In the world of photography publications, innovation is welcome and intriguing. One of the more interesting projects to arise from lockdown, Our Collective Breath was recently launched with a profit-sharing ethos at its heart. Below, we spoke with Tom Carpenter, who is a freelance photographer and the creator of this publication, about issue one and future plans for the zine.
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Christiane Monarchi: I am intrigued by the details of Our Collective Breath and would love to know more about this new publication. I am familiar with some of the artists showing work here, but I am not familiar with the relationship between them, and how their work fits together yet. Could you tell me a little bit more about how you decided to start planning this publication, and how various artists got involved?
Tom Carpenter: The idea for Our Collective Breath started during the early weeks of the first lockdown. I’d wanted to create a printed publication for a little while, but I wanted to make something that supported artists and photographers. I got in touch with Emily, who is a designer I’d worked with before and we had a lot of conversations around ways in which we could make something that could help support artists and photographers, at a time when a lot of people’s work opportunities had to be put on hold. There are a lot of amazing publications out there, but very few of them pay all of their contributors.
Once we had the basic idea for the zine in place, we began discussing a theme for Issue One. We’d discussed a lot of different ideas for how we wanted the zine to look and went through many iterations. With that in mind we felt that the theme of ‘Play, Explore, Experiment’ would be a great one for the first issue. Once we had the theme, I started thinking about who I’d love to be part of the first issue and how they would fit with the theme. When it came to contacting artists about taking part, I got in touch via email, firstly explaining the idea of how we wanted to run the zine and then what we had in mind for a feature on their work. The response from the artists we contacted was brilliant and I’m over the moon with the contributors for Issue One.
CM: Your business model does sound compelling, and a true sense of the collective, in that artists will share profits after costs of publication are deducted from sales. Does this mean all artists are involved in the selling and making? Could you tell me a little bit more about the dynamics involved here?
TC: From the beginning we knew that we wanted every contributor to take equal amounts away from the zine. It didn’t matter what the contribution was, whether it was being interviewed about their practice or an illustrator providing an illustration for the zine, everyone is treated equally.
For Issue One the design element has been done by Emily Macaulay (Stanley James Press) We’ve gone through a few design stages and between Emily and me we have decided on the look and feel of Issue One. If we are able to do future issues I’d be open to collaborating with the contributors on how the issue should look and feel for sure. When it comes to the sales side of things, we just ask that everyone who has contributed to Issue One can share the zine across their own social channels. Everyone in the first issue has done an awesome job posting and sharing the zine online.
CM: I am certainly responding to the theme for the first issue, ‘Play Explore Experiment’, which is exactly what so many people have been wanting to do after Covid restrictions. Have you considered yet themes for future issues, or do these emerge when looking at combining the work presented by each artist?
TC: I couldn’t agree more, and the first theme really grew out of that creative frustration that so many people had had during the lockdowns. We made a list of themes that we would like to cover if we are fortunate enough to do more issues of the zine. It’s important for us to look at a variety of themes and topics. We are keen to have future features that look at people who work within photography but not necessarily as a photographer. One theme that we would like to explore that is a theme close to my own heart, is that of rurally-based photographers. There is such a focus on photography in London, that I’d be keen to have an issue that focuses on people working within photography who are based outside of the Capital, what are the challenges they face day to day, and how do they overcome those challenges to continue their practice.
CM: There would probably be many artists who would love to join a publication platform like this, is there a chance for expansion and involving others in future?
TC: That would be the dream scenario! I really am open to suggestions for future issues, the collaborative process is something that I really enjoy and would like to do more of going forward. If we are fortunate enough to make more issues, I’d be interested to try and incorporate submissions of work alongside a specific theme into future issues to see how that could work.
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Our Collective Breath issue 1 includes work by: Rhiannon Adam, Maisie Marshall, Ameena Rojee, Emily Macaulay, Jo Berry, Lee Elkins (The Lost Light Recordings) and Tom Carpenter. Pre-orders for issue 1 have now closed, and follow the collective on instagram @ourcollectivebreath for updates on issue 2.
Tom Carpenter is the creator of Our Collective Breath Zine and also a freelance photographer based in the South West of England. His personal work explores his own and others’ connection to a place, often pulling on personal memory and the use of archival material to help weave a narrative into his work.
