Photojojo!: Insanely Great Photo Projects and DIY Ideas

by Amit Gupta, Kelly Jensen

A photo, an idea, and simple crafting skills are all you need to transform your pictures into useful, fun, giftable art. With clear DIY instructions, Photojojo! by Amit Gupta and Kelly Jensen shows you how to turn your forgotten photos into ingenious photo projects.

Do you have lots of pics of friends and family you want to show off? Make a sleek, stylish photo display rail so you can change them up at a moment’s notice. Need something to play with? Make photo slider puzzles, Rubik’s cubes, and temporary tattoos. Or spruce up your pad with a photo chandelier or a giant wall mural you can print at home! All the projects use basic materials and are easy enough to whip up in an afternoon.

Once you’re armed with what you can do with all your images, check out Photojojo’s inspiring ideas to get you shooting photographs more creatively. Investigate the world from a canine perspective with the amazing doggie cam, or grab your friends and head out on a photo safari. Make a sneaky hidden jacket camera and turn string, a washer, and a screw into a monopod that fits in your pocket, MacGyver-style. Learn how to motivate yourself to take a photo every day with project 365, or get the little ones involved with Photojojo’s head-spinning photography method: because you + kid + centrifugal force = awesome. Yep, photography just became a whole lot more fun.

Genres: Photography, Nonfiction, Crafts, Art, Creative

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Bryan Whitehead · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is fun to read just because the authors are so enthusiastic about their subject. The book – based on the Photojojo web site – is divided into two parts. The first is devoted to projects that can be done with printed pictures. Though a lot of it struck me as Pinteresty, I might try one or two of them. The second was more my cup of tea: new ways to take photos. Some of the ideas were almost enough to make me go out and buy a point-and-shoot just so I could try a few.

[E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many fun exercises. It’s going to take time to do them, so I’ve dog-eared pages for the future. It’s been a challenge to take photos this year, but I can use photos I already have for a bunch of activities. And I might take new photos just for the exercises which is cool. Needed this inspiration.

[Crystal · Rating 5 out of 5]

The authors are funny, the projects are cheap and easy and look oh so fun! The ideas and information in this book is vast and well organized. Can't wait to try out all of these ideas!!

[Agatha Glowacki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice ideas, a little too complicated and not enough pictures

[Beka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and fun, though none of the projects particularly appealed to me.

[Megan Reigner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Photojojo! I won this book in a Twitter contest they ran when it was released. But I was already an avid fan, so I was thrilled to receive it.

The great thing about this book is that it really encourages you to just go out and take pictures and show them to the world. This isn't a primer on how to take a perfectly composed photo, but it will show you how to take FUN pictures! A lot of the ideas are pretty simple to execute, like creating large photo mosaics for your wall, or turning every day objects into photo stands. But there are great instructions for more advanced D.I.Y. projects too.

Some of the camera hacks tend to assume the reader is using a DSLR camera, but it's not too hard to translate the instructions if you're using a point and shoot or even a toy camera like a Holga. The crafty D.I.Y. projects are pretty useful for anyone who owns a camera, but some are a little specific (like sewing a spy camera into a jacket).

All in all, I think this book would be loved by someone who wants to do more with their photos than just stick them in frames, or who wants to stretch the capabilities of their camera to its limits.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Already a fan of the photojojo website, when I spotted this book with a camera-harnessed dog on the cover, I couldn't resist!

I really go along with the idea behind the book, that people should do something with all those digital pics they take instead of just leaving them on their cameras/computers. The book has a fun, irreverent tone and lots of neat project ideas. I'd like to remember/try:

-Splitting up one photo into many smaller images, perhaps displaying in CD cases or making a photo puzzle
-Simple magnetic photo chain
-Magnetic fridge frames
-Photo cupcakes! (icingimages.com)
-Sneaky altoids photo album
-One page of paper photo book
-Cross-stitched photos
-magnetic me head with outfits
-photo silhouette prints
-365 project(or maybe smaller, one month to start?)
-photo time machine (recreating pics from youth)
-spinning photos
-photo safari (scavenger hunt)
-tiny secret jacket spy cam

[jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

If this book was published in 2007, it would have meant a lot more to me, but it came out in 2009. It's not that the ideas don't have their place, but they are not especially my style or taste. The first half is focused on projects you can do with the photos you take - make a photo montage for your wall, for example, or a photo display rail or a stamp out of your photo. The second half is supposed to be inspirational - in case you are out of material, inspiration or motivation to photograph things. I think the second half is more interesting because I know more photographers who struggle with motivation and inspiration than those who struggle with how to display or use their photos. BUT unfortunately, the exercises run just shy of interesting (suggestion: 365 project, doggie cam, "photo safari," bribe strangers to pose for portraits), and overall I was a little disappointed and bored.

