PhotoBook Press brings back the art of book making 

Editor's Note: Anthologie, LLC is proud to support local businesses, including PhotoBook Press. We offer our clients a full suite of heirloom quality books created by the Minneapolis-based publisher.

Margaret Telfer knows that there's no such thing as a boring life story. She knows from experience.

Margaret's own professional beginnings, to some, may have appeared a bit conventional when she graduated with a Master's degree in Library Science from the University of North Carolina.

Like her cohorts, Margaret could have embarked on her career as a steward of customary literature, reference materials and periodicals. But that would have been a predictable tale.

The year was 1974, and unlike many of her peers, Margaret also had studied computer science. She cut her teeth in the field providing strategic planning and market research for Microsoft, Nortel and Lucent, among others. By the time tech savvy luminaries were heralding the birth of the first Macintosh computer, Margaret was already analyzing the benefits and usage rates of e-mail. The job took her around the globe — Toronto, Chapel Hill, Washington DC, and Tokyo before Margaret's husband, Ed, found a job in Minnesota. 

With a successful and storied term in the corporate world, Margaret sold her business and retired.

Soon thereafter Margaret realized that the pace of many adults her age could be dull, and as she explains with a hearty laugh: "I don't play golf!"

With time on her hands Margaret knew her work was far from over.

After both of her parents passed away Margaret and her siblings faced a common dilemma: there was only one set of family photos and three siblings.

Margaret's inner librarian raised her voice.

Combining her technological prowess and zeal for old world book arts, Margaret founded PhotoBook Press, a Minneapolis-based company dedicated to the creation of beautiful, heirloom quality books, in 2005.

The company was initially founded on the business of thoughtfully archiving personal memoirs but has since evolved to meet the demands of photographers and personal historians in search of high-quality, short-run books.

"...Everybody has a great story, and everybody has a different idea of what story is important to tell," Margaret said.

Twenty-five years have passed since her college graduation, but Margaret is thrilled to be ensconced in her role as a librarian publisher. The authors are esoteric to some but Margaret recognizes their significance. She's entrusted to oversee the preservation of family histories and it's not a role she takes lightly.

"These books are valuable ... people cry when they open them for the first time," she said.

Employing only best technology available PhotoBook Press ensures each book and every story it produces won't fade away to time. 

"We believe 100 years from now when someone opens one of our books it will look exactly the same as it does today," Margaret said.

And that's being conservative. The truth is the papers won't yellow and the inks won't fade for more like 500 years. This sort of no-nonsense, do it right the first time, work ethic is characteristic of PhotoBook Press for a simple reason.

"I'm not capable of selling something I'm not proud of," Margaret said.