As part of our studies this module we have been looking at fanzines as a means to give our work a further life and audience.I’m a big fan of fanzines and newspapers as a way of showing work,quick and cheap to produce they have an immediacy and potential collectability.Much as I love photo books (although I’m not too keen on the massive tomes often produced by say Helmut Newton) I like the democratic un-precious vehicle zines provide.
They also have a fantastic history starting out as political pamphlets the word fanzine was first coined in the 1940s by Sci fi fan Louis Russell Chauvenet thought to be an amalgamation of fan and magazine.Finding a real outlet in the 1960s and 70s, many magazines started out as zines being made in small runs ,photocopied and stapled on the kitchen table,magazines like Oz,Timeout and even I.D. all started out this way with many writers and photographers cutting their teeth on them.
For me personally they were in the early 80s still the main form of finding out information away from the mainstream press.If you were into a certain fashion or sub culture or perhaps a type of music not covered by mainstream press,fanzines were where you forund out what gigs,clubs and latest fashions were way before the mainstream press took hold.Much like social media is today only way slower.
The skills learnt were transferable as well. I did not make a fanzine but lots of people I know did but what I did do was put on bands and clubs .We used those same skills to make our posters,flyers and tickets. Photocopiers,staples,reused images and most important of all letraset,rub down transfer letters on a sheet that came in hundreds of fonts.
I have looked in my loft and found some examples of fanzines from around 1982-1985,some flyers and last of all a link for the digital fanzine I made for my course work.
Bibliography. Fanzines .Teal Triggs Thames and Hudson
It’s time to re evaluate at my work so far,i’m enjoying how it is evolving as the process of looking and research goes on. From an idea based pretty much in a more an anthropology study, more of a document of the road as a thing it as (and as I hoped) evolved into a vehicle to explore several avenues, most importantly to me via Human Traces. I’m fascinated in human interaction and believe deep down in the human psyche.It is very easy to be cynical and subscribe to the notion of humans being quite selfish and the root of all problems and quite often the way societies are set up (usually to benefit a few) that can appear the case but deep down when all that is stripped away I believe and want to investigate further in the next module how this notion may not be entirely true.I want to look at the way community and humans deep down are a social animal who thrive in groups and not as individuals.I want to help dispel the myth that “there is no such thing as society” as Mrs Thatcher once said. This is my goal next module.
Meanwhile take a look at the work so far (in no particular order) plus a few that got away…
A brief re evaluation of my project based mostly on the recent lectures in this module,which have really excited me and have been very relatable, more of which I will go into with more depth, have encouraged me to pursue it and also to engage with it in more of an experimental way.
Yesterday I went out to shoot one of the images I had in mind only to find the sun despite my calculations never hits the sweet spot, well certainly not at this time of year so this evening I plan to shoot it at dusk and into the evening,I actually think this twist of fate will produce an image more in keeping with my intent and also be more pleasing to the eye to boot.
Below are the results of the shoot mentioned above that was as you can see shot during the day, it is a good example of how experimenting with the subject and ideas allows us make choices about the intent and context they are shot in.
My initial idea for this image was very much based around the the idea of migration and the other including the wider ideas around suburbia.Within my project I am exploring the traces of humans and how we live within the space’s we inhabit alongside nature and other human beings, how we interact or in this case don’t.
On a purely aesthetic and practical level a daytime shoot seemed the way to got didn’t go to plan but I did notice above the subject of the two tents there was a streetlamp so knew a nighttime shoot was possible, maybe even better.
Which is what you see in the image below this first attempt.I love the way it evokes more emotion, it’s quieter and the viewer has to work a bit harder.In saying that it does speak more.
From the road in the daytime the tents of the homeless are very apparent but once you get to an available place to shoot there are only two spots where even then they are obscured and less apparent,a method having researched further more and more homeless people are using as a tactic to protect themselves.
More and more homeless are moving out from the city centre to the suburbs where they can pitch tents for more shelter and also find less apparent places to sleep and be discovered thus protecting themselves from harm and violence they face further in, they are becoming invisible, only visible by the traces they leave.Whole tent cities are becoming common place.More of which I will be talking about in my next post.
Getting back to this image shot at night it asks a lot more questions such as what is going on in the houses behind warm and cosy with the lights on oblivious to the fact that behind the fence designed to shield them from the noise of the road some people have set up home.It also means the viewer has to look harder for the tents and the main message a subject I discussed with Sarah one of my tutors,I intend for this image to be a big print so as to reveal all of the elements within. I told her about my plans to use sound as part of the end piece,I have recorded the road noise for all the images and planned to speak with the people I plan to photograph using some of there dialogue over the sounds to form an aural soundscape/cum aural history element. Having spoken to Sarah I have to agree that the lack of people and cars have really added to the mystery and intrigue of all the images so far and it is a a valid question as to whether adding portraits and the conversations will take away from that, the argument being not to answer all the questions being asked of the project.I have to say I am inclined to agree.
Dean Belcher A406 March 2020 Version 1 (unused)Dean Belcher A406 White cloud over homes March 2020
Moving forward I plan to shoot several night shots and have researched and planned them.
Despite my conversation with Sarah I may still photograph some people and speak with them about the road and what it means to them,I will at least have an option to see if it fits within the context of this project when I curate the final edit, it may be it becomes the seed of a new ongoing project that links to this much like the work of Sebastion Selgado or Naoya Hatakeyama who both work have worked on projects that whilst become singular are linked via intent or some wider message.
Once such group of people I have in mind are a local community gardening group who look after and plant on one of the large bridges that cross the A406,I’ve reached out and am waiting for a reply.May have to chivvy them along.
I’ve also decided to photograph some of the detritus and debris I find.A different approach and element to add to the more human portrait.A lot of what I find is a story in its self or at least an imagined/implied one that will help to inform the viewer with once again giving all the answers, they will have to do some of the work.
I’m not sure yet how to shoot yet it but again I will experiment.I’m thinking Dutch lighting very much in the vein of the Dutch masters still life’s which will beautify what are usually not terribly beautiful objects so adding another element of questioning to the end result,I do wonder what questions could be implied of my intent with this route the work of photographer Guido Mocafico is a good example.
Or another possibly is a very clean perhaps ring flash on a plain white background, in the vein Albert Watson aesthetically with a very clinical almost archeological method of pure record, this method implies less of my input and thoughts perhaps leaving more to the viewer to make of it as they will.
Or maybe I use a very contemporary feel much like a friend of mine photographer Stephen Lenthall this stark lighting and playful arrangements sits somewhere in between and implies a beauty in the ordinary in a very clinical aesthetic.
Idea examples from top L to R Dean Belcher, Albert Watson x 2 Middle Row Stephen Lenthall Bottom row Guido Mocafico x 2
DEAN BELCHER CRITICAL RESEARCH JOURNAL 