of his earlier work. The endpapers are unprinted and also made of Arena Rough 170 gsm – a deliberate moment of calm.
The cover was produced on Corvon CMD64526 Bronze – a luxurious, textile-like cover material with a slight sheen. The finish was done in:
The contrast between the matt yellow and the bronze surface makes the cover subtly striking – just like the images inside.
The book has 328 pages, consisting of 36 sections + 5 centre sections. The binding is sewn with a straight spine – sturdy, durable and elegant. The varying paper weights and transitions in printing technique create a rhythm that perfectly matches the thematic layers of the work.
Early Colour is not just any book. It is an artistic repositioning of an established photographer. For such publications, we do not think in terms of “print”, but in terms of paper compositions, contrast effects and image perception. We proposed paper combinations, tested black and colour on different substrates, and supervised every detail – right down to the choice of hot foil.
