2021 | Visuals | Concept Photography Book | Process Overview

2021 October 6

The mission of my Concept Photography book (upcoming), is to describe my process for going from concept to completed photograph. It’s also an introduction to the wonderful group of people who were an important part of the process.

While there are many ways to get from A to B, I hope you’ll find this book valuable for inspiration and as a reference. It’s intended for photographers and artists working in a variety of fields (Examples:  Music, painting, and sculpture).

For a behind-the-scenes journey of avant-garde photography, set in locations including Peter Gabriel’s studio in England (Real World), I’ll be sharing excerpts from the upcoming book here.

To learn more about my books and classes and to receive a discount, join us on Patreon.

Avant-Garde Steampunk

Null Paradox rock opera photography

Tom Libertiny, Avant Garde Steampunk
Concept | Avant Garde Photography | Steampunk
Concept, lighting, photography | Tom Libertiny
Actor/model | Brittany Jackson
Costume design | Andrew “AJ” Martina
Hair and Makeup Artist (HMUA) | Brandie Brancheau

Before writing Victoria & Seth, the second book of the Null Paradox trilogy, I started by using my usual process of drawing sketches of the lead characters.

From my experience with the first book (Gertrude & Grace), I needed more details about how the fiction world they live in would translate into the real world.  So I updated my process to include conceptual photography instead of illustrations.

This step also helped me understand how the book would translate into lyrics, music, and the live performance for the rock opera portion of the project.

Photography Process Overview

    • Story
    • Briefing
    • Sketches
    • Lookbook
    • Casting
    • Team
    • Photography

Null Paradox Rock Opera Illustrations

For comparison, during the writing of Gertrude & Grace (book 1), my sketches led to a lookbook, which led to photography, which then led to Ana Cruz’s amazing illustrations. While the photoshoot outlined above was time-consuming, Ana’s work was substantially more time-consuming.

Below is her illustration for the cover of the first Null Paradox book featuring the character of Gertrude.

Her beautiful illustrations will also grace the 2nd book.  But in this case, they’ll be developed following the writing of the book.

Tom Libertiny, Gertude and Grace
Tom Libertiny, Gertude and Grace

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