Self Publish, Be Happy (SPBH) is an organisation founded by Bruno Ceschel in 2010 that aims to help aspiring photographers to

self-publish Self-publishing is an author-driven publication of any media without the involvement of a third-party publisher. Since the advent of the internet, self-published usually depends upon digital platforms and print-on-demand technology, ranging fr ...

their own

books A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, mo ...

. It does so through workshops, talks, exhibitions, live events, on/offline projects and publicising of books. It is based on Ridley Road, in

Dalston Dalston () is an area of East London, in the London Borough of Hackney. It is northeast of Charing Cross. Dalston began as a hamlet on either side of Dalston Lane, and as the area urbanised the term also came to apply to surrounding areas i ...

, London, where it keeps a library of some 2000 donated self-published zines and books. Since 2012 Self Publish, Be Happy has also published photography books as SPBH Editions. Ceschel is its director and Antonio de Luca its art director. It has published books by Broomberg & Chanarin, Cristina de Middel, Mariah Robertson, Lorenzo Vitturi and others. SPBH produces various series of publications—SPBH Book Club, which are sold as part of a yearly subscription as well as sold separately; SPBH Pamphlets, pamphlets with photography and text, including one by Anouk Kruithof; and Self Publish Be Naughty (SPBN), books of intimate pictures of people by their romantic partners. In November 2015 Ceshel's book ''Self Publish, Be Happy: A DIY Photobook Manual and Manifesto'' was published by

Aperture In optics, the aperture of an optical system (including a system consisting of a single lens) is the hole or opening that primarily limits light propagated through the system. More specifically, the entrance pupil as the front side image o ...

Reception

Parr and

Badger Badgers are medium-sized short-legged omnivores in the superfamily Musteloidea. Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by their squat bodies and adaptions for fossorial activity rather than by the ...

include ''Self Publish Be Naughty'' (2011) in the third volume of their photobook history. Critic

Sean O'Hagan Sean O'Hagan (born 1959) is an Irish singer and songwriter who leads the avant-pop band the High Llamas, which he founded in 1992. He is also known for being one half of the songwriting duo (with Cathal Coughlan) in Microdisney and for his wor ...

, writing in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', said "An accurate measure of SPBH’s importance to the contemporary cottage industry is the array of photobooks they have featured that I would cite as contemporary classics."

Publications (selected)

*''Self Publish Be Naughty.'' London: Self Publish, Be Happy, 2011. . 122 photographs from 75 photographers, and text. Edition of 1000 copies. *''AB&OC.'' SPBH Book Club Vol. I. By Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin. London: Self Publish, Be Happy, 2012. . Edition of 250 copies. *''SPBH Book Club Vol. II.'' By Brad Feuerhelm. London: Self Publish, Be Happy, 2012. Edition of 250 copies. *''SPBH Book Club Vol. III.'' By Cristina de Middel. London: Self Publish, Be Happy, 2013. . Edition of 500 copies. *''SPBH Book Club Vol. IV.'' By Mariah Robertson. London: Self Publish, Be Happy, 2013. . Edition of 500 copies. *''Dalston Anatomy.'' By Lorenzo Vitturi. **London: Self Publish, Be Happy, 2013. . Edition of 700 copies. **London: Self Publish, Be Happy, 2014. Edition of 1000 copies. *''SPBH Book Club Vol. V.'' By Esther Teichmann. London: Self Publish, Be Happy, 2014. . Edition of 500 copies. *''SPBH Book Club Vol. VI.'' By Melinda Gibson. London: Self Publish, Be Happy, 2014. Edition of 300 copies. *''SPBH Book Club Vol. VII.'' By Lucas Blalock. London: Self Publish, Be Happy, 2014. . Edition of 300 copies.

Events

*2010: ''Self Publish, Be Happy Weekend,'' Photographers' Gallery, London, 5–6 June 2010. *2013: ''Compilation Tokyo,'' Tokyo, 6–7 April 2013. A SPBH Live event where artists produced a publication live in front of an audience. This event produced ''Compilation Tokyo'' (2013) with Itami, Koji Kitagawa, Taisuke Koyama, Shinryo Saeki, Masafumi Shirakami, Hirosh Takagi, Hiroshi Takizawa, Nerhol, Kenji Hirasawa, Daisuke Yokota and Anne Schwalbe. *2015: Jimmy Limit with Self Publish, Be Happy,

Scotiabank The Bank of Nova Scotia (), operating as Scotiabank (), is a Canadian multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. One of Canada's Big Five (banks), Big Five banks, it is the ...

Contact Photography Festival, Toronto, Canada, 2 May 2015. *2015: Offprint London,

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery in London, housing the United Kingdom's national collection of international Modern art, modern and contemporary art (created from or after 1900). It forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Live ...

, London, 22–25 May 2015. *2015: ''Business as Usual: Self Publish, Be Happy in Residence,'' Photographers' Gallery, London, 20–27 November 2015. The SPBH office set up in the gallery, plus daily events.

Awards

Awards received for Self Publish, Be Happy publications: *2016: ''Fire in Cairo'' (2015) by Matthew Connors won Artist's Book award, Infinity Awards,

International Center of Photography The International Center of Photography (ICP) is a photography museum and school at 84 Ludlow Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City. ICP's photographic collection, reading room, and archives are at Mana Contemporary in Jer ...

, New York, NY

References

External links