Sunday Zine Review #61: Bad Day

When I got my first copy of Bad Day Magazine I must admit I didn't know much about it. I had seen it several times on websites and blogs, and maybe it was the Risograph printing aesthetics what made me buy a copy on my trip to Berlin last November but it was definitely not a bad choice.

Don't know where the name of the magazine comes from but it wouldn't be wrong to think that editor-in-chief Eva Michon decided to call it that way so people could read the publication when they are having a bad day. It actually makes sense to me, the interviews featured in the magazine can definitely make you feel better when you're going through rough times.

Bad Day is a magazine to take with you everywhere - I actually read most of the issues above while being on the bus on my way to work. The short interviews are perfect for those bus rides or to have a look at when you're waiting for a friend, and the photo essays and fashion editorials can be enjoyed with your preferred drink at your favourite café.

The only bad thing about Bad Day? It's only published twice a year.

*You can check all the previous reviews here. If you want to get your zine reviewed, leave a comment below or drop me a message to igortermenon@gmail.com*

Sunday Zine Review #60: romka 7

When I was first starting with the Sunday Zine Review, I wrote a small post about the sixth issue of romka. After discovering the magazine, I was really looking forward to the new issue so it was a nice suprise when its editor, Joscha Brucker, messaged me about sending me some copies to review.

For those of you who haven't heard about romka, it is little photography magazine which showcases photographs and the stories behind them.

Founded by Joscha Bruckert 4 years ago, romka has become a cult publication in the independent publishing scene. This magazine is now a global platform where professional and amateur photographers archive their memories in the shape of a collective photo album. Emerging artists and established photographers like Alec Soth have shared their images and explained everything behind them.

Issue 7 of romka features photographs by over 50 different artists. Each of these images is accompanied by a text describing why it is so important to the respective photographer.  There’s a nice balance of stories, with a focus on really different topics, from family and holidays to death and childhood memories.

Love plays an important role in this issue and Joscha has selected 12 photographs related to this subject, which have been laid out in a minimal design, with the size of the images similar to the dimensions of a slide or a 35mm frame.

This issue also features an excerpt from a private photo album from Friedrich Tietjen’s collection, consisting of handprinted black and white photographs showing a typical German middle class home from the 50’s.

The last pages of romka 7 are dedicated to bad photographs, adding a touch of humour to the publication. Back in 2009, Joscha asked photographers from all around the world to send their worst photographs. The final selection included in this issue (presented by carp fishers holding the images) have been “anti-curated” by Joscha and some important names in the contemporary photography world, like artist Joachim Schmid and Bruno Ceschel from Self Publish, Be Happy.

 If you want to get a copy of this issue, you can do it on romka's online shop.

Joscha has kindly sent me several copies of the new issue so I've decided to give away a copy! All you have to do is visit the Sunday Zine Review on FB, and like and share THIS PHOTO.

*You can check all the previous reviews here. If you want to get your zine reviewed, leave a comment below or drop me a message to igortermenon@gmail.com*

Oblivion pt. XI

It had been a while since the last time I had uploaded photos from my series "Oblivion". I took some of these in Glasgow when we went to see Wild Nothing and the rest have been taken on my way from work to home.

You can check the rest of the series here and on my website.

Sunday Zine Review #59: Justified 01

Last weekend I went to Glasgow to see Wild Nothing and paid a visit to Good Press Gallery, my favourite place to buy nice zines and independent publications in Scotland.

I bought a couple of things, including the first issue of Justified. Hadn't heard about this new magazine, but after flipping quickly through the pages and seeing the price (£3) decided to get a copy.

Justified is a publication showcasing artistic submissions from student and recent graduates in the design, photography and architecture fields. The magazine has been created as a paper extension from the Justified's blog and the first issue shows an insight into how the editors ( Joshua Ogden, William Whiting and Jasper van den Bosch ) intend to showcase creatives across these different fields.

I liked how all these disciplines blend in the pages of Justified and it's also really nice to see some words from the featured artists, talking about their work, as well as some industry insight and advice to recent design graduates from Mat Dolphin Studio.

You can find more information about the first issue on Justified's site and buy a copy at Good Press Gallery.

*You can check all the previous reviews here and follow Sunday Zine Review on FB. If you want to get your zine reviewed, leave a comment below or drop me a message to igortermenon@gmail.com*

Girls on Film 12

 

 

Last Monday I released the new issue of Girls on Film. When I realized this was the 12th issue, it was quite shocking! I started this project in March 2011 not knowing where it was gonna go and I have already published 12 Girls on Film and 6 Boys on Film.

