David Degner

Ikeda Center · Cambridge, Massachusetts

Low view past a reclining reader toward an open book and sunlit leaves.
An open book above a reclining reader during the Ikeda Center assignment.

Photographing a reader’s pause

For this commercial photography assignment, the Ikeda Center in Cambridge asked me to photograph a book release and a complete set of its publications for it’s website. Working with the Center’s staff and location, I used these staff portraits to explore the feeling of reading through hands, posture and the space around each reader.

Staff member holding an open book outdoors, looking beyond the pages beneath a tree.
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Staff member reclining on a wooden bench while reading the teal-covered book.
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Staff member reclining on teal carpet and reading America Will Be! beside wooden cabinetry.
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A group of books arranged upright on stands across a wooden table.
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Stack of ten books on a wooden surface, with their titles visible along the spines.
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Daisaku Ikeda, Transnationalism, and American Literature in front of other displayed books.
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Daisaku Ikeda, Transnationalism, and American Literature displayed alone on a metal stand.
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