Zines And The Art Of Self Publishing

   Almost every photographer has dreamed at one time or another of seeing their photos published in a beautiful hardcover book. A book that can be seen by friends, family and other photographers as they browse Barnes & Nobels, their local bookstores, or even online on Amazon. They want to do book signings and see those books enter the libraries of museums. But there is a lot of baggage that goes along with it.

   The biggest obstacle of publishing a photo book today is the price. And that price can fall anywhere between $20,000 and $80,000 for 1000 copies. You of course can publish less than 1000 copies, but the price per cop quickly escalates to a point where the books will just not sell. Most art books today are printed in China, and I have seen entirely too many flaws, and quality control issues to ever want to pay to have a book printed there.

   The next biggest issue is distribution and profit. Face it, unless you're a famous photographer, an icon with a long history in the genre, the chances of a well known publishing house footing the bill to publish a photo book is almost zilch. So that leaves all the grunt work up to you. You will be storing all these books. You will be the one trying to get stores to carry them. And all the shipping, returns, and other B.S. will be on your shoulders. Then the delusion of grandeur comes crashing down when the book doesn't sell well, or at all. I've seen what that can do to a photographers ego, and it isn't pretty.  

  Finally, the illusion of profit. The majority of photography books published end up with the photographer losing money. Some breaking even. And finally, a sliver of those making a few bucks.

 An alternative to the book publishing calamity is the zine. Yes, they can be seen as lowbrow or unworthy to the snobby world of photography and photo book collectors. But who cares what others think, especially those closed minded fools who think the only real photo book are those possessing all the traits of the traditional hardcover coffee table book. Maybe it's why Japanese photography and publications aren't very popular in the states. The Japanese are absolutely brilliant, creative, and opened minded when it comes to publishing. Photographers in America could learn a lot from them.

  There's no limit on how a zine can be designed. The format opens up endless possibilities that are very affordable too. Instead of paying tens of thousands of dollars for a book, you can publish a hundred zine copies at a time for about $350. They're easier to store, cheaper to ship, and frankly I think they become a more cherished item. The older I get the more I appreciate the zines I've received from other photographers, than most of the traditional books in my collection. The zine is more personal. 

 Since 2012 I've published 47 different zines and it's something I would like to do a lot more of in the future. When I began, my zines were more in the dimensions of a magazine but as time went on they eventually became the size of the traditional zine

  I think that the zine is seeing its resurgence as an art piece. And it's a medium that I wish more photographers used. I've spoken of the creativeness of Japanese photographers when it comes to publishing, but they also go a step farther when it comes to getting seen. Many photographers in Japan host publishing and print parties where they trade between themselves and sell to the public. I think that's a great idea, and a much needed opportunity here.

   In 2012 I began to publish a series of large zines of the 1000 photos from my Philadelphia Project. One zine a month was printed for 40 months in a row. It was a large undertaking but very rewarding. Each 8.5x11" zine featured 25 full-bleed black and white photos. A total of 2200 zines were printed and the entire series sold out. This series of zines is in the library collection of MoMA in New York, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, and several other institutions.

My next idea for zines was a little different. I took photos specifically for the zines, and they were all horizontal in nature as was the zine. Each of the zines features 25 full-bleed black and white photos, and was titled for the day that the photos were taken. That's where the title "Month Day Year" came from.

I really liked the esthetic of the horizontal zine, and it's something that I would definitely use again. The 6x9" zines were published in 2013 and 2014, and were in editions of 100 each. All 300 zines sold out, and the zines are in the collection of the J. Paul Getty Museum.

Actually, the more I think about it, the more this is a series that I would like to revive.

Shortly after I began publishing the Philadelphia Project zines I became hooked, and while in the middle of it I published another large zine of photos taken in New York City. "Out Of New York" was published in 2014 and featured 32 full-bleed black and white photos. This 8x12" zine was printed in an edition of 200 and has sold out. This zine resides in the collection of several museums such as MoMA, and the Museum Of The City Of New York.

Next up was another zine about New York City This was another project that I knew would end up as a zine. Lonely New York was shot entirely on Monday nights during the winters from 2014 to 2016. The gritty and dark nature of the photos taken with the original Ricoh GRD camera are expressed beautifully when using Futura copy paper for the zines. The more zines you make the more you'll learn what paper and weight works best for you. It's an interesting process.

Lonely New York is getting closer to the traditional zine size, but at 7x10" it does stand out. The zine was published in 2017 and features 40 full-bleed black and white photos, and was an edition of 200 which is sold out. The zine resides in several museums including MoMA and Modern Art Museum of Tokyo.

I've been wondering if there will be a sequel to this zine. 

There was a seven year gap between Lonely New York and my next zine, Devil's Pool. There were several reasons for this. I moved out of the neighborhood that I lived in for decades. I became disillusioned with the world of photography, social media as a platform for artists, and the pitfalls of self-promotion.

In 2024 I thought it was time to publish a new zine. I had so many ideas for them using past portfolios, but I decided on using photos from a current ongoing project, Devil's Pool. While in the planning stage I wanted to use the traditional zine size 8.5x5.5", and for the first time I used an online printing company, instead of the printing company that was down the street from my old loft. The results were excellent and affordable.

Devil's Pool features 28 full-bleed black and photos, and as of now is an open edition, with the possibility of more issues. The zine is currently available.

With the mild success so far of the Devil's Pool I decided on publishing another zine, but this time the subject will be Philadelphia's subway system. The photos for this zine were taken between 2014 and 2017 with a simple old point and shoot digital camera. I once again used the online printing company Mixam, and hoped that their printing methods could match my high contrast and very gritty photos. The results were perfect !

Subway was published in 2025, and is a 8.5x5.5" zine featuring 23 full-bleed black and white photos. As of now this is an open edition zine. The zine is currently available.

I find the process of making zines rewarding. The only sticking point is marketing and selling the zine. Recently a local eclectic bookstore in my neighborhood began carrying "Devil's Pool" and "Subway", and I'm impressed with their efforts and results when it comes to selling these zines. Check them out if you're ever in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood.

50 Watts Books
15 West Highland Ave

Philadelphia, PA 19118

I feel like I'm on a roll and I'm ready to make many more zines, and only the funding is holding me back. I once spoke of a goal of publishing 100 zines, and I'm almost half way there.

Michael Penn Photography

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