Sunday 28 October 2012

Sunday Zine Review #52: Between Us by Chad Moore








This is my second review of the publications Pogo Books sent me. Last month I talked about the work of Jean-Michael Seminaro, now it’s time for one of those photographers whose images are currently all over the internet, Chad Moore.

The cover of Between Us is probably Chad Moore’s most iconic photo. If you spend the same amount of time Tumblr and other social sites as I do, I bet you have seen it before. 

This sun bleached photo is a great introduction to Chad’s work and to what’s inside this little book.
Chad’s photos clearly remind of an early Ryan McGinley, in fact, both photographers usually hang out together and Chad had assisted Ryan in numerous shoots. I would also dare to say that Between Us is, somehow, a continuation to the zine that put Ryan McGinley in the spotlight, The Kids Are Alright.

And I don’t mean this comparison in a bad way, Chad is really good at documenting his life and portraying his friends. The book is a celebration of youth and Chad has captured a selection of intimate moments that really make you want to know more about them.

Flipping through the pages of the book, you can find some great images like the one of the couple in bed, of which he has talked about in Dazed Digital, or the photograph where the girl is kissing that ‘no-faced’ boy. 

It’s the way in which Chad captures all these moments, what makes Between Us special.

If you want to find more information about the book, you can do it on Pogo Book’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*

Friday 26 October 2012

Boys on Film 06





Girls/Boys on Film keep growing, this is the 6th issue of Boys on Film and next month the 12th issue of Girls on Film will be released!

I hope you like the video, I'm using the same camera to shoot a fashion video tomorrow. It's my first "proper" video so wish me luck!

You can find more photos of the zine and all the previous issues on Girls on Film's website.

Sunday 21 October 2012

Sunday Zine Review #51: Stay Young






Today's second review is Stay Young, a photography zine edited by Paul John Nelson, a designer and photographer based in London.

Stay Young is a great collection of photographs, from portraits to landscapes, by the world's best and most interesting young photographers. Paul says about the zine "the beauty and power of photography not only lies in it’s ability to communicate and be universally understood, but also in its printed form".

The curation of the images is really nice, they might look completely different at first sight but they really work together, evoking some kind of freedom and reflecting that youth from all the photographers who are featured in it.

Stay Young is printed on A3 newspaper and it's only £4, you can find more information about it on the zine's Tumblr. 

*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 #50: Tappa Tappa Tappa






I'm back with a couple of reviews this Sunday. First one is Tappa Tappa Tappa, a really nice A6 zine put together by Amy Pettifer and Jessica Harby, 2 artists and friends based in London.

Amy and Jessica sent me the first two issues of the zine. Each of them comes nicely packed in a printed envelope, and inside, you can find a selection of texts, images, ideas and lots of inspiration.

The format is different in each of the issues. The first one is printed in black & white and can be unfolded into a A3 poster, whilst the second issue is little colour booklet.

If you want to know more about the zine, you can follow it on Facebook or email tappax3@gmail for more information. I'm really looking forward to seeing a third issue, and especially what kind of packaging Amy and Jessica are going to choose!

*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*


Tuesday 16 October 2012

Suburban Dream


 
  
 

This is my favourite editorial from everything I've ever shot. It is hard to choose a personal favourite from all your past work but when I was shooting this I knew that the results were going to be good (and I don't usually feel that confident during photoshoots).

This was the second time I worked with stylist Katherine Whyte and MUA Debbie Slater, had done the Halfway House editorial with them a month or so before I shot this one. The first time worked really well but this time worked even better.

Katherine brought these amazing clothes and we drove to Bishopbriggs, just outside Glasgow. I fell in love with the place as soon as I got out of the train, I had always wanted to shoot an editorial with a very suburban feeling.

The styling worked so well with the location and Fern Calderwood from The Model Team was amazing. I had never worked with Fern before, but after these photos I messaged her again and we're planning to shoot a short fashion video in a couple of weeks.

It's been over 3 months since I shot the editorial, but thanks Katherine, Debbie and Fern for an amazing Sunday in Bishopbriggs!

