Shutterbug Follies
Encyclopedia
Shutterbug Follies is a graphic novel
created by Jason Little
. The book was released as a weekly online
and newspaper series, and was published in its entirety by Doubleday in 2002. The series continued in 2005 under the title Motel Art Improvement Service.
. She has the habit of copying interesting photos that she develops. Bee begins to investigate some of her clients when she develops the pictures of several dead bodies. She begins to suspect Oleg Khatchatourian, a crime scene photographer, has murdered his wife when she turns up dead after Bee witnesses a fight between the two.
in 2003 for Best Graphic Album of Original Work.
and the School Library Journal
. The book was banned in a Texas high school, citing profanity and sexual content.
. A few panels imitate the style of a fisheye lens
. Several others use rounded borders that are similar to old-fashioned photographs. The shape of the book itself is suggestive of a photo album. Little utilizes colors strongly in the book. Photo-negative colors are used extensively, and can be seen on the cover. The narrative style has been likened to a mix between Rear Window
and Ghost World
. Little has described the book as "bubblegum noir".
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
created by Jason Little
Jason Little (cartoonist)
Jason Palmer Little is an American cartoonist.He grew up in Binghamton, New York, studied photography at Oberlin College, and now lives in Brooklyn with writer Myla Goldberg and their two daughters....
. The book was released as a weekly online
Webcomic
Webcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are comics published on a website. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers or often in self-published books....
and newspaper series, and was published in its entirety by Doubleday in 2002. The series continued in 2005 under the title Motel Art Improvement Service.
Plot
The book features the character Bee, who is a photographer and photo lab technician. She is just out of high school, and has taken a job at a one-hour photo lab in lower ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. She has the habit of copying interesting photos that she develops. Bee begins to investigate some of her clients when she develops the pictures of several dead bodies. She begins to suspect Oleg Khatchatourian, a crime scene photographer, has murdered his wife when she turns up dead after Bee witnesses a fight between the two.
Awards
The series won an Ignatz Award in 2002 for Outstanding Online Comic, another Ignatz Award in 2003 for Outstanding Artist, and was nominated for a Harvey AwardHarvey Award
The Harvey Awards, named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman and founded by Gary Groth, President of the publisher Fantagraphics, are given for achievement in comic books. The Harveys were created as part of a successor to the Kirby Awards which were discontinued after 1987.The Harvey Awards are...
in 2003 for Best Graphic Album of Original Work.
Criticism
Shutterbug Follies has been reviewed favorably by Publishers WeeklyPublishers Weekly
Publishers Weekly, aka PW, is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers and literary agents...
and the School Library Journal
School Library Journal
The School Library Journal is a monthly magazine with articles and reviews for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, with a focus on technology and multimedia. Reviews are included for preschool to 4th grade,...
. The book was banned in a Texas high school, citing profanity and sexual content.
Style
Little uses several techniques in Shutterbug Follies to draw comparison to photographyPhotography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
. A few panels imitate the style of a fisheye lens
Fisheye lens
In photography, a fisheye lens is a wide-angle lens that takes in a broad, panoramic and hemispherical image. Originally developed for use in meteorology to study cloud formation and called "whole-sky lenses", fisheye lenses quickly became popular in general photography for their unique, distorted...
. Several others use rounded borders that are similar to old-fashioned photographs. The shape of the book itself is suggestive of a photo album. Little utilizes colors strongly in the book. Photo-negative colors are used extensively, and can be seen on the cover. The narrative style has been likened to a mix between Rear Window
Rear Window
Rear Window is a 1954 American suspense film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, written by John Michael Hayes and based on Cornell Woolrich's 1942 short story "It Had to Be Murder"...
and Ghost World
Ghost World
Ghost World is a comic book written and illustrated by Daniel Clowes. It was originally serialized in issues #11 through #18 of Clowes's comic book series Eightball, and was first published in book form in 1997 by Fantagraphics Books...
. Little has described the book as "bubblegum noir".
External links
- Beekeeper Cartoon Amusements, Jason Little's official website