Beautiful: BeautifulMag Cover Story | Thomas Synnamon's Coffee Table Boys

BeautifulMag Covers

Notes

(c) BeautifulMagTM 2005 – 2011. BeautifulMag is the trademark of BeautifulMedia. All rights reserved. Use of this web site is subject to terms and conditions of use. Your continued use of this web site is deemed acceptance of these terms. You may display this web site on your computer device for your own personal use only. Republishing or retransmitting or any other use (electronic or otherwise) of any of the content of this web site without the prior written consent of BeautifulMedia is strictly forbidden. BeautifulMedia respects other parties copyright. If you believe that any of our content infringes on your copyright please contact us immediately.

ART AND ITS APPRECIATION IS A WAY OF LIFE. EVERY ART COLLECTOR KNOWS THIS. THE PRACTISE OF COLLECTING PIECES OF ART HAS A STRONG EMOTIONAL AND INTELLECTUAL VALUE. IT REFLECTS WHO YOU ARE. IT ALSO REFLECTS YOUR SOCIAL STATUS BECAUSE ART IS BY DEFINITION EXPENSIVE. BECAUSE IT IS UNIQUE. AND THEREFORE, FOR THOSE WHO CANNOT AFFORD TO BUY THE REAL THING, THERE ARE REPLICA’S. OR CATALOGUES. OR BOOKS.

Because it isn’t for everyone to own real pieces of art, either because of a lack of space or financial means, there are books with beautiful pictures of these so desirable objects. These books come in different formats and editions, and are by themselves also not always among the cheapest productions. Some of them are dedicated to an artist who has a show in a prestigious gallery. Or to a rare collection that was made available in an auction house such as Sotheby’s. Those are catalogues. Others are actual books. High quality volumes that either focus on a theme or on an artist in retrospective, and that often come with nice bindings and beautiful printed hard covers with dust jackets. These are the so-called coffee table books.

For a photographer, having a published coffee table book is a true accomplishment. And why wouldn’t it be. It is a crown on a period of work, and it gives you a real thrill to hold a vast volume of pages in your hand, knowing it was you who was responsible for the content. Believe me, we know what we are talking about. However, lately there seems to be an enormous increase in the amount of coffee table books. Due to the technique of digital printing and the cheaper production processes in other parts of the world, we are now suffering from an overflow of photo books and if you are looking for something specific it is becoming difficult to see the forest for the trees. So what can you do if you are a talented photographer and still want to do something remarkable. Something that stands out.

Thomas Synnamon, a man who has so much talent and ideas he simply cannot stop shooting photos, already published a book. Last year he presented us Sleepless, a well-edited book with great portraits of men in different state of insomnia that guaranteed to prevent from falling asleep. The book was an instant success, but productive as he is, this wasn’t enough to make Tom slow down. On the contrary. Building on the success of Sleepless, Thomas Synnamon wanted to do something new, something bold. And while picking his brain what it could be, he realized he had the answer all along. Because why putting something in a book if you could have the real thing.

Is Thomas Synnamon a collector? The answer is probably yes. If he is an art collector, that remains to be seen. It depends on what you define as art. According to us, he is. The pieces he has surrounded himself with are definitely unique and the result of craftmenship and many years of work with a great eye for detail. They don’t fit on the wall, but apparently they fit perfectly on Thomas’ table. And while placing them there, Thomas Synnamon found his niche. Instead of producing and collecting coffee table books, he now creates his coffee table boys. Not as easy to page through as his book was, but most certainly another reason to stay up for. The only thing we can’t stop wondering is, how much one of these pieces would go for at Sotheby’s. –BM-

THOMAS SYNNAMON | BEAUTIFULMAG