Rustic Leather Large Photo Album - Tanned

A photo album bound in leather, 34.5cm tall and 25cm wide, holding 32 pages of handmade paper with an interleaf between each one. A leather flap folds over the open edge and a thong ties it shut. The leather is naturally tanned and dyed with tree bark and vegetable extract rather than anything synthetic, and the binding is stitched by hand.

Those 32 pages take 256 photographs at 6 x 4 inches, 128 at 7 x 5, or 64 at A4, so the format decides how far it goes. At 34.5 by 25cm and only 1.5cm thick it shelves like a book rather than filling a drawer, and the interleaves are what stop facing prints marking one another. The same album is often used as a sketch book.

The album is leather and recycled cotton paper. The paper is made from cotton rag rather than wood pulp, so no tree goes into it: each sheet is formed by hand, dried in the sun, then bound in and stitched. The albums are made by a co-operative of forty families working to methods handed down between them. Because the leather is vegetable tanned it will darken and change tone with handling.

How many photographs does it hold?

32 pages with interleaves, which takes 256 photographs at 6 x 4 inches, 128 at 7 x 5, or 64 at A4.

How big is it?

34.5cm tall, 25cm wide and 1.5cm thick.

What is the paper?

Handmade paper made from recycled cotton rag. No wood pulp is used, and every sheet is formed by hand and dried in the sun.

Can it be used as a sketch book?

Yes. The albums are often used that way.

How do I look after it?

Store it somewhere dry and wipe the leather regularly with a soft, dry cloth. Keep it away from moisture and heat. The leather will change colour over time and will fade if it is left in direct sunlight.