For a long time on the morning commute I wished I could carry a camera with me at all times, just in case. Especially for those epic sunrises or foggy mornings. Towards the end of last year I upgraded my iPhone to an iPhone Pro, meaning I could now shoot RAW on my smartphone. At some point I should probably pull together some of the shots I’ve got so far. In the meantime, here’s a blue beetle from this morning’s commute.
losing my religion: social media and me
I’ve been using various forms of social media since around 2005. I started out with a political blog back in the early 2000s, writing content almost several times a week and putting my (half-baked?) thoughts and opinions out there. A few years later, back in 2008, I joined Twitter. I mainly joined to build networks within my profession, and to be fair, it was great for that. I also used it to co-create activist networks in the profession, co-founding a public library campaign and a varity of other library orientated activities. Then, well, it all got to be a bit of a binfire. And now…well…
Last week a post of mine on Threads went a little viral. It was somewhat amusing as I post very infrequently on there, for reasons I’ll come onto. Now, back in the day, this was not that unusual. Back on Twitter, one post of mine turned out to be one of the most popular on the opening night of the 2012 London Olympics, rapidly increasing my follower count as a result (which always amused me, as I’m sure my tweets about libraries weren’t of that much interest to many of them). By the time I started to lose interest in Twitter, I had over 4,000 followers, including some well-known “blue tick” accounts (when “blue tick” didn’t mean basement dwellers who fork out a monthly fee to their shit-posting overlord). All of this is really to say that social media was a large chunk of my life, I had accounts on all platforms, and I posted whenever time would allow. I couldn’t help myself, I just had to login, see what was happening, and dive in. Never would I have imagined I’d feel the way I do now.
It started before Musk, but Musk has certainly accelerated my disenchantment, not just with Twitter but social media in general. Whereas once Twitter was a good way to network with people and to find common cause, now it is just a mess of abuse and hate. But it’s not just the abuse that makes it all so tiring (and I appreciate here I am talking from a position of privilege, the abuse and hate aren’t directed at middle aged cis straight men), it’s the constant need to keep up on multiple platforms. Remembering to post an update, to check in on people across multiple platforms…it increasingly feels like a chore, no longer a pleasure.
Twitter/X. Instagram. Facebook. Bluesky. Threads. Mastodon. So many platforms, and so little time and energy to engage with all of them. It’s particularly tricky when wanting to post and share your photography. Post on Instagram. Share to Facebook. Head to BlueSky. Post Photo. Head to Threads. Post photo. And of course it’s not just about posting the photos, it’s about ENGAGEMENT. Checking out images posted by the people I follow, liking them, posting a comment, maybe sharing to my Story, moving on to the next one…I feel guilty when I go a few days without seeing and engaging with a photo by one of the people I follow. Do they think I’ve lost interest? Or that I don’t really like their photos? (We are back to the overthinking, folks!) But no, it’s just…TIME.
I think social media is becoming less and less of an important thing in my life. Perhaps that’s a healthy thing. Only five years ago, the very idea of me tiring of the constant post>engage>share cycle seemed far-fetched at best. But I can’t help but think the combination of the Twitter hellscape and the plethora of different social media that has sprung up to be the “new Twitter” has worn me out. I just simply can’t be bothered to maintain a load of different networks all at the same time, and the very thought of it is pushing me towards: why even bother anymore?
But I keep getting pulled back. It’s the fear of losing the connections. The people I have met, admired and befriended along the way. It’s the urge to share my photography. Not least because I made the decision a couple of years ago to start selling my work. No audience, no sales. And therein lies the issue with social media…it has both huge advantages for “creators” (ergh, sorry) as well as huge disadvantages for the spirit. It can both crush you and encourage you. Break you and make you. It’s about understanding how to make it work to your advantage without letting it crush your spirit. Or, given the hellscape that is Twitter, destroy any hope you left have in humankind.
Of course, there will be those that say you should have a STRATEGY. Carefully craft your social media output, develop a plan. LEVERAGE different platforms for different MARKETS. INVEST time to build your AUDIENCE and develop your REACH. But that all sounds like a bit too much effort. It seems to me that social media is worth engaging with, but not worth investing in. If only the TechBro 1930s Fascist Tribute Act had a similar perspective, perhaps it would all be somewhat less…hellish.
See you on Instagram I guess…
why photography and what does it all mean?
This might just be the most representative blog post of the inner workings of my brain that I have yet attempted. So this might either be horrifying or insightful. Maybe it’s interesting too, but let’s not get too hopeful about that. Perhaps it’ll just be me wittering on, boring people until the end with nothing new or revelatory throughout.
I have a tendency to overthink and over-reflect. I know, you wouldn’t think it from that first paragraph, would you? But, well, yes. A constant refrain amongst friends is that perhaps I am overthinking things. From relationships to my own words and deeds, nothing escapes my propensity to analyse over and over, spiralling away as I assess every permutation of every single thing I say or do.
It’s not for nothing, I guess, that I studied literature and history at university. What better for someone who over-analyses than to do a course that is rooted in analysis of words and actions. Perfect. Although perhaps it’s done nothing but heightened my desire to analyse everything, resulting in more reflecting and less doing or, even worse, living.
And so, to photography. From time to time, over-analysis seeps into my photography, and particularly at the moment. Certain questions have stuck in my head over the course of the past week or so, such that whether I’m out with my camera, editing in Lightroom or even just watching the tv or walking to work, they swim around my head, struggling for answers.
