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FORM Magazine talks to Aneta Kowalczyk and Grzegorz Kosmala about the intricacies of book-based industry, Asian vs European markets and promises that sometimes can be broken.
intro
Established in 2012, BLOW UP PRESS (or BUP, for short) is a family-run boutique publisher of photobooks and lens-based art books. Originally launched online, after four years of work BUP switched to paper to quickly become a recognizable producer of sophisticated and meticulously curated books that deal with profound thought-provoking themes such as social inequality, historical memory, identity, and personal narratives. The publications designed by Aneta Kowalczyk and managed by Grzegorz Kosmala are renowned for their compelling storytelling and unique approach to every project. Notable works include Hotel of Eternal Light by Karolina Spolniewski, which explores the psychological scars of detention, and Dame Gulizar and Other Love Stories by Rebecca Topakian, a project intertwining Armenian family history with mythology.
Sharing BUP’s dedication to stories, which, as the couple’s motto says, always matter, FORM Magazine talked to Aneta and Grzegorz about the intricacies of book-based industry, Asian vs European markets and promises that sometimes can be broken.
Sharing BUP’s dedication to stories, which, as the couple’s motto says, always matter, FORM Magazine talked to Aneta and Grzegorz about the intricacies of book-based industry, Asian vs European markets and promises that sometimes can be broken.
interview
- FORM MagazineYou have been running BUP for over a decade performing each of you a multiple range of roles, so my question would be the following: what is more difficult — to make photobooks or to sell them?Aneta KowalczykDefinitely to sell!
- Grzegorz KosmalaSurely, to sell! And in selling photobooks the most difficult thing is related to the very nature of what we are selling. It is not an object — the book as such. In our case, we are also selling stories. At different book fairs or festivals, when people approach our table we do all we can trying to impress them by the stories our publications address. And it is natural that the reactions differ — people do not necessarily share the same interest in what we encourage them to go through, or to read. I find this task really difficult to do.
- Aneta KowalczykI would add that, apart from selling stories, we are also selling emotions — everything intangible that surrounds the photobook. Because our books are not only about the images you see in them.
That is why, probably, after each fair we feel really worn-out because we invest 100% of ourselves into the process — or even more! — because we are not only explaining what stories our photobooks hold, but also sharing our passion about the medium. - Grzegorz KosmalaWhereas at the stage of book design, it is just Aneta doing her magic, and I can be fully relaxed — so it’s very easy for me.
Moreover, I’d say that the selling process differs a lot depending on who our client is. While individual buyers can get a fuller experience of the book by touching it and interacting with it as an object, reaching the same goal with bookstores owners or distributors is impossible. In latter cases our presentation is limited to just a few short paragraphs in a pdf document — and you can imagine how inventive one has to be to describe in words what can only be experienced through the senses that are not actually involved into the process.
- FORM MagazineSo, I assume that in selling, or telling, a story behind a particular photobook you also need to be a good psychologist — in order to understand right away what kind of person is standing in front of your table at a book fair and what is the best tactic in approaching him or her…Aneta KowalczykWe definitely do not calculate each client’s profile [laughs] but rather observe. Someone can immediately show interest in a particular book and we just follow this cue and start a conversation — later moving from one book to the others we have on the table.
- Grzegorz KosmalaActually we threaten the people to approach the BUP table, telling them, Please, ask us questions — otherwise we start talking!
- FORM MagazineOk, so humor is one of the tricks, got it!Grzegorz KosmalaOf course! Humour is an indispensable part of our job, we cannot take everything seriously.
- Aneta KowalczykBut our books are very serious, come on!
- Grzegorz KosmalaSure, but we never stand with serious snobbish faces scaring the people away! What is important to understand is that every person is different, so in our case I think we need somehow feel under the skin how to talk to a particular person and if you see that a person has an earplug in his ear, this person is probably not interested in hearing anything from us. And if you see how a person reacts to the photographs in the book…
- Aneta Kowalczyk… or shows no reaction, indifferently flipping through the pages…
- Grzegorz KosmalaYes, in this case I might say, Why don’t you slow down a bit?
- Aneta KowalczykNot necessarily, I don’t do it. For me, it would mean that this person is just not interested, I can see that.
- Grzegorz KosmalaOr when there are two people and they are having a conversation with each other and checking some book in a sort of automatic mode. It’s a shame, but it’s normal.
- FORM MagazineWhat about the changes in both people’s behavior and purchasing habits, when it comes to photobooks? How has the market transformed during these ten years? Do you observe some dynamics in large art and book fairs and festivals' attendance, for example?Grzegorz KosmalaYes, I do…
- Aneta KowalczykReally? I don’t see any changes.
