Review of Foto8

Talking about Foto8 – A Review

Foto8’s business card reads ‘online – in print – on display’. Lauren Heinz, editor 8 Magazine came to New College on 27 January to tell Photography Foundation Degree students from both year groups what that means for us and how we can get involved.

Foto8, an independent publisher, offers facilities such as a lively website with online gallery, a biannual printed magazine with high production values, events such as seminars, film screenings and Foto8 gallery in the East End of London.

Foto8 started in 1998 as an online magazine to show photographic work that was not being covered in the press. Since 2002, it has produced a printed magazine available on a biannual basis. The magazine aims to attract people who like the tangible nature of print material. It started as a collection of stories but issues two and three have focused on key issues such as Oil and Islam. It features narrative based documentary photography with accompanying journalistic articles and, at times, fiction.  Foto8 will shortly announce the topic of the next magazine and will invite photographers to submit work. Lauren advised thinking about the best way to present narrative through photography. It is worth considering how many photographs are needed to tell the story as some stories, depending on the issue, only require about four to six images whereas other, more substantial, topics can support a breadth of photographs.

http://www.foto8.com/new/in-print/8-magazine

Foto8 gallery, opened in 2005, has shown over 40 exhibitions. Photographers showing there come with funding in place to pay for rent and curation of the space. Lauren advises people interesting in exhibiting to find organizations that will be interested in the work they are exploring as they may be prepared to offer sponsorship.

http://www.foto8.com/new/on-display/host-exhibitions

The annual Summer Show is an open entry exhibition that is launched with a huge street party. People from all over the world come to see the show. Lauren encourages photographers from any genre and all levels to take part. Foto8 supplies advice on framing and editioning. Details of last year’s exhibition can be found at:

http://www.foto8.com/new/on-display/summer-show-mainmenu-191

Foto8 also takes submissions for Story of the Week, a series of images from a project, either completed or in progress, preferably accompanied by audio recordings or music. This section has no particular theme but shows work that appeals to the team at Foto8. Lauren said, “There’s a misconception that you have to go somewhere but you can find stories in your own backyard.”

http://www.foto8.com/new/online/submissions

Foto8 has published several books including The Family by Jocelyn Bain Hogg. Lauren said that many photographers self publish using print on demand with companies such as Blurb. She recommends working with a designer to make your book visually exciting. She mentioned Adobe Indesign for editing and creating layouts of photography projects.

She said that photographers now need to be able to record audio and make films as well as take still pictures. These activities can provide a way to make some money to support personal projects. She says, “You have to find ways to creatively fund your work.” She gave an example of a photographer who asked friends and relations to each pay a small amount towards the cost of publishing in exchange for getting their names in the book. He was able to publish several books using this method.

In just over an hour Lauren gave us lots of valuable advice, guidance and links to further resources. Some of the main points that came out of the session were being clear about the concept you are exploring, thinking about how your images work with text and being prepared to talk about the work to others.

Review by Barbara

Posted by Vicky