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a fun and interesting read. It is a combination of easy, inexpensive photo projects and ideas for different ways to use your camera - designed to inspire creativity. It did supply me with a few ideas for projects I might consider. I liked the suggestions at the end of the book for playing with the camera in new ways - take a picture a day for 365 days (photo daily journal), create a fish eye lens from a peephole, a diffuser from a white film canister, choose an adjective and shoot pictures that describe it, have a photo scavenger hunt with friends...I will say this was unlike any photo book I have read before. The writing style is off the wall and a little bit crazy with lots of side comments - makes it a fun read. There is also a website (of course!) and a newsletter that you can sign up for (I have) Read and enjoy :)

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have occasionally seen posts from the photojojo blog and forum on a craft blog I frequent, and I have been taking pictures for about 8 months for a project I saw on that blog, so I was excited to see the same people had come out with a book of still more projects. There are some great ideas here, and many that I want to try. There is also a section on taking better pictures, and ideas for stretching yourself as a photographer. Me, I was really just looking for the craft part, and I certainly found inspiration.

[Jenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me nearly the entire month of January to read this book because it's not a "sit down and read all in one sitting" kind of book. In fact, it's really more of a reference book for when you're feeling creative (which I was not this month). What makes it better than a reference book is the humor, random facts and great photographs within the book. I almost feel inspired to start working on some projects. I will once the weather is better and I'm not overtired and grumpy!

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. It was well done, with projects ranging from display ideas to making a tripod out of a water bottle. I'm sure people who consider themselves 'serious photographers' will not get much out of this book. The main focus is having fun, and they say as much when they recommend getting a point and shoot even if you own an SLR, because most people don't throw an SLR in their bag every day. Overall a fun interesting read.

[Jessietaylortanner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty cool. Mostly of the Ready Made (magazine) feel for me. Which means I liked it, it offered some ideas and inspiration, but was mostly not my style. It did give me some ideas for photo gifts for the men in my life I can't sew for. Even if it wasn't all my style it was still a fun read and very nicely designed, organized, written and compiled.

[Gothicbunny Groves · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plenty of neat ideas and tips on how to improve your photography and how to use the photos. Some projects are super easy, like turning a empty tea light tin into a photo stand. Other projects require the use of camera that has an adjustable shutter speed. All in all, it's a good book to take a peep at to get the creativity juices flowing.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the "crafty" end of photography, namely all kinds of things that you can make using your photographs, digital or otherwise. No particularly my cup of tea. On the other hand, there are interesting techniques and cheap hardware hacks that could be useful or, at least, stimulate ideas.

[Renda Dodge · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love photojojo's ideas, but most of the ones in the book weren't meant for dSLR users, it was as if they were trying to appeal to the 14 year old girls out there. Also, each project would have cost a lot of money in quality printing to do right.

[Jay · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book was kind of a letdown, the crafts seemed very narrow in scope, and the whole book isn't even projects, most of it is techniques for takig cool pictures. i think it would be great if you had never seen any of those techniques before, however. i'm just jaded i guess!

[Phobean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has some surprisingly great ideas and inspirations. Also, the tone is fun, funny, wry, and upbeat. I could tell the authors REALLY put in a lot of hard work. Now off to start my own 365 photo project...

[Paula]

By Internet smartypants Amit Gupta and former Mutter Museum cataloger Kelly Jensen. I like the photo album in an Altoids tin.

[reading is my hustle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here are some of my favorite projects from this book:

Photo tattoos

Photo cupcakes

Human Calendar

Laptop Sleeve


photojojo.com (rules)

[Val · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good projects.

[hana · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book has amazing ideas!!! can't wait to try them all!

[Allie · Rating 5 out of 5]

what an amazing book! such great ideas! i'll definitely be trying them all!

[Vy · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some really great ideas in this book for taking interesting pictures and making some creative photo-related goodies.

[Smellsofbikes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly fun creative book about various things you can do with digital cameras: how to take pictures, suggestions for doing weird things with pictures, camera hacks, organizational ideas.

[Manintheboat · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the idea of taking a photo of everything you buy. And the lollipops.
Whimsical and fun!

[Dahlia · Rating 1 out of 5]

lame.

[Krystal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great to inspire... Didn't try any of the projects, though.

[Maureen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Photojojo, but this book was really disappointing. Most of the projects in this were pretty tacky and not too exciting. Stick to the blog for better content.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a great book for diy projects that take your fotos to the stars