As always, after nearly twenty years of blogging, the solution seemed obvious: get it typed out, hit publish, and maybe that will help get it out of my system and, equally, see where others are and, hopefully, doing so will either reassure me this is something others do, or will encourage me to stop worrying and carry on (print that on a tote bag). So here we are. Let’s see…
why do i photograph?
This is a question I struggle with. Why do I do it? Not only why do I do it, but why do I share my photography on social media? The answer to both of these questions is: I don’t know. I know I’ve messed around with cameras for a long time. As a kid I remember picking up and old Kodak camera and being into playing around with it and trying to get decent shots out of it. But why did I pick it up? What was it about photography that captured my interest? I have absolutely no idea. I couldn’t even offer up a philosophical explanation that sounds good on the surface, but is ultimately meaningless. I simply do not know.
I certainly couldn’t explain why I do it now. I could say it’s an excuse to go out, to wander around and get some fresh air, or even to help with my mental health, but whilst they may be part of the reason I do it, they do not fully explain why I charge up batteries, pack a camera bag and head out to take photos. I suppose I must enjoy the process. If I didn’t then I would surely stop immediately and never go out again.
Perhaps it’s because I’ve never had the skills or patience when it comes to art. I’ve always wanted to be able to create, to draw and to communicate through art, I’ve just lacked the skills and the patience. I’d be loathe to say photography is easier, there is a still so much to learn after all. But I feel like I can get something now. Maybe my hit rate is a couple a year, but it’s a hit rate I have never come close to with drawing. Perhaps it fulfils that creative drive in a way that I have failed to find through other mediums. Perhaps it’s that?
Either way, all of this leads to another question…
what is the purpose of my photography?
This has also been bothering me for a while: what am I trying to communicate with my photography? Is there something I am trying to communicate? Should there be something I am trying to communicate?
I think I know what I like when it comes to street photography. I like something a bit abstract. Something that needs a bit of working out. Something that obscures the full human form, that hides the face, makes the human more mysterious. Whether that be playing with focus or condensation on windows, there’s something about reducing the human to an outline, to obscure. Light. I also like light. Interesting illuminations of scenes that create interesting shadows. Those are the kinds of scences I seem to be drawn to, increasingly gauging by my Instagram feed. This was perhaps one of my main takeaways from Berlin given the laws around photography there.
So that’s what I like, but what am I trying to communicate with these images? Is it anonymity in a world of surveillance and cameras on every street (fixed or mobile) that I am trying to convey? Is it just the character of the streets and the city with the people incidental to it - conveying the reality of twenty-first century living and its imperfections? Imperfection in a world of geometric glass and steel, all clean lines and considered planning rather than the organic, messy nature of the real world? Does it even matter if there is a message? Is it enough to just share images without concerning oneself with the message?
Back in the 90s, I remember Kurt Cobain (I was and remain a huge fan) being asked time and again about his lyrics and what they meant. Every time the questions were brushed away with a line about them just being scraps of poetry and things he’d written pulled together to make a song. There was no real meaning. Like all the best postmodernists, there was no wish to project a fixed and definitive meaning about the art, it was down to the interpretation of the person consuming it. Perhaps the meaning in my work should be left to others, not for me to puzzle over to the extent it impedes my own work.
In the late 90s and early 2000s I decided to start work on a novel. I had long harboured ambitions of writing one, and with my career going nowhere, and life hitting a dead end, it felt like I should fulfil that dream. In 2025, it should be clear to everyone that I am not the renowed author of postmodern fiction that I had imagined I would be. A devastating realisation for myself, of course, particularly as I rapidly approach 50. But the reason for my failings should perhaps serve as a stark reminder. Why did I fail? Because I wrote three to four pages of postmodern stream of conscious prose…and then got bogged down in over-analysing what I had written and getting no further with it. Sometimes, perhaps, the analysis is for others. For oneself, the focus should be on creation. Let others wrangle over what it means.
When the fog descends...
…head to Deal. Or Margate. Or Folkestone. Or…well, anywhere.
Fog is that magical element that we all (I think?) hope for at this time of year. You scour the weather apps, desperate for a sign, anything, that suggests maybe there will be some fog on the way. You build your hopes up when Clear Outside suggests 10 for fog, only to remember all those times before when it was just cloudy. Or you check the Met Office, excited to see a VP for visibility. Could this be the moment? Or will it be another VP that turns out to be E?
Most of the time, you’re hesitant because that forecast for fog hits the morning and, let’s face it, even in the winter, that morning rise can be a bit of a chore when all you have is a hint of hope that maybe you’ll wake to find that you can barely see beyond your doorstep. But every now and then, the forecast is in the evening and when that happens…bingo! No early rising, no dragging yourself out of bed on a cold morning, it’s just a late afternoon drive somewhere, and a leisurely stroll around before getting home in time for tea. Fog in the afternoon/evening is the dream, so often much more elusive than in the morning.
It just so happens that this last weekend, fog was forecast in the evening. So I decided to grab my stuff and head to Deal and hope for the best. Imagine my disappointment as I got ever closer, only to find there was not even the slightest hint of fog. Was I in for disappointment? Perhaps. Oh well, I got out of the house at least…
Found a suitable parking space, parked up, grabbed my coat, my camera bag, my beanie…wait, what’s that? That street lamp seems to be picking up some mist rolling in. Don’t tell me it’s actually going to happen? The very moment I park up, now the fog is going to roll in? This never happens. I’m nearly always in for disappointment. Well, we’re in. Let’s go!