Photography: Igor Termenon
Model: Fern Calderwood @ The Model Team
Stylist: Katherine Whyte
MUA: Debbie Slater

There are lots of more photos from the same editorial on my website so go and have a look!



Sunday 14 October 2012

Sunday Zine Review #49: Fallen Empire by Akina Books






It's nice to see that more and more independent publishing houses are emerging every day. That's the case of London-based AkinaBooks, a new publisher that already offers a great selection of artist books.

AkinaBooks is run by Alex Bocchetto and Valentina Abenavoli, two Italians who have been living in London for a while and have decided to show a really different side of the city in Fallen Empire, one of the first books published by the house.

Fallen Empire consists of 2 booklets, a map and a nice button envelope which plays an essential role in the whole concept of the publication. The photos collected in Fallen Empire were taking during 2 years of wandering around the numerous areas of London and show a very different vision of the city, really far away from that tourist facade that most big cities usually present.

The authors of Fallen Empire have said about portraying that less known part of London, "we felt a critical point of view was somehow missing from every media representation of the city. The book is about the feeling of being lost in a city without fixed landmarks, while trying to make sense about the surroundings."

Fallen Empire also comes with a map, a cut-up of different parts of London mixed together and combined with found objects and notes from the streets of the city. This map, along with the envelope, mimics a tourist book/kit that invites you to get lost in this "dark" side of the city.

If you're interested in Fallen Empire, you can find more photos and information about the book 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*

Tuesday 9 October 2012

Oblivion pt. X




 

It had been a while, but here are finally more images from the Oblivion series.
You can check the rest of the series here and on my website.

Sunday 7 October 2012

Sunday Zine Review #48: Shoppinghour

After last week's absence, I'm back with a new feature: interviews. I've decided that it would be interesting to know more about some of the people that send their publications to be reviewed here.

When I was sent these two copies of Shoppinhour Magazine, I knew it was the perfect time to give the interview a try. I messaged Peter Eramian, one of the founders of the magazine, and asked him about the publication and how he sees today's independent magazines sector.


Could you introduce yourself and the magazine? 


Shoppinghour Magazine is composed of a team of writers, artists and designers from different backgrounds and locations (New York, London, Tokyo, Melbourne, Udine, Montreal, Paris, Berlin, Warsaw, Nicosia...). Our ‘headquarters’ are in London, a city which we all share a special connection to, but most of our communication is handled online.

From the get go, Shoppinghour has been about bringing the arts, humanities and social sciences together in responding to issues of a more nuanced relevance. Though we may not be directly tackling current political events, our concerns are very much current and politically relevant. Perhaps you might say that we address not the conscious but the subconscious of our time.

We take our design very seriously and want it to be just as relevant and thoughtfully handled as our content. TWO (Think Work Observe) have been incredibly important in understanding and translating our ethos into a bold visual identity that confronts and speaks to a contemporary audience.


Why did you and Yasushi decide to start Shoppinghour? 

Yasushi and I met at Goldsmiths College. I was studying Fine Art and History of Art and he was studying Sociology. We immediately clicked, Yasushi’s like a brother to me. We would take long walks ‘sparring’ ideas, epic 8-hour-long conversations on ethics, resistance, love, violence, sentimentality, empathy, and so on. We were completely unpretentious about this. Thinking and conversing were – and still are – a means for us, never an ends, for unpacking our inspiration, making us receptive to different creative possibilities. Shoppinghour was one such creative possibility that simply made sense, since it translated our conversations into something we could share and open up to others.


Independent fashion and photography magazines are quite common nowadays, but I guess some of the topics that Shoppinghour deals with (philosophy, poetry & critical theory) are more directed to a 'niche' group of readers. How has the people's response to the magazine been?

Definitely very positive. We’re finding that there’s a large audience out there seeking to engage in such challenging, complex and thought-provoking content, outside of academia. Shoppinghour is much more than your average magazine, it offers something you can enjoy over a longer period of time. Neither our form nor our content is disposable. You’re meant to cherish Shoppinghour, lean back and read it slowly, over days, weeks, months, carry it around with you, and reflect on the artworks and ideas presented in it. We’d like to think there’s a timelessness to it, so that if you were to find a copy lying around 10 years from now you would still pick it up and want to read it, like a good novel or poetry collection. 

