Happy Together: Official Limited Photobook

 

This official photobook was published in 1997 and was limited to 9999 copies - according to a fanpage dedicated to Happy Together. It comes with some extras: a map, a postcard, 2 letter papers, a film strip, a condom and a pen. As this book was released in 1997, you will only find copies on Ebay. That's were I got mine, actually. The book is packed in a cardboard box (take a look at the picture above). The book itself seems very robust, the front and back covers are made of thick cardboard. The paper used for the 148 pages is also rather thick.

 

 

When I unpacked the book for the first time, I wondered where the extras were. As I flipped through the book, I got the answer:

 

Well, I guess it has expired anyway...

 

The postcard, the map and the film strip are glued to other pages... The sad thing is that you can't unfold the map unless you detach it from the book... i didn't do it. The risk of the map getting torn was too high. You will find the 2 letter papers after the book's last page - but where is the pen? Well I know where it is, it's actually hidden in the cardboard sleeve. It's really hard to get to it without destroying the sleeve... So I just left it there. EDIT: I finally dared to get hold of the pen... It's actually a ball point pen and isn't not special at all. The film strip is very beautiful - I was able to release it from the book. 

 

 

The design of the book is splendid. Photographer Wing Shya created so many beautiful collages. Before I had seen the book I was a bit worried... I wanted plain photographs, I think that sometimes the beauty of photographs is drowned in an desperate effort to create something even more artistic with it. But Wing Shya obviously knows how to mix photographs, text, textures and other stuff to create something even more exciting.

 

Of course, there are also pages which only feature one single photograph. And I stumpled upon one page which is reflective... So you can see yourself and either Lai Yu-Fai or Ho Po Wing side by side.

Additionally, you can also find some notes by the crew in the book.

 

Well, now the negative aspects. Actually, there's only one. The pages are glued to the book cover. Over the time, the glue has become brittle... This means that it will sometimes be hard to open the book completely (left picture above) - the glue is really stiff. Moreover, the pages will become detached from the book cover. I handled it very carefully, but I couldn't prevent it. (That's also the reason why the film strip is loose, now.) This book certainly is a wonderful collector's item. Nowadays it's pretty hard to get and if you happen to find a seller, reckon that it won't be cheap.