Creating my own Zine

From all my edited images in response to the German Occupation in Jersey topic, I narrowed them down to 11 photos to be included in my zine. I created my zine using InDesign in order to produce the final layout.

The title of my zine is “Glimpse of the past” because the images were taken during golden hour, the period just before sunset . The term “Glimpse” means a momentary or partial view which links in well with the time of day the images were taken. A glimpse of the past shows the viewer a brief moment of what life was like during the German Occupation in Jersey through the immense concrete structures and other fortifications around Battery Lothringen.

The theme of my zine is looking at structures and fortifications in a particular lighting during golden hour. I wanted the viewer to see the site in a positive perspective where everything looks magical and calm. I want the viewer to forget about negative connotations that come to mind that are associated with the German Occupation. Instead I want the viewer to think about the calm and serenity portrayed by the lighting of the landscape within the images.

For the front and back cover, I used images from the Battery Moltke photoshoot to show enclosed visuals. Both have been taken inside the German bunkers. The back image shows a staircase with bars which informs the viewer that there is something secretive inside the zine which is suggested by the lock. This sparks the viewer’s interest since they will want to see the images inside the zine. Both the images used for the cover have dull colours to show the interior of the bunker which juxtaposes the warmth of the external images shown within the zine.

The cover page has been inspired from the zine “concrete jungle” which I analysed before I made my own zine. I took inspiration from the layout of the front page which was simple yet effective. I also incorporated full bleed images onto double pages, which was apparent throughout the zine I analysed.

All the other images within my zine were taken from the Battery Lothringen photoshoot. This photoshoot shows a narrative of a journey around this site before sunset. All the images are in order of where I started my journey and where I ended up at. It’s a journey of me wondering around Battery Lothringen looking at the concrete structures and fortifications.

The sequence starts inside portelet tower which displays an entrance. This image is full bleed onto one page to show that this is the beginning of the zine.

On the second double page the left side shows a full bleed image of the view from Portelet tower looking towards Battery Lothringen where an MP3 tower is visible on the headland. The right side has an archive image that has been sent by Société Jersiaise in full resolution. I placed this archival image besides my own photo to show the relationship between the two which displays the same subject but has been captured in different time periods. The left image is zoomed out to show the landscape that surround the tower while the archival image is a close up of the tower.

The other double pages within the zine include either a full bleed image onto two pages or a single image on both pages. I wanted my zine to have a sequence so it could have a clear layout. All the rest of the images display concrete structures or coastal fortifications. As the zine progresses you can see that the lighting changes due to the position of the sun. The last two full bleed images are silhouettes against the sunset sky.

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