You’re right, independent fashion and photography magazines are quite common nowadays, and some of them are absolutely beautiful. One in particular “Girls/Boys on Film” has recently caught my attention... ;) Shoppinghour isn’t like these magazines because that’s simply not who we are. Most of us have academic backgrounds in cultural and political theory, fine art and art history, sociology and philosophy. That said, we certainly do have a strong appreciation and awareness of contemporary trends in fashion and photography.


How do you find your contributors? Do you usually approach them or do you receive submissions? 

We usually approach them. Our themes are often quite specific so it’s difficult to add something random to an issue. We are of course always open to ideas and submissions however. The content for each issue comes together after many hours or conversation and individual research. We hold meetings (often online) which last several hours, agreeing and disagreeing, thinking about every decision meticulously. There’s very little editorial hierarchy between us, since we’re all friends after all! Our editorial vision finds its equilibrium through our friendship and love for each other, as cheesy as that may sound!:)

How do you fund the magazine?
The magazine is funded by Yasushi and me, but this is only possible because everyone involved is generous enough to contribute their time without expecting payment. There’s no question that Shoppinghour is a labour of love, which we devote time to separately from our paid jobs and other projects. The first 6 issues cost very little and were printed in very small quantities. Issue 7 was the first properly printed and distributed in retail. Sales are strong. Issue 8 was sold out pretty much everywhere and orders for issue 9 have increased significantly. We have a very specific advertising strategy lined up for the near future and hope that as our distribution supply and sales go up everyone involved will eventually be paid.


The distribution process is, probably, one of key elements in the 'life cycle' of an independent magazine. Can you tell us a little about your distributors and where people can find your magazine? How much has this process grown since you started the magazine? 

Distribution has been an adventure! The first zine issues (back in 2008-2009) were printed, hand-stapled and distributed for free at about 100-200 copies between us and our friends. Issue 5 was distributed in the Don’t Panic packs, again for free. Issue 6, the Secular Religion issue, was published online-only via Issuu. We were never paid sales for issue 7 (our first in retail) because our distributors went bankrupt! The early days of Shoppinghour were very much about making mistakes, learning and sculpting the magazine into what it’s now finally becoming. Eventually, we were able to impress and convince established distributors such as Central Books and Export Press to take us on. Since issue 8 onwards we’ve had excellent UK and international retail distribution. 

You can find Shoppinghour at selected galleries, bookshops and stores, such as Tate Modern, Artwords, Serpentine Gallery, Magma, Foyles, Arnolfini Books, Colette Paris, Galerie Yvon Lambert Paris, Motto Berlin, Do You Read Me?! Berlin, Logos Shibuya Tokyo, and many more. And of course you can buy or subscribe to Shoppinghour online at our website. 

In the last couple of years there's been a boom in the independent magazines market, with lots of well-designed and unique publications taking over. How do you see the future of print publications against online publishing and the growth of iPad and tablets sales? 

I think it’s a very exciting time for independent magazine publishing. Before the web, printed magazine publishing was a necessary disposable means of communicating mostly disposable news and trends. But now such content no longer really needs to be printed. You’ve got your news
websites and blogs online, you can read it all there, scan, link, search, connect... The web is the perfect home for such publishing. More and more magazines are making this transition as it simply costs less, is easier to manage and is more interactive. By default, this means that printed magazine publishing is now becoming more and more defined as a non-disposable medium, which is great for independent magazine publishers producing carefully designed and thoughtful magazines, such as Shoppinghour! :)


Shoppinghour Magazine is celebrating issue 09 - Authentic Human - on October 19th at X Marks The Bökship in London, with a special guest performance by Penny Rimbaud. Everyone is welcome, so have a look at the poster above and find more information about the event here.

Thanks a lot Pete for sending the two issues and spending part of your free time replying to the questions!

*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*