Why I'm Not Choosing to Put Out a Zine - ISSUE 39

Sticking to what YOU want and being true to your own goals…

My work station and where I write these letters to you each week. Shot by Lux Lumen on Wolfen NC400 Film.

Housekeeping

Another Friday, another issue of Love Lucy. This one is all about the few reasons I am choosing NOT to put out a zine this year and I think you can all benefit from some of these points I’m about to make so keep on reading!

The second round of the Unstable lights one day exhibition/event looked like so much fun! Make sure you follow them on IG to catch all the recaps. 

I had the massive honor of interviewing my friends over at Cantina bar and eatery here on the Gold Coast for the iconic Frankie magazine's Strictly Business section. This is my 4th time writing for Frankie and I am so proud to say that this interview also featured all of my photography as well! Click the button below to check it out. 

I also want to welcome the amazing artist who runs Sunny Sunday Designs, Nezi, to the Love Lucy Newsletter team! Nezi made a rad logo for me a while back and I am super excited to have her jump onboard and give me a hand piecing this newsletter together each week and allowing me a little more time to focus on the writing and interview side of things. 

I really love showcasing other photographers through this platform and I would like to ramp that up more throughout the year and feel I can do that with Nezi here to take some of the work off my plate. Thanks Nezi! If you need some fun pet portraits drawn or design work click the button below to see the work Nezi is creating and say hi! 

Okay, now we have done the intro let’s find out why I’m abandoning the idea of a zine??

The only thing that has come close to a zine this year is my creative strategies guide that I designed and had printed locally. This to me felt like a much more exciting project.

A Moment Of Zine Realisation

A zine feels like a natural progression in a photographer's journey. 

You build up a body of work, you post some of it on socials, you get kind of bored of that, you then notice themes in your work that you want to flesh out, and you also think to yourself, wow, how cool would it be to put something together that ends up as a tangible thing I can hold and also make available to others who want to own it too! And just like that your zine is born, leaving you with a rewarding and nourishing feeling that posting online doesn’t quite match. 

I totally get that. I also LOVE zines - I always have - in fact if you go back to ISSUE 03 you can read all about my first ever experience with zines and how I got hooked. 

When you love something you just kind of naturally assume that you want to do it? Like if you love eating then it’s likely you will also love cooking right? Or you love watching a particular sport being played so there is a chance you will love to play that sport for real yourself? 

Yes and no. I have been toying with the idea of a zine for like 10 years. I kid you not, a full decade has been spent wondering if I should do it, researching how to execute it, even designing it, but with no final result. 

Normally I would tell someone to just do the damn thing already and stop thinking so much…but in this instance I came to a different conclusion and one that has made things so much clearer for me.

The reason it hasn’t happened is because it’s not what I really want to do. It felt like the thing I should be doing, so I just assumed it was the right path to pursue, and in these words lies the golden lesson and the takeaway, from today's issue.

You should never do things simply because others are doing it or because you feel it is expected of you

You should be doing things that light you up and that you feel excited and motivated by - especially when it comes to creativity. So as a self professed zine lover and a total magazine hoarder what are the more practical reasons why I don’t want to make one of my own? Let me fill you in…

• I don’t enjoy designing things digitally e.g. using InDesign or even Canva. I struggle to sit and do those tasks and I also don’t have the greatest computer skills (Lux is my superpower here) 

• I am unsure I have the time to personally send out all the zines myself and I worry that being all the way over here in Australia shipping will cost a bomb (most of you are outside of AU) 

• The ideal thing I want to put out in print would be something more useful and functional than just my photos in a zine and I have no idea how to make that happen on my own

• I feel so fulfilled making YT videos, writing this newsletter, selling prints, and also making resources like my creative strategies guide that can be offered at an affordable price point for the community

I realised all of this when I actually sat down and thought about the overarching reason I feel pushed to make a zine and allowed myself to be really honest. I worry that I won’t be taken seriously unless I do something in print, that I will be seen as “just a youtuber” and it will reflect badly on me as a film photographer that I haven't prioritised making some form of printed matter. 

Out on location taking photos and filming for YouTube. Shot by Lux Lumen.

There we go. Boom. Full transparency. 

I told Lux this and he instantly came back with a few points that really made me flip the narrative I was feeding myself here. YouTube is like a full on project every 2 weeks, sometimes more regularly even, and planning, researching, crafting and bringing those to life is my zine, my contribution to the community in an audio visual fashion, and that’s totally fine! 

Basically I wanted to share this epiphany with you to shed light on how we can all put pressure on ourselves to be, look, feel and create what others want us to whilst totally ignoring our own inner dialogue and emotions. 

My advice here would be to always ask a valuable question when you find yourself in this type of conundrum, and that question is, why? 

Why do you want to create this thing or take on this project, achieve this goal? Uncovering the why behind almost anything will peel back the layers and help you to see the forest for the trees, or in my case the imaginary zine that will never be made by me, well not this year anyway. 

If the lack of a Lucy Lumen zine has you feeling kind of bummed out then I will leave you with this dream of mine to hopefully then make it a reality and get you excited! 

I would love to work with a real life publishing company and make a book, like a real book, with a team of people involved who can pick up my slack and help me to really bring all my ideas into one place. 

I don’t want to share just my images with people - I want to share my rambling inner dialogue, the experiences I have learnt and grown from and kick the reader into action, having them walk away from each page feeling full of insight and inspiration ready to take the next step towards their creative goals and dreams! 

So there you go, big dreams in today's issue, ones that I hope you all see come to fruition one day! 

What is your big dream? Or your small dream? Or just anything you want to share with myself and the readers that could be a domino that falls and gets everything else going for a fellow creative!