The Afronauts by Cristina De Middel - Preview and book/app comparison

I've been able to preview the upcoming "The Afronauts" App by Cristina De Middel and Ubicuo Studio for two days. The book the app is based on got a lot of attention, sold out quickly and is now out of reach for most people. Cristina didn't want to print a second edition of the book, and instead decided to make an app to make the work more accessible.

Many are familiar with the book so I decided to post some comparison samples between the book and the app.
As you can see, the book is on the left and the app to the right. Two of the images to the right features two images/pages of the app, and are divided by a thin black line. Click the photos to enlarge.
I would like to thank Tom Claxton of Claxton Projects for letting me use his beautiful photos of the book.

The app will be compatible with both iPad and iPhone, and will launch on April 17th costing €5.99.

Photos of the book © Claxton Projects. Photos of the app are iPad screen grabs.

Tusk by Ana Cabaleiro

The images above are iPad screen grabs.

"Ana Cabaleiro is a spanish emerging film photographer, who is extremely masterful at capturing the beauty of the arid, vast, and lonely spaces.

Ana & Atem Books publishing house joined forces in order to present a contemporary way of understanding photography -a photo book application for iPad, which allows us to travel over the photographer series, flow amongst expandable photographs of idyllic and hidden landscapes and of Ana’s most nocturnal and intimate side.

The enchanting quality of these strictly film photos teletransports you into a magical place, where you can feel the texture and smell the perfume of the fresh air and where you can also download some of this feelings as wallpapers. As if you were a passenger of this adventure…"  Ubicuo Studio

Format: App compatible with iPad only.

Price: $0.99

Links: iTunes and Ubicuo Studio

Comment: This app doesn't only include "Tusk", but also the "Fanzine-Diary". The photography in Tusk is to me what looks like roadtrip photography, vast landscapes with warm light, often with a person in them.
The music in the Tusk book works well with the photos. The photos in Fanzine are more of the personal and intimate kind, and in both books nature is often used as a backdrop.
The design has a good structure, but at the same time tries to make creative use of the horizontal direction, with some photos starting at one page and ending at the next. The same can be said of some of the small photos that you have to enlarge to get a closer look at. These are conscious decisions and it's good to see this kind of experimentation, which sometimes makes it a bit more exciting to look at.


RATING:

Content: 14/20

Design: 12/15

Value: 5/5

TOTAL: 31/40

Add Y to X by Las Coleccionistas

The images above are iPad screen grabs.

"Add Y to X is an interactive photobook by Las Coleccionistas. This book explores the unconscious gestures of the portrayed persons. Through the unconscious portrait we can find fragments, heterogenous parts of the portrayed person. An abstract of his/her existence.

Moreover, the application contains a detailed explanation of the project method, texts and audios of what the portrayed persons were thinking while the photo was taken and a song as a soundtrack of the project.

Add Y to X is an open project. Just as there are plenty of unconscious gestures – there also can be a lot of different relations between the portrayed and the photographer. We invite you to collaborate with the project following our method and sending us your results. This way we’ll be able to multiply the project to discover and share unconsciousness worldwide."  Ubicuo Studio

Format: App compatible with iPad only.

Price: Free

Links: iTunes and Ubicuo Studio

Comment: As this app is in Spanish only, it won't be rated. The design and portraits looks pretty good though, and it's free, so it's worth a look even if you don't know Spanish.