Illusions of Self
Dublin Core
Title
Illusions of Self
Subject
Conceptual
Description
The photobook Illusions of Self is an exploratory meditation on the ways in which the self inhabits everyday spaces and things.
In the series, I used my camera and image-making to reflect on the traces of selves embedded in the untouched domesticity of my mother’s home after she died.
The work combines realist images of everyday rooms and possessions, their deterioration and eventual disappearance, with speculative photomontages that combine my own images with archival material. The photomontages reflect on the ways in which fragments of seen, unseen and hidden selves can come to inhabit us, coalescing in momentary and persistent fusions, melancholic speculations and darker agitations.
The photobook includes a number of cutouts within the pages that are intended to create fluidity within the photobook as an object as well as shifting perspectives of the images within.
Underpinning the series is my interest in the ways that image-making can be used to frame, open and narrow meaning-making together with a delight in the materiality and sculptural qualities of the photograph and photobook.
In the series, I used my camera and image-making to reflect on the traces of selves embedded in the untouched domesticity of my mother’s home after she died.
The work combines realist images of everyday rooms and possessions, their deterioration and eventual disappearance, with speculative photomontages that combine my own images with archival material. The photomontages reflect on the ways in which fragments of seen, unseen and hidden selves can come to inhabit us, coalescing in momentary and persistent fusions, melancholic speculations and darker agitations.
The photobook includes a number of cutouts within the pages that are intended to create fluidity within the photobook as an object as well as shifting perspectives of the images within.
Underpinning the series is my interest in the ways that image-making can be used to frame, open and narrow meaning-making together with a delight in the materiality and sculptural qualities of the photograph and photobook.
Creator
Crispin Day
Publisher
Crispin Day Photography
Date
2025
Format
Page size: 259 x 195mm portrait format
No. of pages: 156pp + endpapers
Indigo printed onto Mohawk Eggshell White, 148gsm
Endpapers printed onto Colorplan Smoke and Claret 135gsm
Section sewn
9 or 10 rectangular cut-outs in the pages
Casebound using Astral bookcloth
Recessed shape on front cover for mounted photographs
Title and author name foil blocked onto spine and back cover
Two short essays
No. of pages: 156pp + endpapers
Indigo printed onto Mohawk Eggshell White, 148gsm
Endpapers printed onto Colorplan Smoke and Claret 135gsm
Section sewn
9 or 10 rectangular cut-outs in the pages
Casebound using Astral bookcloth
Recessed shape on front cover for mounted photographs
Title and author name foil blocked onto spine and back cover
Two short essays
Book Item Type Metadata
Dimensions
H 25.9cms W 19.5cms, D 2.5cms
Number of Pages
156
Number of images
111
Edition Size
20
Place of Publication
United Kingdom, London
Designer
Crispin Day
Editor
Crispin Day
Printer
Book Works, London
ISBN
978-1-9191975-0-0
Website
www.crispindayphotography
URL Link to project
https://www.crispinday.photography/illusionsofself
Where to buy
crispinsmday@gmail.com
Citation
Crispin Day, “Illusions of Self,” Photobook Cafe Photobook Collection, accessed August 18, 2025, https://www.photobookcafe-archive.co.uk/items/show/1746.