And so into town, down the sidestreets, onto the promenade…the pier is…well, it’s there because I can see the lights. But that’s all I can see. Other than two figures sitting on the wall looking out to sea. Maybe a walk on the pier would be good with the lights…I feel an urge to channel my inner blade runner fandom. Just need the right subject, a person or couple that I can make the subject, with enough distance to other people to make it appear like they are on their own. A couple going for an eery walk down the pier in the evening, with the pier lights shining bright. That will do the job.
Back into town. Fog, cold, condensation…there have got to be some shots to be had here. The ice cream parlour. That usually works. Almost empty, but for a couple sitting at a table, reading a paper. Great. Sometimes you just get lucky. Sometimes the opportunities just scream out at you. Sure, sometimes the shot can be obvious, perhaps there’s more unique shots to be had if you just spend a bit of time thinking about it, but what if the moment goes? What if you lose any shot at all? All the thoughts that buzz around your head before you press down on the shutter. There will be plenty of times to mess around and experiment. Sometimes it’s just about getting the shot, no matter how obvious it feels in hindsight.
A potter back through town, hands in pockets, longing for the warmth of the car. And then it’s done. Got lucky. Got shots. Got cold. Got home. Until next time, evening fog. Whenever that may be…
Fringe and Ginge, Canterbury
Fringe+Ginge is one of my favourite cafes in the city. Well, in truth, it’s pretty much the only cafe I go to in the city…because I don’t really drink coffee so I’m really not down with the whole coffee culture thing. A good cup of tea is all the caffeine hit I need. But it’s not just the tea and chilled vibe (famously, no laptops and stressed people trying to work!) that draws me in, the windows also do it for me…especially at this time of year when it’s cold outside and nice and cosy inside.
In truth, I started taking pictures of the cafe long before I started going in and spending my money. After a while, I felt a bit guilty just using it as a photo location and figured I should actually go in and spend some money there too. And I’m glad I did, Alfie and Olivia (the owners) have made this an essential place to stop off and grab a tea, a pastry or a toasted sandwich. And both have been really cool about me taking photos in and around the cafe, which is also a big plus.
And for a small spot, there’s plenty of photo opportunities, again, especially at this time of year with the condensation on the large windows at the front and side of the building. I was even thinking recently that you could even make a really niche zine out of the interior and exterior of the cafe, but that’s probably a challenge too far for me at the moment. Something to consider in the future though maybe.
Anyway, I thought I’d pull together a number of recent photos taken inside and outside the cafe. It’s amazing what you can get in one, small location if the conditions are right and you are patient (which isn’t always the case with me).
of Dead Chickens, Smelly Streets And Currywurst Redemption | Berlin Part I
What am I doing? I’m finally doing it. This is it. What is he doing? Why is he going through his case whilst we are on the way to the runway? Why is she wearing a winter coat on the plane in August? I think I’ll close my eyes until I arrive…
Berlin. It had been a long time in the planning. I had intended to go in 2023, but I was incredibly fussy about where I was staying…the moment passed. Yet another one of those opportunities passed up. A dream that would remain a dream, turning into a regret. But not this time.
For several weeks I had meticulously planned. Opening Google Maps, saving places I’d come across on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok…social media still has it uses in these musk-stained days. I’d developed something approaching a plan. This cluster of pins on day one, this cluster on day two, random clusters before my flight home. A mixture of places I knew from previous visits, and places I’d yet to explore. This was a chance to relax, to unwind, to take photos and to explore.
In the days leading up to the trip, I was closely watching the weather. Would there be sun? Rain? Neither? I hoped for one or the other, overcast conditions are not really for me. I rarely go out and take photos in those conditions. But then I wasn’t just there for the photography. Relax. Remember? It’s not about pressure to create, it’s about freedom and pleasure. Let’s not throw that all away to force something.
I had planned everything as well as I could, buying last minute supplies just in case (the very small mac-in-a-sac was arguably the best pre-trip purchase of the lot…even more than the power bank, or the extension cable to save on travel adapters). I packed a few slim Penguin reads (Tolstoy, Baldwin and Lorde) and headed off to the train station, making my merry way to the pleasure dome that is Heathrow Terminal 5.
A couple of hours later and I had arrived at the new, flashy Berlin airport. A little disorientated from the flight as well as from the new surroundings (previous arrivals being at the old Tegel airport). The disorientation was heightened by a mishap in the corridor at the hands of the new airport as the door in front of me automatically closed and locked, shortly followed by the door behind. Truly, I was trapped in a glass case of emotion. Anchored to the spot, until a security guard rushed over, apologised profusely and let me out. Welcome to Berlin and travelling solo.
And so, through passport control and onto Friedrichshain. I was looking forward to staying in this part of the city. It seemed very much my “vibe”. Distinctly left-wing, with a rebellious spirit at its core, it appeared to me to be the perfect place to use as my base for exploring the city once more. I was keen to dig into a part of Berlin I’d not previously visited, having spent most of my previous trips in the Mitte area. Touristy, but with at least some elements of the real Berlin (sadly now, increasingly gentrified and polished). Arrival at the hostel down a side street gave a sense of this real Berlin, housed alongside residential apartment blocks just off one of the main routes through Friedrichshain.
