A custom-designed photobook with Steve Simon
Your photographs, edited, sequenced and designed into a book that feels like your own.
Discuss Your Book
We need to get our photographs off our hard drives and into the world. Drives fail, files get misplaced and archives can quietly become inaccessible. Good backups matter, but so does giving the work a life beyond storage. A book is something we can hold, share and pass on.
A retrospective book brings together the work you have made up to now, preserving a selection for future generations. A long-term project or a more focused portfolio can take shape in the same way. Starting with up to 1,000 of your strongest images, I’ll work with you to find the photographs that belong and build a book around them.
With print-on-demand through Blurb, you can order copies as you need them. You’ll also receive a high-resolution PDF of the finished book, which you can share digitally anywhere in the world without printing or shipping costs. The photographs no longer have to stay on your hard drive, waiting to be seen.
It is often much easier to edit someone else’s work than our own. We carry what I call “emotional metadata” into every photograph: the memory of being there, what it took to make the picture and how we felt when we pressed the shutter. We can’t simply strip those attachments away, and for all sorts of reasons they can lead us to choose the wrong images.
Sometimes the act of tripping the shutter is almost unconscious. We respond to something before we fully understand it, then miss the significance of what we have captured. An attentive editor brings a fresh eye to those photographs, recognizing things we may have overlooked and helping us see what is actually in the frame.
Some of the greatest photographers are known through a small fraction of the frames they made. We should be just as thoughtful about the work we choose to show. But finding those essential images, and letting go of favorites that don’t serve the project, can be difficult on our own.
This process can be revealing. When you see a carefully edited and sequenced project, or a retrospective of your work so far, you may be surprised by how strong it looks and what it tells you about your own way of seeing. That is what we’ll work toward together: a book that brings the essential photographs into view, with your voice at its center.
We’ll review up to 1,000 photographs, looking for the strongest work and the connections that begin to suggest a book. We’ll consider what belongs, what repeats and what can be left out.
A good edit is not simply a collection of your best individual images. It is a selection that gives the whole project clarity while leaving room for photographs to surprise us.
We’ll explore how one photograph leads to another. Gesture, light, color, subject and contrast can create relationships across a spread or carry us into the next page.
Together we’ll work on the opening, the pace and the ending, allowing quieter pictures to breathe and finding a rhythm that makes someone want to keep turning the pages.
I’ll design your book in Lightroom Classic’s Book Module, working with you on the layout and the relationship between pictures and words. The design should support the photographs, not compete with them.
We’ll also refine an artist statement, introduction or afterword. You’ll receive the finished Lightroom catalog so the book remains yours to revisit, adjust and print through Blurb.
Allow six weeks for the collaboration. We’ll agree on the project and timing at the outset, then use private Zoom sessions to work through the decisions together.
Tell me about the work and the book you hope to make. We’ll establish the project’s direction and review your selection of up to 1,000 images, looking for its strongest threads.
We’ll narrow the work into a coherent selection, explore different sequences and consider how pictures speak to one another. Our conversations give you room to question the choices and help shape the result.
I’ll build the book in Lightroom Classic’s Book Module. Together we’ll review the page layouts, pacing and accompanying text, refining the design so it serves the photographs.
You’ll receive a self-contained Lightroom catalog of the final book, a high-resolution PDF and the Photobook Resource Guide. Share the PDF digitally, or order Blurb copies on demand, with physical printing charged separately at cost.
The $3,500 fee covers our editing, sequencing and design collaboration. Physical copies are produced through Blurb from the book we create in Lightroom Classic’s Book Module. You pay the cost price of the Blurb book separately.
Before ordering, we’ll confirm the book format and printing cost with you.
Don and I worked together to strip the book down to its essential images, looking for the strongest photographs to tell the story. It was a collaborative back-and-forth, with time between edits to step away, return with fresh eyes and see whether our decisions held up. As we questioned choices and reconsidered sequences, the project evolved into a book we’re both proud of. The result is Don’s view of Cuba, brought together in a book you can explore here.
What I found was not the Cuba of headlines or American history books but a country that survives on grace and grit, where hardship and honor live side by side and beauty insists on being seen - even through rust, ruin and ration lines.
Don Dillon
Cuba first entered my life through the glowing screen of a black and white television set. Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, played masterfully by real-life husband and wife, Lucile Ball and Desi Arnaz made I love Lucy an American classic and sparked my interest in all things Cuban. For a kid growing up in a small town on Route 66 in Arizona, Cuba seemed like a far-off, exotic and exciting place. Later, the island turned darker, gripped by revolution, embargo and the looming shadow of the Cold War.
Forbidden places always call the loudest. When the door cracked open to visit Cuba after years of being completely walled off, I stepped through - first with the University of Arizona and then with the Bronx Art Museum guided by the artists, whispers and a hunger to understand the real Cuba. These initial forays were followed by two intensive street photography workshops led by master photographer and storyteller, Steve Simon.
What I found was not the Cuba of headlines or American history books but a country that survives on grace and grit, where hardship and honor live side by side and beauty insists on being seen - even through rust, ruin and ration lines.
These photographs are my attempt to listen with my eyes; to honor beauty and resilience of the Cuban people and to show the poetry they live, even when life is anything but poetic.
Don Dillon
Use Previous and Next to browse all 74 pages. Choose single pages or two-page spreads, or download the PDF.
Download the PDFWeb-optimized reading copy.
