#Bookface brings book cover art into the real world

Sideshow
The New York Public Library's Instagram featured New Jersey's Cherry Hill Public Library photo of Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore.

Libraries aren't just palaces of dead trees anymore: Lots of libraries and librarians have embraced technology and social media.

And one library-centric hashtag has caught on in the wider book-loving world: #bookface. The idea is to take a book cover and stage a photo that appears to complete it. It's life-meets-(cover) art!

 

We are seriously in love with @chplnj's #bookfacefriday shot of Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore. #bookface

A photo posted by The New York Public Library (@nypl) on

 

#BookFaceFriday #ChronicleCapers

A photo posted by Lara Starr (@larastarr) on

 

An artsy and eccentric #bookfacefriday for you today! #salvadordali #bookface #dali #librariesofinstagram

A photo posted by Brantford Public Library (@btfdlibrary) on

The subjects of #bookface range from graphic novels to biographies and self-help manuals. Most have a human subject or two, but even that isn't a given. Speaking from experience, making a good #bookface photo isn't easy. It takes a trained eye to spot the composition: A green-haired man as the Joker, or a Bob Hope lookalike with an uncannily similar hairline. It's all in the details.

Give it a shot. Stage your own #bookface, and tweet @sideshow with the results.

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