I don’t like trends.
These things spread like wild fire online. You can open any of your social channels right now and find some type of trend going through it. Sometimes they re-appear after a year or two. Out with the old and in with the new. Sometimes they sow division – “all the cool kids are doing…”.
I’m mostly bothered by them because they are often used by influencers to maintain some form of relevance. Which tends to push them into the limelight. But they never have the vibe of “it came back because it was cool before”. No, most trends are just there to be another form of metric measurement.
Some insights into the word ‘zine’:
The word “zine” (short for “fanzine”) refers to a small-circulation, independently published booklet produced out of passion rather than profit. Throughout history, zines have acted as a vital grassroots medium for subcultures and marginalized voices to share ideas, challenge the status quo, and build community
I’ve seen a few zines online. Seen some videos around it but never really got behind the idea of them. Because I never printed them it always seem like a foreign concept. Something other people did. Something more artsy people than me did. Yet your own zine will add a new dimension to your work. At very least it will show you what your images look like IRL and from there give you a greater understanding of your photography.
Earlier this year I made a zine for myself – a few photos from my project around an apartment complex. If you’re interested you can download it here
But this isn’t why I am writing the post.
I’m writing it because of this:
Photography zines should be something more than a passing trend. Looking at all the great zines generated since Film Rick created “Dirty Little Zine” tells you why. It’s similar to printing your photos – you get the physical feel. You see your images in something other than a digital grid and that hits differently. For the price of a black and white (or color) page, A4 or US letter, you can create something small but really cool. So cool that you might consider leaving it somewhere on a table when you get up from your morning coffee. Or leaving it in an airport terminal. Or wedge in between books at a local library. I’m just spit balling with a few ideas here. I think Seth might enjoy these ideas.
If you haven’t tried making a zine check out the following pages:
The Dirty Little Zine home page. Here you can make your own zine — easy peezy bicep squeezy. A library of zines already created and shared by photographers I’ve seen around the Substack photography community. If you’d like to read more about Rick, he is on Substack and I did an interview with him for my Substack earlier in the year.
tl;dr
Before I go here is a link to one of my zines I created – a few street shots
Thanks for reading : )