I really hope you enjoy this issue. If you want to find out more about the zine or submit your work head to Girls on Film website.

Sunday Zine Review #58:Agora eu fico pensando na poesia dele

Today's second review is on Matheus Chiaratti's "Agora eu fico pensando na poesia dele". Matheus is part of the collective Companhia Rapadura, which I talked about on the previous review.

In this really personal zine, Matheus collected some of the photos he took of Portuguese convicts while he was working on an assignment for Vice, portraying a foreigners' prison in Brazil.

After taking these photos and reading Truman Capote's "In cold blood", Matheus loved the writer's sensitivity when talking about the convicts and decided to put together "Agora eu fico pensando na poesia dele". Matheus used as well some of his personal images to create a story that develops throughout the pages of the zine.

You can see a video of the zine and buy it on Companhia Rapadura's website.

*You can check all the previous reviews here and follow Sunday Zine Review on FB. If you want to get your zine reviewed, leave a comment below or drop me a message to igortermenon@gmail.com*

Sunday Zine Review #57: Silêncio Nosso

Double review today, showcasing the best of the Brazil zine scene! Matheus Chiaratti sent me a couple of the zines that Companhia Rapadura has published.

Companhia Rapadura is a film photography collective composed by 14 young Brazilian photographers. The collective was originated to showcase the work of not-so-well-known artists who decide to use the analog medium as an aesthetic option.

Silêncio Nosso has been curated an edited by Matheus Chiaratti and is part of the project "one zine a month". Inside the zine, Matheus has selected a mix of portraits and still life images that show the visual language of this exciting collective.

Companhia Rapadura and its members have also published other zines, make sure you visit the collective's website if you want to find out more about them!

*You can check all the previous reviews here and follow Sunday Zine Review on FB. If you want to get your zine reviewed, leave a comment below or drop me a message to igortermenon@gmail.com*

Berlin Trip

A couple of weeks ago I took some days off from work and travelled to Berlin. It was my first time in the city and although we only stayed there for a little less than 5 days, I had time to do most of the stuff I had planned.

This was originally meant to be a blog post with only photos from my trip, but after a short FB chat with Caitlin (who recently assisted me on a photoshoot) where she suggested I should do a travel post about Berlin as she was planning a trip there soon, I've decided to give it a try and write a few lines about the places I visited.

We arrived in Berlin on Wednesday morning. It was really sunny (the rest of the days it was cloudy and foggy) and not really cold. We left our stuff and went for a quick walk around Friedrichshain, where we were staying. This neighbourhood really reminded me of Spain somehow, maybe because it is full of cafes and places where you can eat at any time of the day.

 We went to Boxhagener Platz every morning for breakfast. Everything was really cheap and good. I asked myself several times why I was living in the UK while I was eating those amazing breakfasts. 

I can't remember the names of all the places but Elfida was the one we went the first day, we also went to Szimpla (where the photo with the bears figure was taken) and to a latin american place for brunch on the last day.

The afternoon of the first day we went for a walk around the Alexanderplatz area and took some photos of the amazing sunset. We also went to the Weekday store (why don't we have any in the UK?) and didn't buy anything, was planning to go again on the last day but got lost.

The second day we went magazine shopping. First we took the subway to Kreuzberg to go to Motto. I had read about it and some people had recommended it so wanted to check it. It basically sells lots (and I mean LOTS) of zines, magazines and artists books although everything is pretty disorganized. The guy (owner?) was quite rude and after buying two magazines I actually regretted having bought them there, but oh well! I must admit that you can find anything you want in there, but don't let him fool you when he says the old Apartamento issues are more expensive than the current one (they sell them at the same price in Do You Read Me?!)

Kreuzberg is great, it was probably my favourite area of the city (along with Prenzlauer Berg). We visited this small shop where a photographer was selling her work and I bought one of her photos for just €15. After a walk around there, we went to Mitte to have a look at Do You Read Me?!. This magazine store stocks an amazing selection of independent magazines and the girl there was really nice and helpful. I got 'A Magazine Curated by Rodarte' and a canvas bag, and Jakub bought 'Acne Paper'.

After that, we had some crepes in a place called Zimt und Zucker and walked again around the area. That night we went to see Bat For Lashes play and we also went for some drinks to the flat of some friends of Jakub.

The next day think we went to see the Holocaust Monument and we also spent some more time around Kreuzberg. We had lunch at this place called Brezel Company and it was really really good and, again, really cheap. In the evening I met Lara Alegre, who had been featured in Girls on Film (and will be again in this month's issue). It was really nice to talk to her about the city, photography and our personal projects.

