What is a photo zine

A zine is most commonly a small-circulation of self-published work. It could be about many different topics: photography, illustration, design, etc…Usually zines are the product of a small group or individual people, and the primary intent is exposure rather than profit. Zines are usually created to look like magazines. A photo zine, for example, is a tool that photographers can use to tell a visual story, to inform an audience about a specific topic or issue, to showcase and advertise a new idea or simply create a preview of an ongoing project. Zines were originally called fanzines, alluding to the fans who made them. Later on, Fanzine was just shortened to zine.

History of photo zines

Zines were first created in the science fiction fandoms of the 1930s, long before the advent of the Internet, zines allowed fans to create networks, share ideas and analyses, and collaborate on writing and artwork. The punk music scene of the 1980s expanded upon the self-published format by creating a wide of array of constantly evolving zines dedicated to the musical genre that were both fanzines and political tracts. Punk zines were more than just magazines, they represented the aesthetic and ideals of an entire subculture.

Examples of photo zines

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When creating a photo zine there are certain aspects that you must think about: How you want your design to look and feel, Format, size and orientation, Narrative and visual concept, Design and layout, Rhythm and sequencing, Images and text and Title and captions. These are the aspects that I will focus on while creating my photo zine, I have also taken a lot of inspiration from the examples shown above to create my zine.