Burgermeister Schlesisches Tor
Having dropped my bag off and had a little rest, I loaded up my camera bag and headed off to explore the neighborhood. First stop: burgers from a public toilet. I’d heard a lot about Burgermeister before travelling, and this one in particular was really highly recommended. Housed in an old public convenience underneath an S-bahn line, it served up burgers that people seemed to rave about. I couldn’t resist. So I headed down, ordered a burger and fries and was blown away. I don’t tend to eat burgers very often these days (age and waistline kinda puts a halt to those sorts of things), but if I know a good one is on offer, then I will ensure it’s a priority stop off.
After a bit of an explore around the area, with nothing much standing out as shot-worthy, I headed off to RAW-Gelände, another place I’d seen online that seemed an essential visit and very classic Berlin. A mixture of bars, clubs, a skate park and a climbing wall (not sure that’s advised after a drink…), it has a very post-apocalyptic, industrial vibe, an essential component in my affinity for the city. A beer and, admittedly a bizarre choice, a rum chaser (!) later, and I was off to explore another bar (with a lovely free anti-Nazi badge to take home with me too…one that now proudly adorns my corduroy shirt…). Two bars, one public toilet converted into a burger bar, zero photos. Well, can’t say I wasn’t putting pleasure before photography.
Cassiopeia, RAW-Gelände
Having pottered around the area and sunk a few drinks, I headed back to the hostel, conscious that the reception was closed from midnight and uncertain I could remember the process for entering. Turned out it was fine, but probably getting hammered on my first night with a packed first day on the schedule probably wouldn’t have been a good idea…
Saturday morning. The first full day of exploring and, as I was to discover, the first of two very full days. Leaving at 9am I headed first for breakfast. Of course, I had done my research and found a great little place just down the road from where I was staying. Needless to say, it turned out that my research skills were first rate. Breakfast was simply phenomenal. The only sadness about the breakfast being I knew it would be the only time I ate there, given I had made plans for a different, equally excellent, café on the Sunday (a Colombian place as it turned out…which had some benefits I had unexpectedly desired over the course of my trip…).
Breakfast at Silo Coffee.
Below: RAW-Gelande
Alexanderplatz. I’d been here several times before, but never to look for photos. It’s a classic scene and a no-brainer for the itinerary. Dominated by the Fernsehturm (the tv tower), the area is rich with photographic opportunities. Not that you would know it from the time I spent there. So dominant and unusual is the tower, you can’t help but take photo after photo after photo featuring the tower. And so I did. Every angle I could find. Unfortunately for me, perhaps the best composition I found just so happened to be under a train line where there was a distinct smell of piss. Nonetheless, I crouched down and settled on a composition and waited for the people to flow past. Capturing individuals was a challenge, but somewhat less of a challenge than the challenge to my nose…and to my knees. Still, I got some shots. And without a hint of a full face to be seen on any of them. Mission accomplished. If mission accomplished also included the locals looking at me in puzzlement as I crouched down in said piss-stained pavement to take some photos. If so, then we can consider this a big tick.
Yes, I hate myself a little bit for uploading a vertical video…
The next tick was a rooftop view of Berlin from the Humboldt Forum. I’d spotted they were offering £5 tickets to go on the rooftop just before I arrived in the city. So I figured I should check it out at that price. Of course, getting a unique composition would be tricky, but at least I could see things from a different vantage point. And that wasn’t to be sniffed at. Besides, I hadn’t seen the Fernsehturm from up there…
Next step was heading towards Dead Chicken Alley. Another spot I’d not been to before even if, annoyingly, it was right next to numerous other places I had visited. Nonetheless, a visit to its art plastered walls was essential, alongside all the other tourists. This was a challenging spot for a unique shot. Ah well, it doesn’t all have to be about being unique. There were some good shots en route however, as the classic window covered in…stuff…offered some opportunities for some reflection shots. There were also some unexpected shots as some guy out with his family spotted me with my camera and insisted I take some family snaps and send them to him later on…which I duly did. Only to find people don’t always realise that taking photos does mean some editing and they can’t always be delivered instantly…
A stop off for a raspberry lemonade (it wasn’t all alcohol you know…) and I was off again, not for long though as I decided to visit a bar on the banks of the river that I had visited on pretty much every previous trip. The first time I’d been it was a beach bar type affair, deckchairs, imported sand, chill out music playing in the background. This time it had been…pedestrianised. Still worth a stop for a drink, but just lacked that vibe. I drank some beer, read the Tolstoy I packed, and headed off for a big disappointment under the grey skies of the city…
Strandbar Mitte
Tacheles has a special place in my heart. Sorry, had. Basically a huge crumbling brick and concrete building in the centre of the city with all manner of spaces for the arts to flourish (there’s a good overview of its history on Wikipedia). In the evening this imposing building became a hive of bars and clubs, each floor with a different vibe. Making your way up the concrete stairs, not knowing what was on the next floor, finding some beat-up sofas and a DJ spinning some tunes. Then back outside to drink amongst the outdoor artworks in the sculpture park and maybe catch a live band. It was, for me, symbolic of Berlin. A city of freedom and community. And now…well, now it’s a fancy photography gallery. You’d think I’d be excited. But no. It was the single most depressing part of my trip. All that vibrancy, energy, freedom…replaced by coffee table books and assorted “unique” artefacts for the home. I almost felt like crying it was so depressing. So I consoled myself by taking some stickers that were available for free on signing some visitor book. I didn’t write in the visitor book. Take that gentrification!
