Things I Have ZINE
Curated Photos in Themed Zines.
All images by Greg Carrick
New Projects for 2022
After decades of producing photographic work for clients, I am now free to use my camera gear for myself! This lifestyle change has led me in new directions, with new discoveries and new freedoms.
I don’t want sharpness, I want STORY
— Greg Carrick
All my professional training and experience is now being guided down new paths in photography. In my professional life, the goals always included sharpness in the images, good composition, control of lighting and making the client happy.
Now, however, I’m not after exceptional sharpness, perfect composition and pleasing other people. Now, I want images that make me feel something. Images that speak to me, that have a story to tell. So I will find myself using a 60 year old Russian lens, or a cheap chinese CCTV lens on my Fujifilms. I will forgo automatic exposure and focusing, and let my hands and my eye do the work. I will use blur to add expression, I will use dark and light to create atmosphere, and I will enjoy images that no client has ever asked for.
So for 2022, I have set myself a new project. I will curate images taken with my new/old combinations of cameras and lenses, and publish them in Zines. The Zines will be short run efforts, and affordable to collectors. Follow the link to my ETSY page as I release Zines during the year.
Keeping It Lofi
A while ago, someone sent me a letter, through the post, typed on a typewriter! It blew me away! In these days of internet and email, taking the time to use old tech to make a one-off personalised letter was very rare. So to reply, I had to hunt through opshops to buy an old typewriter, wait for a new ribbon to come, do some maintenance and repair on the machine so it was all working properly, then sit down and put thoughts to paper. It was delightful. We now do a slow exchange of letters through the mail.
This partly inspired me to produce my own Zines. I had made small Zines in the past, but never as an ongoing process. All the lofi experiences seemed to be telling me something.. use the old film camera, use the old film lenses on your digital cameras.. use the typewriter to put your thoughts down.. make a Zine to put it all together.
So that’s my goal for 2022. To enjoy the process of doing things slowing, manually, methodically. To produce things that are physical, can be put on a shelf, picked up and passed around, that have a presence. Welcome to the journey.
Click go the years boys, click, click, click..
The greats of film photography used them, so why not give them another time in the sun? I’m talking about cameras like the Canon P rangefinder (1959), the Kodak Vest Pocket Camera (1926), the Russian Helios 44-2 lens, Pentax and Olympus lenses from the 70’s, all now adapted to use on my digital Fujifilm cameras.
Old film lenses have character to them, and using a rangefinder from the 60’s is a unique experience compared to a modern digital camera. The way of working is more deliberate. There’s no ‘spray and pray’, no in camera lens correction software, no quick auto-focus or multiple burst available. The camera will only do what you tell it to, so you learn to talk it’s language to get results. Welcome to the past.