- Grzegorz KosmalaWhat you can notice is that no book fair is separate from our reality. If there are some risky or dangerous events occuring in the country, or the political climate is hostile, the economy is definitely affected and people would buy less. Books — and here I mean not only photobooks but books in general — are the first items people would refrain from buying. Yes, they might purchase something — but only one. In today’s Eastern Europe and the USA, for example, people limit their expenses on pleasures like books.
Moreover, there are some countries — German-speaking ones — where people in general are more… thrifty. Even if they like more books on your table, they would usually buy only one. And I am not sure why: either because the budget is tight or because they have taken a personal decision not to buy more than one. I don’t know. - Aneta KowalczykIn this regard, France is the best!
- Grzegorz KosmalaYes, and I think it is connected with their extremely rich history of photography and photobooks. In France they manifest a completely different approach to these media and I don’t see them treating photobooks as luxury — they rather see in them ordinary objects they’d like to be surrounded with. But let’s take more examples.
Based on our last year’s experience of taking part in both Asian and American fairs (of course, keep in mind it was America before Trump), we can compare the sales at ICP Photobook Fest and Tokyo Art Book Fair. The former was just fantastic, while in Japan the interest was high but due to the economic situation people also showed a one-book-purchase tendency. Yes, Japan, similar to France, has a long tradition of photobooks, but they treat them differently… and I still don’t fully understand historical or cultural reasons for that. Maybe for them having a photobook at home is like having a very special and meaningful — in a way also luxurious — item. - Aneta KowalczykI would not even say that this is the case of recent years. Japan has traditionally not been so interested in buying expensive books. Then there is also a difference between selling photobooks at an art book fair and at a photobook one. The audience’s engagement varies. I remember that at Tokyo Art Book Fair at a stall next to ours they were selling koala-shaped bread — and such goods seemed to smoothly match the concept of art.
- FORM MagazineNow a boring question — should a good photobook always be expensive?Aneta KowalczykNot at all. And it always depends on the production — how much all the ingredients — if I may say — cost. A good book can also be very small and cheap.
- Grzegorz KosmalaI would say that the price depends on the story. It would be a huge contradiction if, for example, in a story about hunger we had used expensive paper and hardcover. It would be against the project, against the story that we want to tell.
- Aneta KowalczykMoreover, the price that one would define as expensive also differs. For one person it would be 50, for another one 150. The perception of price would also differ across countries. In some hotels 40 Euro is a price its clients pay for breakfast. So, why should a similar price for a book that stays with you forever be seen as high?
- Grzegorz KosmalaWe sometimes do a comparison at different book fairs — checking out the price of a cup of espresso. Come on, this book is only the price of seven espressos in this bar! we say.
- FORM MagazineAnd coming back to the motto When the Story Matters, we can enjoy on BUP’s merch — a question that I have always wanted to ask: is there a story that, in your opinion, doesn’t actually need a photobook? Or — which story can never be turned into a photobook?Grzegorz Kosmala[laughs] What a question! There is no story that doesn’t need to become a book. Everything depends on the idea of how you want to present it. Or how you want to talk about it. If you have a really brilliant plan on how to talk about… cats… Wait, let me start it differently. When we launched BLOW UP PRESS, we noticed that if you put something on social media, the biggest number of Likes were given to images of cats doing some strange things. So, we promised ourselves that we’d never make a book about cats…
- Aneta Kowalczyk[says sadly]… but we will…
- FORM MagazineAnd it’s not Martin Parr?Aneta Kowalczyk + Grzegorz KosmalaNo-no-no! It’s a visual artist from Belgium Katherine Longly.
- Aneta KowalczykThe book we will make is not going to be funny at all!
- Grzegorz KosmalaSo, my point is that it really depends on how we want to approach the… — let's say — an ordinary story, that is a story that you’d never imagine could become a book.
- Aneta KowalczykEverything depends on what you’d like to say with this particular story. And probably the only thing that doesn’t interest us is when someone has no idea of what they would like to tell the world with their project — what is the thought behind the images. And, believe me, there are so many ways of how you can make a good story bad… So, I agree with Grzegorz — each story has a potential, if you know WHAT you’d like to tell through this story.
- Grzegorz KosmalaAnd, you know, I cannot imagine a story that BUP would immediately say no to — and never publish.
- Aneta KowalczykNever can I. Once we promised to never make a book about cats, and look at us now!
The upcoming events where you can see BLOW UP PRESS photobooks are Fotofestiwal, Łódź, Poland (June 12-15, 2025) and Photobooks Switzerland, Geneva, Switzerland (June 13-15, 2025)
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