labor


At its current scale, paper cameras press hosts 2 co-authors and 1 editor for every publication. Beyond these roles, the press operates on fluid participation, attending to the making and working communities at any given moment. 

authors

While creating a publication, authors assume the responsibility of generating material for 1 publication, being accountable to their own practice, needs, and desires for group work, as well as listening to those of their partner. How the 2 authors collaborate is up to them: for example, they may wish to build a curriculum together or work independently and offer each other support.

editor

The editor assumes the responsibility of initiating a publication project, inviting 2 participants to co-author, facilitating the issue’s beginning, and, from there, organizing process while offering editorial guidance in accord to co-created community agreements. Anyone who has authored a publication is invited to edit.

organizer

paper cameras press is a small project organized by Katie Giritlian. Katie’s role, beyond occasionally participating in various publication projects as editor or author, can be as involved or not involved as editors and authors desire, with administrative tools and systems ready to share when or if needed. At the bare minimum, Katie assumes responsibility to:
  • orient participants to the press’ resources
  • disperse funding;
  • meet with editors and authors at various stages of the process:
    • near a beginning to wave hello,
    • near a final draft to offer thoughts and resources towards production,
    • and near a publication’s circulation to weigh in on pricing and copyright;
  • funnels ready publications to website and coordinates circulation.
 

design

paper cameras press supports the possibilities for mutual learning that publishing provides. There is no set or pre-determined designer for any publication; a book may be designed by all or by one. Such is to be determined by the group through co-created agreements and over the course of understanding the publication they wish to share with the world.

For example, there may be one person in the group who has plenty of experience with publication design, and another who has limited practice but is eager to learn. While drawing agreements, it might be decided that efficiency is less important than mutual learning, allowing the two to team up to design the issue together. Or, the inverse might occur; they may decide for capacity’s sake that the more experienced designer should carry the work this time, with the agreement that the two schedule time outside of the publication project to skill-share.

print

Similarly to design, how a publication is printed is contingent on the resources available through the making and working community. Currently, paper cameras press has access to: 
  • b&w laser printer
  • color inkjet printer
  • spiral coil binding + wire binding machines

pace

The press runs slow, and it sweats steadily as it attends, first and foremost, to the intimate group making and working. It is with this slow work that the operating budget has capacity to make 1-2 publication projects per year and host 3 makers per publication project. Expected hours for each publication is scalable and seeks to prioritize capacity; though it is expected that each project, with its small operation, will require at least 6 months for completion.




︎︎︎ back to terms