‘Om (Mother)

Book cover‘Om (Mother)
Book cover‘Om (Mother)
Book cover‘Om (Mother)
Book cover‘Om (Mother)

‘Om (Mother) is a small and delicate book, the thin pages are wrapped in the dust jacket made out of the same paper. When removing the sleeve, we see the binding: a strip of white, bandage-like tape covering the book’s spine, partially overlapping the title on the first page. The theme of the book is urgent, telling a story of eight women from Tel Rumeida, Hebron in Palestine, who document their everyday life with the camera as an ultimate act of resistance.

 

The student jury agreed that the book is important, but had doubts about the fragility of the object and the treatment of the images. They suggest a topic of this weight should be presented with sturdier material to ensure its longevity and embrace the importance. The images are often divided by the binding because of their placement on the spread. The student jury also debated whether the tape covering the title was intentional and if it could be solved differently. Despite those doubts, the book stands out, with its beautiful color combination of the brown paper, yellow typography, and lithography.

Edition: 2024
Date of publication: May 2024
Author: Barbara Debeuckelaere, Adam Broomberg
Language: English
Final editor: Barbara Debeuckelaere, Carel Fransen
Image editor: Barbara Debeuckelaere, Carel Fransen
Photographer: Barbara Debeuckelaere in collaboration with Palestinian mothers
Artist: Barbara Debeuckelaere
Publisher: The Eriskay Connection, Breda
Graphic designer: Carel Fransen (Breda)
Lithographer: Carel Fransen, Breda
Printer: Albe De Coker, Antwerpen (BE)
Binder: Sepeli, Evergem (BE)
Book producer: Albe De Coker, Antwerpen (BE)
Size book block (w x h x d in mm): 115 × 165 x 26
Number of pages: 320
Print run: 900
Price: € 30
ISBN: 9789083357171
Font and foundry: Bradford (Lineto), Unica77 Mono (Lineto), Athelas Arabic (TypeTogether)
Binding style: Sewn self-cover, dust jacket; cold-glued; spine laminated with binder tape
Paper for interior (grammage): 100gsm Muskat Brown, 90gsm EOS 2.0, Igepa
Material cover (grammage): 90gsm EOS 2.0, Igepa
Special features: Dust jacket and interior printed in CMYK; dust jacket wrapped around the first and last page of the book block; binder tape on the spine is a material that is usually used invisibly in the spines of book blocks
Awards: Shortlist, Die Schönste Bücher aus aller Welt, 2025