Ideal Bookshelf + A Library Photography Project

Have you guys heard about Ideal Bookshelf? I read about it in NYLON around the time that the book was released in November 2012. Jane Mount started this project back in 2007, painting “portraits” of people in the form of the spines of their favorite books. She’s created prints and she will paint your favorite books too!

Reading about this made me think about a photography project I did a few years ago. In 2009, two weeks before Drew and I got married and went on an awesome two-week trip to Italy, I spent some time getting to know my new camera by taking some photos at the University of Washington. I intended to spend most of my time photographing the beautiful cherry blossoms that the quad is known for. It’s really pretty spectacular. 

At some point I ended up in the UW Library and saw rows and rows of colorful bound periodicals. I think I spent more time with these books than the cherry blossoms. 

I’ve never been into the organizing books by color trend (I don’t think I could find anything if I did it that way), but I can see why people do it.

How do you organize and display your books? Do your favorites get special treatment?