I remember when all this were clubs…
Nope. Nope nope nope.
There was only one thing for it…I’d heard about a fabulous currywurst place close to an interesting u-bahn station and the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church. What could possibly be better than some photo opportunities and a currywurst? I tell you what, nothing.
It was difficult to get shots of the church, but I tried my best to come up with…something. In the end I just got no better than tourist shots, but I was glad to get to see it (if you can be glad given what it is). The u-bahn station was similarly difficult, not helped by a lot of people milling in and out, just too many people to hone in on one particular individual. So I got…nothing. But hey, this wasn’t just about photography, right? I suspect I was still feeling a bit depressed by the Tascheles and found it really difficult to find any interesting photos. It wasn’t helped by it being a bit of a shopping district either, I just wasn’t feeling it. So the time felt right for a re-charge…and a currywurst. And my word, what a currywurst. Witty’s didn’t disappoint. The currywurst was spectacular and it was nice to just stand on the street, eating a curry sausage and drinking a nice cold beer. If you are ever in the city, head to Witty’s near Wittenbergplatz. You won’t be disappointed…unless you don’t like currywurst in the first place…which is just odd.
Filled with currywurst, I headed to the S-bahn to get some shots, getting a few pleasing shots of the amazing stations. Dropping down to f1.4 and with an 18mm lens, I explored the compositions on offer and tried to get a variety of shots. Some architectural, some more abstract people shots. Even daring to drop the shutter speed to 1/60. To hell with sharpness…let’s get some motion blur and see if we can capture anything interesting as the trains go by…a glimpse of a face, a passing moment in time. There will be plenty of time for sharp, crisp shots. Let’s capture a feeling.
Back to RAW-Gelände for a Berliner Weisse (cue awkward moment where I forgot you have it with a syrup, and so answered the question “red or green?” with “yes, a large one please”…Duolingo had obviously failed me) and a pizza. Settling down to eat, the mac in a sac came into its own as the rain started to fall and Berliners ran for cover. Casually pulling the mac out of its…er…sack, I calmly slipped it on and carried on eating my pizza. What a guy. Then a thought hit me…Potsdamer Platz! Rain. Lights. People. Cars. Maybe there’s an opportunity for some reflections and wet roads etc. So I left the bar and made for Potsdamer Platz. I just needed the rain to keep going. BRING ON THE RAINS!
Fabulous pizza at RAW-Gelände.
Well, needless to say, that didn’t happen. It stopped. But as I was there I was obviously going to take some shots, so I did. Again, being brave (in photography terms, there’s little that is brave about anything I do otherwise), I dropped the shutter to 1/60 and tried to catch some movement in the passing traffic, as well as the lights of the station. Standing in the central reservation, I tried to make the most of the opportunity, whilst ensuring I wasn’t killed by traffic. A delicate balancing act of photo or perish…
Satisfied with my work, I headed back towards my basecamp and took advantage of the water droplets on the tram shelters. Some abstract shots! The clouds had been a major obstacle during the day, but at night who cares about clouds? Suddenly the darkness, the rain and the light offer countless opportunities. The kind of opportunities I really enjoy. It had been a cloudy day with flashes of inspiration, artistry, history, interesting aromas, innovations, crushing disappointments and currywurst. So far, so very Berlin…
Watch this space for Part II…coming soon(ish)…
A Trip To Spain And Pleasant Surprises
Note: I was supposed to publish this a month ago…better late than never!
Well, it’s been nearly four months now since I last wrote a blog post on here, so I’ve not been doing great at keeping things up-to-date. Best laid plans and all of that…so let’s put this right and put together at least one blog post for summer 2023.
I’ve not long been back from our annual two week holiday in Seville, and aside from the usual complaint that the holiday just wasn’t long enough, we had a great couple of weeks and I managed to get out to do a lot of photography. Better still, I got to do a lot of photography and didn’t once get shouted at for doing so. Long-term followers/readers will know this is an unusual experience for me when I go to Spain.
Unusually for me, I went out and did a lot of solo trips into the city centre. Both during the mornings and in the evenings for some evening golden hour/sunset shots. I’ve always been a bit hesitant about doing this, partly because of carrying expensive camera equipment around in the city centre, but also because, well, we are supposed to be on holiday as a family, so…
For whatever reasons this time it worked out that I had more time to go out and shoot and so I took the opportunity every chance I could. Before we went I bought a couple of additional 64gb SD cards and I obviously had to fill them to capacity before we returned. And so I did. Which on the flip side meant a lot of photos to edit but it’s better that than having nothing to work with.
Prior to this trip I had also invested in an iPad Pro M2. I’d been mulling this over for a while, because I really wanted more storage and more processing power. Not just for editing photos but for other tasks too (editing video for example). For the past few years I’d been using a 2019 iPad Air, which I’d been really pleased with, but the small storage space and some other limitations (not compatible with the new pencil for example) finally got me to the point where I felt an upgrade was in order. With my recent promotion at work too, I felt I could justify the outlay as it would benefit me at work as well as at home. So far I’ve been really pleased with the investment and it’s been a dream to edit on. So that’s been great.
