Helping you to tell your story in a way people can actually feel
From the first conceptual idea of your project to finalizing a book or exhibition — and every step in between.
My name is Sybren Kuiper.
I work under the moniker -SYB-
Telling stories and helping other people tell theirs is what makes me tick. It’s why I don’t just design books, but also give lectures, organise workshops and teach at the Arts Academy.
I don’t look for perfect, brilliant, or accomplished. I’m looking for stories—stories that I can help find their definitive form, from a project concept to a book or exhibition.
Apart from a strong approach to editing/sequencing and a keen eye for the use of text, I utilise all the physical possibilities and characteristics of the book format itself, sometimes deceptively simple, sometimes ignoring or stretching the boundaries of bookmaking.
I’m always looking for new ways to transform the ‘reading’ of a book or project into an experience. To elevate a project's narrative and make it more than just a collection of pictures.
You can find some of my work here:
https://www.syb-photobooks.com
Finding the heart.
This is what I do: help you tell your story in the most impactful way. I will help you get around your own biases and look at your project, photos, and texts with fresh eyes and recognize their full potential—not what you want them to be, but what they really are. I will help you assess the strengths and weaknesses, identify gaps, and suggest ways to fix them.
In short: We will look for its heart. And when you’ve found the heart, everything follows from there. We'll find whatever narrative devices necessary to tell your story most impactful (and maybe think of some new ones along the way).
It’s all about you
My coaching is for every visual storyteller with a story worth telling, however big or small. It can be anything from a small, personal, poetic diary to a reportage piece about the war in Ukraine. A few presentation cabinets in a living-room-sized exhibition space to a full-blown museum proposal.
It doesn’t matter if you are a student, a budding photographer, or someone who took up photography later in life, as long as you have something to say and are passionate about it, I’m your man. No fame or glory required. When you’re not happy, I’m not happy.
1.
Short and sweet
One in-depth assessment of your project or design.
In a 2-hour in-depth discussion, we will analyse and assess your photo project or book design. We will identify its core, and imagine ways forward.
It’s perfect when you are in doubt about how to proceed, need a second opinion on your choices so far, want to find the core of your narrative, or want to brainstorm new possibilities. I will bring all my accumulated knowledge of storytelling and narrative design to the table in a focused, inspiring session.
You will leave with more energy and greater trust in your project than you came in with.
These sessions work best in person, though we can do them online as well.
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One session:
€400 (excl. VAT)
2.
Step by step
A series of four one-on-one sessions whenever you want or need.
This is a coaching trajectory in the real sense of the word. You will develop your project, book, or exhibition, and I will guide you through every step.
This means that with every new step, we’ll not only discuss and evaluate, but I'll also give you new ideas on how to proceed and make your narrative even stronger.
These sessions are for everyone who wants to find their own narrative voice, keep every aspect of the project 100% personal and self-made, and still draw on decades of accumulated narrative experience.
The four 2-hour sessions are to be planned over a maximum of half a year.
These sessions work best in person, though we can do them online as well.
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€1,000 (excl. VAT) payable in advance.
3.
Strength in numbers
Four-day in-person photo book workshop for groups.
The workshop is for everyone with a finished project and ready to make a book—from starting photographers to consummate professionals .
The workshops are high-pressure cookers that generate very satisfying results in a very short time and from which you learn as much from me as from your fellow participants.
Four of the photographers who attended the last workshop published their book within a year.
There are two options:
• small (3-4 participants):
Four afternoons in my home studio.
• big (8-12 participants):
Four whole days at a location to be determined.
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Small workshop: €1,000 (excl. VAT)
Big workshop: €1,200 (excl. VAT)
Let’s Work Together
Ready to bring out the best in your project, story or design?
Contact me at syb@sybontwerp.nl (or fill in the form) and we can talk a bit to get acquainted.
If you want to check out some of my work, read about my approach to design, or see some of my accolades, visit my site.
