#59: Offline Journal Newsletter : 24 Oct '23
Photography self-publishing galore
Hello again
With the new issue #011 of Offline Journal now available and proving popular with its overarching theme of ‘PUBLISH’, it seems appropriate to have this Newsletter share more than a few items on the publishing topic and also some breaking News!
THE BOX OF ZINES!
Offline Journal and the Photography courses at the University of South Wales were really pleased with the response to our callout for self-published photo zines for the Pictures on Pages event in Cardiff last Friday 20 October.
After being displayed at the Pictures on Pages event, the BOX OF ZINES was taken along to Ffotogallery’s Photo Book Fair the following day – with the addition of a few more handed to me during the day. These zines, and more as they are contributed to the box by photographers, will be catalogued and kept in the Box of Zines which, as it grows, will be taken along to photography festivals and events throughout Wales and allow more people to be introduced to the work of the photographers and their creative self-publishing efforts.
Great Little Tin Sheds of Wales - Pete Davis
Previous Newsletters have mentioned the new ‘Great Little Tin Sheds of Wales: redux’ catalog by photographer Pete Davis but, as of last weekend, I’m delighted these puppies are now available direct from the Offline Journal online store!
At 210 x 210mm with 56 pages of tantalising tin shed architecture, this new publication - number 002 in the series of three published so far - features the gorgeous large format images created back in the early 1980s by Pete Davis, first shown by Ffotogallery in 1984 and now showing again in Ffotogaleri y Gofeb in Machynlleth until 22 December 2023.
In the video clip above, one of several created by Offline for the recent Pictures on Pages publishing event in Cardiff, Pete Davis tells the story of both the project and the new catalog - it’s well worth watching! See below for another from Billie Charity - and I’ll post each of the other short video stories on self-publishing over the coming weeks (with others also in the works) so consider subscribing to the Offline Journal channel on YouTube.
THE BENCH by BILLIE CHARITY
In the above video, professional photographer Billie Charity who is based in Hay-on-Wye, tells the story of a small project that grew and grew - and blossomed into a zine packed with eclectic portraits of literal ‘sitters’ in her amusing but sensitive ‘The Bench’.
YUCKERS YEAR - Glenn Edwards
Prior to his recent exhibition of photographs at The Riverfront theatre in Newport marking the 40-year anniversary of Newport boxer David Pearce’s prize-winning heavyweight fight, Glenn Edwards kindly agreed to tell me the story of his documentary images – and his recent 92-page self-published book of the same.
Watch the video above and if you’d like to order a copy for the very reasonable price of just £15, they’re available direct from the photographer if you contact him via his email address glenn.photo (at) gmail.com or website:
www.glennedwardsphotojournalist.com
Ffoton revives #portraitcymru for 2023/24
Ffoton is encouraging photographers across Wales to tag their own recent portrait photographs with #portraitcymru on Instagram, Threads and X (formerly Twitter).
First introduced back in 2018, the #portraitcymru hashtag has been included in over 3,300 images posted on Instagram to date. Curated selections of the work featured in two 2018 exhibitions – one during The EYE International Photography Festival in Aberystwyth and another in Little Man Coffee Co in Cardiff. An online gallery also featured rolling selections from the Instagram #portraitcymru feed and an impressive full colour 40-page A5 zine documented a large selection in print.
More information on the activities back in 2018 can be found on the dedicated web page on ffoton.wales/portraitcymru
Reviving #portraitcymru is intended to revive an ongoing participatory project - open to all - to creatively document the ‘Faces of a Nation’. The popularity of the hashtag five years ago and original A5 zine (part-sponsored by Mixam.co.uk) has prompted Ffoton to again direct attention to #portraitcymru in anticipation of discovering new creative portraiture in and from Wales.
More information on the revival and some of the exciting things planned will be shared on the Ffoton website this coming Sunday evening.
Join in!
Tag the best of your own portrait photography with #portraitcymru on Instagram, Threads or X/Twitter.
If you would like some inspiration, I have a small number of the original zines published by Ffoton to accompany both #portraitcymru (40 pages) and #urbanwales (46 pages) participatory projects from 2018 and 2017 respectively. Bag the two zines for just £10 (postage included) via www.offlinejournal.bigcartel.com (while limited stocks last)
(disclaimer: I co-founded Ffoton in 2014 when we started recording in-depth conversations with photographers around Wales. You can find the Ffoton Interviews Podcast on most of the main Podcast feeds).
NEW HAY-ON-WYE PHOTO FESTIVAL
Plans are afoot for a new addition to the Wales and International Photography Festival calendar, with the announcement today of the Hay Photography Festival coming in 2025.
Established by Hay-based professional photographer Billie Charity and Arts Director Tracy Marshall-Grant, the first year of the new festival will kick off with the theme of ‘Photography and the Narrative’ in April 2025. Thankfully we’ll have a photography event in Wales and the West not scheduled for, and potentially clashing in, October!
A website is underway but you can follow the progress of the new festival or contact the organisers via their shiny new Instagram account @hayphotofestival
CARDIFF ZINE FEST
Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff will host Cardiff Zine Fest - described as “a celebration of radical zine-making and self publishing” on Saturday 18 November from 11am - 5pm.
Organisers Shelf Life Books and Zines & ArtHole will be bringing together over 30 local and regional creatives displaying zines, as well as hosting activities and workshops “to help spread the good word, and spotlight the variety and importance of this (zine) craft”.
They go on to state:
“Expect a heady mix of writers and publishers, alongside illustrators and comic creators spread out around the whole of Chapter Arts Center”
.…. it’ll be interesting to see if any photography zines make an appearance!
www.chapter.org/whats-on/art-hole-market