Photography-wise, I got some nice shots whilst I was away. Probably not much in the way of absolute bangers, but some shots I was at least happy with. Of course the light was great (if you want strong shadows obviously) whilst we were there…because it was just blue skies and sunny every single day. However, it wasn’t without its challenges. Once it got to late morning, the heat became unbearable. Whereas in the UK I’d be happy to stand at a composition and do a bit of “fishing”, in Seville I tend to find standing around for more than five minutes in the sun very uncomfortable, particularly if you need to stand in the sun to make the most of the composition. I also struggled with golden hour street photography as I very quickly realised you have time for probably one or two compositions and that’s your lot. You don’t have time to wonder around and find something. You either decide on a composition and stick with it, or inevitable end up getting nothing at all. On more than one occassion I got nothing at all.
Anyway, I’ll post some shots below in a gallery…
Now for the “pleasant surprise”…
Before I went away I took my shop offline. I wasn’t going to be in a position to process orders and figured rather than have delays for people, I’d just take it down altogether. Seemed a sensible move…at least until I frantically tried to put it back online using just my phone and a data connection…
Some time before we went, I decided to send a copy of my zine to Ted Forbes of The Art of Photography. I’ve followed Ted for sometime and he’s been quite an inspiration as I’ve got to figure my way around photography. Whether it be technical tips, theoretical discussions or sharing the work of others, there’s been much that I’ve gained from his channel.
Anyway, Ted regularly does a round-up of some of the books and zines he’s been sent in by viewers, which I find to be valuable in terms of seeing the work of others and also in providing some additional motivation to get those photos off the computer and into something much more tangible, something that feels more…real. So I decided to send mine in and…well…he picked it out for showcasing and critiquing on his channel which absolutely blew me away. I mean, of course I sent it in hoping for such an outcome, but I never imagined it actually would get on the channel.
As for Ted’s thoughts on the zine itself, I was pretty chuffed with his take, and it’s certainly not dissuaded me from honing what I learnt from the first zine and putting together a second. I particularly liked his comments about the colour palette (I’ve developed a preset which I use across my night images). His criticisms were entirely fair (and something I had actually been thinking a lot since publishing the zine), and will certainly help me when I’m looking across my images and trying to pull something together. Anyway, you can view the full video here (my zine features from 11:04 onwards):
Thanks Ted, much appreciated!
And so…back to that gallery of Spanish photos I mentioned…although admittedly it’s going to make me wish I was back there, enjoying beer and tapas. Ah well…
Publishing My First Photography Zine
By now you’ve probably seen countless posts by me announcing my first photography zine (sorry about that!). To be honest, the final publication was far better than I could possible have hoped for, and certainly made my reservations about putting it together completely mis-placed. In fact, before we even get into the substance of this post I will say this: if you are mulling over making a zine yourself, but are scared of the process or worried no-one will buy it, don’t be! If you’ve got a collection of photos you are proud of and you can make them work in a collection…do it! Get organised, stop procrastinating, and go make that zine!
There, pep talk done, now onto the substance…
I figured it might be a good idea to run through the entire process of creating the zine, from the initial idea to making it available via my online store. But whatever else you’re thinking as you read through this, do not think it is too complicated or there are too many steps. Don’t let anything convince you not to do it, because the rewards from putting it together and getting it out there far outweigh all the work you need to put into making it.
So let’s get into it…
The Idea Stage
First you need an idea. Some sort of focus for the zine. Will it feature a particular style of photography? Is it focused on a particular location? A particular commonality between people, places or things? Is there a single thread that can bring together all the images you have? If so, that’s a great start. A zine needs to have some kind of focus, not just a random collection of your best photos. It needs to be a collection that makes sense together (more on that later).
In this case, I decided to build a collection orientated around night street photography. At the tailend of the summer I picked up the Fuji 33mm f1.4 lens, partly because I wanted the larger aperture as I was starting to get into low light photography. As we moved into winter, I began to formulate the idea of a project: night street photos in a variety of locations across the county, and elsewhere if possible (London, specifically Soho and Chinatown were particularly in mind). I hoped that, by the time we moved into spring, I’d have enough images that I could start to look at putting together a zine. Fortunately, that turned out to be the case.
The Post-Procrastination Stage
Of course I then spent a long time telling myself not to bother doing it as actually the photos weren’t that good, no-one will buy such a zine, the publishing process is too complex, it’s too costly, there are too many unknowns…and on and on it went. Round and round, the thoughts telling me why I shouldn’t over-powering the ones telling me I should. But then I pushed past this stage and figured “what the hell, let’s take a chance.” And so I did some research…
The first thing I re-visited was Sean Tucker’s excellent video on zines:
This was critical for me, not only in terms of wrapping my head around the whole process, but also in encouraging me to take those first steps and actually put together the zine. Furthermore, Sean recommends a print company (ExWhyZed) to bring to life your vision. On digging around more and learning about what this printer has to offer, I decided they would be the company I would liaise with to put the ideas I had into print.
ExWhyZed offered a range of options for zines, different sizes, different bindings…I decided early in the process I wanted to go for an A5 zine (nice and pocketable) and I wanted wire-stitching (stapled pages). The maximum they recommend for this format is forty pages…so I decided to go for the full forty pages. What the hell, right? Might as well go all in.
