Two months ago, I started a photography small press aka an indie press to start making zines for not just myself but other photographers. This blog will document my experiences and updates on the new business.

I have been thinking about making this blog post for a while, but for some reason, I kept putting it on the back burner and not putting it out into the world. Consider this short entry the beginning of me catching up before my present self becomes too far apart from my memories.

I started a new business: Photoverge Studios is a photography-focused small press, AKA an indie publishing company. We make photo zines and zines about photography. We aspire to do more, but zines are the focus right now.

So far, we have been a part of 3 zine/book fairs (Seattle Art Book Fair, Spokane Zine Fest, and Kinda Bookish Zine Fest) and will be involved with more as soon as we are ready. If you are reading this on our website, we will be setting up an online shop soon, but at the moment, we are focused on preparing for in-person events.

So far, we have created three zines with three photographers, and I will be writing about each of those in their own posts soon. And at the time of writing this, we have three more zines in development. We are also confirmed to be a part of the PCNW Photo Zine and Book Fair and the Bremerton Zine Fest. I am very excited about those and will come up with more details soon.

Started bringing a Polaroid Camera to events.

Taken at the Seattle Art Book Fair right after set up was completed.

OK, but why?

So for a while, I was trying to figure out what I should be doing with my photography. I was taking photos, and I liked them, but I needed to be fulfilled by what I was doing with them. Like many photographers, I would post to Instagram, get a couple of likes, and that was it. (If you read my blog post on my personal page, I have been looking for a reason to quit Instagram cold turkey, and now I have.)

But last year, I started making zines of my photography, and I found this joy in my work that I had not experienced before. It was more labor intensive than formulating an Instagram post, and it cost real money to make, but my relationship with my photography changed in a positive way. I will probably want to talk about this again, but I learned three things from making zines: they give your photography context, the feedback you get is better, and analog experiences are essential in the digital information age.

By formalizing my zine-making practice into a business, I have a better chance of having more people see my work in this physical format. I also want to make this practice economically sustainable, as printing does require capital.

My first customer as a new business!

Unfortunately, I didn’t catch their name with everything going on.

Lastly, if all goes well, I hope that being published by Photoverge Studios means something to the photographers I work with in the future. Currently, I am working with photographers I am a fan of and lucky enough to call them friends. If all goes well, I don't think that will remain the case. That future feels a while away, so until then, I am taking it one step at a time.

In the meantime, I will use this blog to document the growth of the business and my experiences with it. You may have found the perfect niche blog if you are interested in photography, zine making, and microenterprise. In the comments, please feel free to ask me any questions. I might answer you directly or in the form of a blog entry. I'm excited to show you what we are cooking up soon. Until next time!

So I started an indie publishing company for photography.

OK, but why?

Just a quick test of the new Threads embed feature.