Photographs and text © 2026 Don Dillon. Book design by Steve Simon. Editors: Don Dillon and Steve Simon. Shared with Don’s permission.
Books and page layouts offer different ways to think about a project. These examples are here to start a conversation about what might suit your photographs.
I’m a documentary and street photographer, the author of five photography books, including The Passionate Photographer, and an educator who has taught at the International Center of Photography and the School of Visual Arts in New York.
Making books is a part of photography I care deeply about. It asks us to look beyond the single frame and consider what a group of images can become. I bring that experience to our conversations, with honest feedback and respect for the work you are trying to make.
Whether you are an amateur or a professional, the starting point is the same: photographs you care about, and a willingness to look at them again.
A look at personal projects and the process of bringing photographs together in a book.
These comments describe photographers’ experiences working with Steve on books, projects and private mentoring.
While putting together my street photography book, I felt I needed an editor that I could trust because I knew they would be helping me with my decision-making process. I was familiar with Steve Simon because I used to listen to ‘This Week In Photography’ religiously when I first started getting into taking pictures. He was my favorite personality on the show because he always seemed to have such a thoughtful and empathetic angle to the topics of the day. That lead me to read his book, “The Passionate Photographer,” (also great) and I have tried to incorporate what I learned from it into my approach as an artist. Finally, it was Steve’s eye and impressive work as a street photographer himself that solidified my choice to use him as a consultant for my project.
Tony LeRead the full testimonial
I’m so glad that I did! Steve was as gracious and thoughtful as I always imagined he would be. He was able to look at my work and shake up how I viewed it. I told him all sorts of wild theories and wonky philosophies about how I saw my work, and he as able to sort through all the fluff and get me to focus on the core of my message. He did this with sensitivity and tact.
And through it all, he was more amiable and responsive as I could have reasonably expected. I ended up paying for five separate sessions because his input was that valuable. Our conversations allowed me to save countless hours debating random minutiae with myself (that would have probably ended up nowhere and being a big waste of time), and our time together fostered an accelerated growth in me as an artist. In less than a month of interaction, I feel like I am in an entirely different place as a photographer, and I feel that Steve is a significant reason for that.
I can’t recommend Steve highly enough!
I started working with Steve because I wanted to move from making individual pictures to working on photographic projects. Our first couple of sessions had an immediate impact on my photography in two ways. First, Steve looked at a sample of my work, selected several strong images, and showed me what made them work. We also talked about the images that didn’t work as well. We dug into my picture making process and explored what I could do differently to increase the number of strong images I make. The sessions are interactive, so I can ask questions to be sure I understand Steve’s feedback.
Larry FeltonRead the full testimonial
Second, Steve looked at the strong images as a group and showed me how they could be the start of a coherent body of work. I really appreciate that he helped me begin to identify and develop my personal vision. HIs questions and comments helped me sharpen the focus on what my project can be. In each session, Steve’s thoughtful suggestions and encouragement are helping me make steady progress on my goal of being a better photographer.
Steve Simon is a gifted instructor and also has the amazing ability to help you understand what you have unconsciously captured but may not have seen. You can then embrace that visual voice/style with direction and clarity. He is genuine and focused on your growth as a photographer … which is why I and so many others come back to his workshops and mentoring sessions.
Denise Pensky
It is said that people tend to emotionally support and defend that which they have created. Nowhere is that truer than for photographers in the pursuit of intended audiences for their photographs. We can subconsciously become prejudiced arbitrators when it comes to evaluating, editing, selecting and sequencing our own images. The private mentorship and critique sessions I’ve participated in with Steve Simon have been invaluable in helping me to cast off the emotional baggage attached to my photos allowing me to see them as they are and how they may relate to each other to form coherent collections greater than the sum of their parts.
Owen Seidenberg
I would never be where I am professionally without great mentoring. Thus, I knew the very best way for the quality of my photography to progress was to find an exceptional photographer as a mentor. Steve Simon has delivered big time…..with insight, skill, incredible editing ability and, of course, passion for the art. Give him a try, it is a great investment.
Jeff Carson
I participated in one of Steve’s Havana workshops, and recently had a online zoom discussion with him. He has a comprehensive knowledge of Nikon’s equipment as well as the best photographic techniques to capture great images. Moreover, he is an easy and fun guy to talk with because, clearly, he is genuinely interested in helping others enjoy photography.
Stephen Handley
You don’t need to have every decision made before we begin. Tell me where the work stands, what you would like the book to become and what questions you are carrying into the process.
Projects are subject to acceptance. If The Passionate Photographer Inc. declines or cancels a project, fees paid will be refunded in full. The project scope and payment terms will be confirmed before work begins.
Editing, sequencing & design
Blurb printing is separate and charged at cost. We’ll confirm the scope and timing before accepting your project.
No. This is a private collaboration with Steve, held through one-to-one Zoom sessions. It is focused on editing, sequencing and designing your own photobook.
No. You can begin with up to 1,000 of your strongest photographs. Finding the edit is part of the work we’ll do together.
No. The $3,500 fee covers the editing and design service. You pay the cost price of physical Blurb copies separately.
You’ll receive a self-contained Lightroom catalog of the final book, created in Lightroom Classic’s Book Module, so you can return to the design for future adjustments and printing. You’ll also receive a high-resolution PDF that you can share digitally without printing or shipping costs.
Allow six weeks for completion. We’ll discuss the project and agree on timing before we begin.
Let’s look at the work together and see the book it can become.
Discuss Your Book