So I now had the motivation, the print company and the format sorted…next step was going through my images and trying to decide what I would include.
The Selection Stage
Fortunately, to make life easier for myself, I’d already sorted all of my night street photography images into a folder in Lightroom. This left me with the simple (!) task of picking out the “best” ones…I knew the zine was going to be forty pages, so I whittled the images down to around 42. I then downloaded them onto a USB stick and took them to Canterbury Camera Centre and had them printed out. This was crucial for two reasons: to check the images actually looked ok in print, and to help with sequencing the zine.
Sequencing is a critical part of the process. You don’t want to just shove a load of photos into the zine in whatever way they come. There needs to be some thought behind it. Some kind of logical sequence that both connects the images together, and helps the reader make sense of what they are viewing. To help with this, once the images were printed, I took them home and laid them all out on our dining room table and started to move them around, deciding on whatever sequence was best and had some sort of narrative flow.
I moved images around, took some out, shifted it around until I was happy with it. As I noted above, I printed out around 42 images and I had 40 pages to work with…but in actual fact, I had around 34 pages to work with. The cover pages weren’t going to have images on them, and two pages would have text on them. As a result, I had plenty of images to choose from and could afford to be fairly choosey with what was included and what wasn’t.
In the end I found a narrative structure I was happy with. A part of me thinks I shouldn’t share the narrative here, because I wonder if people will spot it without the spoiler. But what the hell…full disclosure, spoiler ahead! I tried to sequence the images into a kind of “night out” narrative. It opens with a shot of a car (two shots actually), moves onto people making their way home in the early evening, to places getting ready for the night ahead, people entering restaurants, people in restaurants, people in bars, people in club mode, and things closing down for the night. It’s imperfect (for me anyway, as I know the story behind every image), but I think it works and tells a story of a night out somewhere, anywhere. Of course these images are from a variety of locations, but the typical night out is a universal thing. And so the locations didn’t matter, what mattered was what the images could convey.
I don’t think I fully succeeded, but hopefully you get the idea. I had a narrative for my images in mind, and I used that to structure the zine before I went onto the next stage…putting it all together.
The Putting It All Together Stage
Of all the stages in the process, this was the most difficult. How was I going to pull together the zine and create the file necessary for the printer to work with?
I looked at the various desktop publishing tools available, but of course they mostly cost money. And, in the case of InDesign, a lot of money. Being a fan of open source software, however, I was happy to stumble across a free option that looked like it would do the trick: Scribus.
Now, I’ll be upfront right from the beginning. Scribus was not easy to use. I don’t know if it was because I was using a Mac (I’ve heard that’s not an uncommon problem), but I frequently found myself tearing my hair out and screaming in frustration (sometimes in my head, sometimes…well…).
Desktop publishing seems to be one of those things that are far more complicated to use than they should be (bit like video editing software). By now it should be all drag and drop and lots of user-friendly editing tools. Now, maybe InDesign is like that. Scribus…isn’t. Nonetheless, I ploughed through some of the documentation, learnt the basics (I was only really adding photos after all, not doing something too complex) and got to work.
Before starting on the structure, I had to set the template for what I was about to design. So I set it to A5, added a 3mm bleed (as per guidance from ExWhyZed), forty pages and, then started to transfer the images across from my computer to Scribus, page by page.
At this point I decided I wanted the images on a black background. I was interested to discovered from ExWhyZed that coloured paper is quite expensive and so they recommend you put a coloured background on your desktop publishing tool if you want coloured paper. This was ultimately part of the frustration I had with Scribus. I had to add a black background to every page and then add the images on top of that. Somehow this got to be really complicated (I was probably doing something wrong), but eventually I got there.
The black background also had to factor in the bleed. If the black background didn’t go over the bleed lines, there was a chance that when the pages were cut, there would be a white line on the edge of the page. It’s important to note that if you want anything going up to the edge of the page, you must factor in the bleed. In my case, it was just making sure the black background covered the bleed area, so it was relatively straightforward to deal with (well, apart from the software aspect…).
The other frustration was that it wasn’t easy to centre the images. I obviously had margins to work with, but I had to gauge the exact centre of the page. Seems a bit unnecessarily fussy doesn’t it? But then you factor in having two portrait orientated images on facing pages. If they’re not closely lined up they can very easily end up looking a bit…wonky. Again, I don’t know why the software can’t centre the image with one click but, well, it’s free software and sometimes you just have to learn to live with imperfections when you’re not paying for it.
I also decided to add some text at the beginning. One block on the first page to indicate the dates the images were taken, the second page to give some background on how the zine came to pass. Again, adding text wasn’t quite as easy as you’d hope. Rather than clicking on the page and then typing like on a blog post, you have to create a text box, click into the textbox, create the text, save the text… When it came to font choices, I went for a typewriter style font for the introductory text (kingthings trypewriter - downloaded for free from FontSquirrel), as well as for the front cover. It’s a style of font I quite like, partly because it looks more like someone has typed on it rather than it being created by a computer (it’s also a font style commonly used for the liner notes in some of my favourite albums).
Talking of favourite albums…that’s really the story behind the name of the zine. All Night Thing is a song from Temple of the Dog’s eponymous album (Temple of the Dog was a collaboration between Pearl Jam and Soundgarden, led by Chris Cornell) and seemed a good fit for the zine. I sort of see the finished zine as a “thing” and all of the photos within it were taken at night…hence all night thing (I’m embarrassingly pleased with that, sorry, it’s not even particularly clever).
