Framing the Overlooked: Insights from Wesley Verhoeve and His Latest Photo Book

10 Questions around design, curation, and producing your first photo book

Nov 03, 2024

Like many of the 13,000+ photographers who follow Wesley Verhoeve, I first discovered him through his remarkable Substack newsletter, Process. It's a vibrant and invaluable resource for photographers at any stage of their journey. I've been a reader for years and have had the pleasure of connecting with Wesley over our shared passion for photography and music. With the release of his new photo book, we thought this would be a perfect opportunity to bridge the gap and share his insights with the Church & Street community. So, without further ado, here are 10 questions with Wesley Verhoeve.

The Conversation

Gajan: Wesley, how would you describe your creative journey to another photographer?

Wesley: My creative journey has been driven by curiosity and a need to process the world around me. I often find that the act of photographing allows me to understand things, and myself, more deeply—whether it’s a personal experience or an external environment. Over the years, I’ve moved from documenting what was in front of me to becoming more intentional about telling stories that can move people.

G: Process has become an invaluable source of information and inspiration for over 13,000 photographers around the world, including myself. How has the act of writing consistently influenced your journey as a photographer?

W: Writing Process each week has been transformative. It's made me more reflective and intentional about my photography. When you articulate your thoughts consistently, you start to connect the dots in unexpected ways. Writing forces me to slow down, evaluate my work, and think about why I’m making the creative choices I do.

It’s also helped me build a community around photography, where I can engage in conversations with other photographers about the challenges and rewards of our craft. That shared experience has been really rewarding and keeps me inspired to continue both writing and photographing. The support keeps me going.

G: Let’s talk about your book: NOTICE Journal, Volume One. You describe this book as an invitation to explore the beauty of often-overlooked places. What was your method to discovering these overlooked moments of beauty?

W: It began with paying closer attention to my everyday surroundings. This started in a Vancouver suburb while I was stuck there during covid and created the body of work that became my previous book, NOTICE (2021). After moving to Amsterdam, I was processing a bunch of big life changes and they needed to be processed. I started using a small, half-frame camera, which limits you in certain ways but also forces you to see differently. It’s a slower, more deliberate way of photographing, which made me notice details that I might have otherwise overlooked.

Walking through the city, I found beauty but also humor in things like cracks in the pavement, reflections in windows, or the way light hits a wall at a certain time of day. It was about being present, staying curious, and allowing myself to be surprised by small moments. And the half-frame camera allowed me to tell stories in diptychs, with one image representing what came before and the other what might come next.

G: Did the idea for this book arrive after you had started this photographic exploration, or was creating this book the point of departure to explore overlooked environments?

W: The idea for the book came after I had already been photographing for a while. At first, I wasn’t working towards a specific goal—I was just capturing what felt meaningful to me in the moment. But as I looked back through the images, a theme started to emerge. I saw a pattern in the places and details I was drawn to, and that’s when the idea for the book started to form.

The book became a way to make sense of what I had been photographing, and processing in my life. I built the body of work across three spring seasons, and spring ended up being a metaphor for renewal after a challenging time. Spring for me represents nostalgia and hope.

G: Can you tell us about the film used for these images and why it was important for this book?

W: I used black-and-white cinema film called Double X that’s been used in classic films by directors like Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese. The film has a certain grain and tonal range that gives the images a timeless quality, which I thought was important for this project. By removing colour, I wanted to strip the scenes down to their essentials and let the textures, shapes, and contrasts do the storytelling. It’s also a nod to the way cinema often uses black and white to convey emotion and nostalgia, which felt fitting for the themes of this book.

G: Ralph Gibson is an incredible photographer, but also just a brilliant mind. One of my favourite lessons from him was around the process of pairing images—the goal being to make them greater than they would be individually. Is this how you viewed your curation process? And if so, I’d love to hear a little about your curation process.

W: Absolutely, I’m a big believer in the power of image pairing. Having paired images is like creating a conversation between two photos, where each one enhances the other and adds new layers of meaning. My previous book NOTICE consists of a meditative visual drone of pairings, created in the curatorial and sequencing phase of making the book. I loved the dynamic so much that I chose to shoot with the half-frame format for this next book, taking away control from my end, and letting the pairings happen in-camera, sometimes intentionally and sometimes by stroke of luck. I loved working this way.

G: Which image pairing in this book feels most special to you?