It was a shame that I couldn't meet more people during the trip. I received quite a few messages from photographers but as it was my first time in Berlin, I didn't really have lots of free time . I promise to go back soon!

The fourth day we spent more time around Mitte and went to C/O Berlin to see a retrospective of Joel Sternfeld's work. The entry wasn't free but it was amazing, I totally recommend to go if you have a chance.

We spent the afternoon around Prenzlauer Berg, visiting a market and going for dinner before heading back to Friedrichshain.

And that was basically my 4 and a half days in Berlin! I'm sure I'm missing quite a lot of things, but I hope that if you're planning a visit to Berlin soon this might help you somehow.

I have many more images of the trip on my site, make sure you check them here!

Sunday Zine Review #56: Mr Spoqui #38

If you're a Sunday Zine Review regular, you would have probably read the previous reviews of Mr. Spoqui. Since Amanda Baeza sent me a copy of the zine 4 months ago, I've become a huge fan of this "family publication". 

The latest issue of Mr. Spoqui is based around the topic "plastic food" and features a great selection of interviews, illustrations and text about what we eat and how tomorrow's food could be. To know more about the 4 siblings behind Mr. Spoqui, I decided to have some Q&As with Amanda, this is what she told me: 

Hi Amanda, first of all, thanks a lot for having sent the last three issues of Mr. Spoqui to be reviewed here on the Sunday Zine Review! When I received the first copy I loved the concept and since then I've always wanted to ask you some questions about the zine.

Could you please introduce yourself and your sisters and brother? Could you also introduce Mr. Spoqui?

I’m the oldest, recently graduated in graphic design and now trying to build up my dream (not graphic design!). Milena follows me; she is studying sound engineering while filling our house with music of all kinds. Blanca comes next, a dancer, she is now performing with her own contemporary dance company with only sixteen. And the last one, Tiago, a thirteen years old boy and comics lover that wants to be a trumpet player.

Mr. Spoqui is a family zine, but don’t expect to read about family weddings or summer vacations or newborns. Each issue is the result of an exploration about a random topic. We try to collect interesting information and show the selected topic from another perspective – that’s why we do open calls, so everyone can share their own vision with us.
  

The concept of a "family zine" is great, how did it all start? Were you inspired by anything?

Lisa Currie once described us like this: «I want to imagine them all in bunk beds when they were younger, staying up way past their bedtime, throwing doodled notes and paper planes to each other over the bannisters...». Lisa doesn’t know how close to reality her imagination was. We still sleep in bunk beds! And that’s how this all started. People make zines because they want to share everything. We wanted to share something between us, to grow and learn from it. Contributions are really important because people enrich this process!

Another great thing about Mr. Spoqui is the topics you guys choose for each issue. So far, I've read about Ceramics, Collections and now Plastic Food! How do you come up with these ideas? How's the process?

At dinner my siblings love to talk about random things. I point out their ideas ("hey, let's make an edition about that") and they discuss whether the topic is boring or not (generally, it is!). At first sight it may seem uninteresting, yes, but you end up learning a lot about something you would never have the curiosity to explore before, at least never through a traditional knowledge source like uhh… school. This may sound very unprofessional...

How do you guys work together? Can you tell me a little more about who's in charge of what?

Our ages and interests are so different that we usually spend our time together making fun of each other instead of working for our zine. But that's how our ideas come up. As the oldest, in the previous issues I was in charge of almost everything, my siblings were only responsible for their own drawings, articles and comics. Now we are going to try a new approach: from time to time, each one of us has to wear the publisher’s mask so I can have a little break. For example, Blanca and Tiago are going to be the next directors and publishers! This will bring a refreshing approach to future issues.

 

What would you consider your best achievement with Mr. Spoqui? 

The social interaction! All the amazing people we meet through the zine, all the people whose work I admire and who agreed to introduce their projects on a particular issue, and everybody who keeps giving us a lot of positive feedback. I feel really grateful for that. 

Are you involved in any other projects? If so, could you tell me a little more about them? 

I am working on a lot of comics and illustrations right now; burning my brain and my hands to create my portfolio as college wasn’t enough. I would love to tell more about all these projects, but they must remain in secret! 

You can find more information about the latest issue of Mr. Spoqui here.

*You can check all the previous reviews here and follow Sunday Zine Review on FB. If you want to get your zine reviewed, leave a comment below or drop me a message to igortermenon@gmail.com*