The Printing Stage
The next stage was the printing stage…the nerve wracking bit. The first thing I needed to do was make sure the saved PDF was in the correct format (pdf/x-1a - a high definition pdf format) and the correct colour profile (CMYK). The latter was particularly important as images for the screen tend to be in RGB, but for printing you need CMYK to ensure the colours are as close as possible to what they need to be. That said, one of the things that was flagged to me earlier on by the printers is that you need to be prepared for the colours to not quite match what you see on screen.
Once I was happy with the PDF and completed multiple checks (especially for typos, but also to double check every image was placed as I wanted), I got in touch with ExWhyZed to get a quote for my zine. At this point I asked for a quote for 1, 50, 100 and 150 copies. Given economies of scale, I took the scary decision to go with 100 copies (eek!). I probably should have started off small scale but, hey, in for a penny…
One thing I didn’t do, which is probably a good idea, is get some paper samples. Of course images look different according to the paper on which they are printed, and so that needs to be factored in. However, I’d already decided I wanted uncoated paper as I preferred the more natural look to the zine. I accepted this might mean the neon lights in my images weren’t quite as vivid as they might have been had I chosen a gloss paper but I also wasn’t keen on the reflective nature of gloss paper and, well, these things are all about compromises.
Following guidance by ExWhyZed on their website, I went with 300gsm uncoated paper for the cover and 115gsm paper for the internal pages. They seemed a good choice for the kind of zine I was looking to create. Something that feels more like a zine than an expensive magazine with thick paper throughout. It’s also worth adding that, as per their advice, I also went for matt lamination to the outer cover. This protects the integrity of the print and helps prevent cracking…particularly important given the pages were to be coloured black.
Upon receiving the quote, I went ahead and prepared the PDF for submission. Using WeTransfer, I uploaded the high res PDF (which was around 240MB) and sent it to ExWhyZed. After a few hours, I received a digital proof of the zine for checking to ensure that the text was fine, the images were good and everything was ready to go. I checked it a few times, left it alone for a bit, went away and did other things, then came back and checked it again. Once I was happy, I hit the approval button and that was it…the zine was on its way to the printer and it was now a case of waiting…
The process was remarkably quick. I approved the proof on the Thursday, on the Tuesday I received confirmation the printing had completed and it was now on its way via courier the very next day. Of course, by this stage I was incredibly nervous. I’d ordered 100 copies after all. What if they weren’t what I was hoping for? What if the colours weren’t right? What…what if my photos weren’t as good as I thought? The doubt crept in once more…I should have just kept the images in Lightroom and never even have considered a zine, right?
Then the box arrived…
I decided to hold off opening them until my lunchbreak. I wanted to shoot a little video to help me promote the zine, the kicker being my idea for a video meant I had to record the opening of the box. What if I set the camera up, started recording and the zines were crap? I went ahead anyway. Let’s just do this…
Camera set…
Pen knife in hand…
I sliced through the tape sealing the box…
Opened up the cardboard box…
Pulled the bubble wrap off the zines…
Shit!
There it is.
Oh god. Oh god.
This is it.
I picked the first one from the box and…
OH MY GOD.
It felt so good. It looked so good.
I’ve done it! It looks better than I could have ever have hoped for. Amazing printing. It looks like a proper zine. It is a proper zine. All those doubts and now I have this in my hands.
I’d already prepped the entries in my store in anticipation. I was so relieved to see that I was now able to publish the pages on my online store and make the zine publicly available. It was now…for sale! I did it!
The Selling Stage
Of course, now it’s on my website and you can order it with a few clicks which is great. But as well as a print version, I decided to make a digital version available too. Selling at half the price, I thought it might be a good option for those who want a cheaper option, but also want an edition that they can flick through on tablets, smartphones, whatever. This was not as easy as it appeared.
Obviously the original high resolution PDF was huge (around 240mb), far too much space for most people. So next came the question of how do I scale down the file size and make it a good quality product to view on screen? My chosen solution was to drop the dpi (from 300dpi for the print version) and therefore decrease the quality of the images and the size of the file. Ultimately, alongside space constraints for people, I don’t want to give away large high resolution copies of my photos, so I worked on a number of different options before I got to the point that both the file size and the resolution were good enough for sale. In the end I think I got a decent compromise (the file size is around 50mb), but time will tell as to whether people think it is a worthwhile option.
Then came the promotion, which takes us right back to the beginning and posting videos and Instagram stories all over the place to raise awareness. At the time of writing, I’ve had 595 visits to my website since launching the zine and sold thirteen copies (12 print, one digital). Frankly, I’m blown away - so pleased with how the zine has turned out and the response to it. It’s better than I could ever have hoped for.
So of course there’s a lesson here…stop procrastinating. If you’ve got photos you’re proud of and you want to try something different to showcase your work, consider creating a zine. Get a theme, create a sequence, a narrative to structure the images, get some quotes and get that zine out there. Ignore the devil on your shoulder giving you reasons not to. Shift that mindset from Why Should I? to Why Shouldn’t I?
All Night Thing is available in print and digital formats in my online store. If you have ordered a copy, I’d love to hear your thoughts below!