Photographic Flip Books

A flip book is a simple way to animate images. Also referred to as flick books or folioscopes, flip books can be approached as small films, with similiar considerations of direction, scenery, and lighting. The sound of the fluttering pages mimics the sound of a film reel turning, and the rectangular format is similar to a film screen. Unlike video or film animations, the flip book turns the viewer into the animator. The viewer brings the still images to life, controls the speed (by shuffling through slowly or quickly), and the story (by viewing the action forwards and backwards).

You can make your own flip book by taking pictures with a film or digital camera, printing the images in a darkroom or on a digital printer, and binding the stills into a book. See the Reframing Photography book for detailed descriptions of considerations when shooting, editing, laying out, printing, cutting, and binding images, and for instructions for how to create an Action in Adobe Photoshop and use this to Batch Process your files. Below are some examples of artists' photographic flip books.

MADALYN HOCHENDONER, book of juice, BOOK OF TEA; Book of Wine.

This three-part series brings to life traditional still-lifes. Book of Juice animates a morning feast. In Book of Tea, tea is drunk and examined. Wine is drunk and pie served in Book of Wine.

Madalyn Hochendoner, Book of Juice. Book of Tea, Book of Wine. 3 Flip books with color photographs. 2011.

ALLISON KNOLL, HAND NARRATIVE.

In this series of flipbooks, the narrators' hands tell the story.

Allison Knoll, Hand Narrative series. 3 Flip books with color photographs. 2011.