photojojo: Since we do so much of our...

photojojo:

Since we do so much of our photography viewing on a screen instead of on paper nowadays, I try to get my work off the computer and into someone’s hands as often as possible.

Last spring, in between two shoots on the west coast, I took the Amtrak Coast Starlight sleeper train from Los Angeles to Portland, Oregon. It was an incredible 29-hour trip and I made sure to document the entire thing through photography and video. I made a small limited edition zine of the results.

There are just a few left! You can see the project here and buy the zine here. It’s a great feeling to send out envelopes with little booklets of my work all over the world. The QR code on the back of the zine takes you to my video of the trip.

Self-publishing is nowhere near as expensive or out-of-reach as you may think; I used a great company called Smartpress to print the zines, which I designed myself. If you’re new to it all, their site has video tutorials that will guide you. Make sure to get your photos off the screen and out into the world, even if it’s just digital prints in the lab. If you’re shooting film and always get it scanned, go spend the day printing in the darkroom. If you want to self-publish, there’s no excuse not to try. The tangibility of printed photography is incredibly satisfying, as is seeing your work hung on walls or on coffee tables or bookshelves instead of just websites.

This post is by Elizabeth Weinberg as part of Photojojo’s Show & Tell Week.