W: There’s one pairing that stands out to me, and it’s near the middle of the book. On one side, there’s an image of raven mid-flight, moved, in a white and cloudy sky, and on the opposite page, there’s a darker sky with a little poof of white cloud in the same place as the raven.

They were, of course, taken in short succession of each other, but I had no idea I was echoing compositions from one to the other. I only saw that once my scans came back. Together, they represent a feeling of solitude but also a sense of calm. There is movement, but also stillness. The contrast between dark and light, emptiness and presence, really resonates with me.

G: With respect to designing a photo book, you once shared, “Each design choice plays a small role in a prompt to encourage the reader.” Can you share a specific design choice in this book that you’re especially proud of and the significance behind it?

W: One of the key design choices was using blank space intentionally throughout the book. I wanted the reader to have room to breathe between images, to let each photo linger before moving on to the next. This decision also mirrors the experience of walking through a city—there’s a rhythm to the way we move through spaces, and I wanted to replicate that in the book. The pacing, the spacing, and the sequence of images all contribute to that sense of flow. I’m particularly proud of how that blank space helps create a contemplative experience for the reader.

There is also the choice of materials, for example the light blue of the cover represents that hopeful feeling spring time gives us after a long dark winter. That first breaking of the clouds.

G: Outside of capturing the images, where did you spend the most time in putting this book together?

W: Curation, without a doubt. I spent hours reviewing and refining the selection of images, playing with different sequences, and thinking about how the flow of the book would feel. It wasn’t just about finding the best photos, but about how they interacted with each other and told a cohesive story.

I also put a lot of thought into the design elements, from the typeface to the layout, because I believe the physical book itself should enhance the experience of the photographs. I was lucky to work with some amazing talents, including Dan Rubin who designed the interior, and Maxwell George who designed the gatefold cover. Their talents really helped push the story even further.

G: What would you share with other photographers looking to put their first book together?

W: Don’t rush it. Take your time to really think about the story you want to tell and how your images work together as a body of work. A photo book is not just a collection of images—it’s a narrative, and every decision, from the photos you include to the design and layout, contributes to that narrative. Also, seek feedback. Show your work to people whose opinions you trust and be open to making changes. And most importantly, make something that feels personal and meaningful to you. If it resonates with you, it’s likely to resonate with others too.

Additional Resources

Wesley is an incredibly generous creative with a passion for photography that’s infectious. I consider it a gift to be able to connect with him on the medium we share. Be sure to pre-order his book here. If you somehow aren’t following his work, make sure to subscribe to Process as well. And for even more information on uildign your first photo book, check out Wesley’s ongoing series below.

Step 1 ☼ Finding The Right Concept to Build a Book Around
Step 2 ☼ How To Select and Organize Your Images
Step 3 ☼ How To Sequence Your Images and Build a Narrative
Step 4 ☼ Designing A Layout (As A Non-Designer)
Step 5 + 6 ☼ How To Make A Photo Book Dummy + Revise/Edit
Step 7 ☼ How To Write and Use Text In Your Photo Book or Zine
Step 8 ☼ How To Make Smart Design Choices For Your Photo Book
Step 9 ☼ How To Design A Book Cover
Step 10 ☼ Choosing your printer and your materials

October Contest Winner

Congratulations to the winner of last month’s contest:

Corrine S.

You’ll receive an email directly from me on receiving your prize. Enjoy!

New November Contest

Each month, I’ll be giving away a $200 gift card to the Moment Shop where the winner can save big on their next camera, lens, bag, or courses. Moment has so many creative products to choose from and $200 can absolutely make for a better deal.

How am I picking the winner? All you have to do is be a free member of this community and leave a comment on this post. As with every contest, I’ll be randomly picking one person, confirming they meet the requirements and contacting them directly before announcing the winner publicly.

Once again, this contest is void where prohibited by law. Good luck!

My thanks to the team at Moment! Not only for this contest but for being the longest supporter of my work online. They’re a lean team of passionate creators that truly believe in supporting other creatives on their journey. Whether it’s a new camera, lens, workshop, or just some great articles, visit ShopMoment.com today.

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What’s Next?

I’ll be dropping a new YouTube video this week where I try out a new lens during a test shoot. Usually, I create a script and produce a traditional first impressions video where it’s a lot me talking to the camera. This time, I decided to go a little informal with the approach. It’s a fresh and more candid take than what you’re used to from my channel, and I’d love to hear what you think when it comes out.

Anyway, that’s enough for this week. See ya next time!