Eleanor Jane

London Zine Symposium 2010

You always know it's going to be a good day when you spy a secret cat hide out behind your chair! It seems I didn't take very many photos but that's probably because I was too busy buying zines, eating falafel and dodging the raindrops that poured in from the ceiling. I shared a space with Tukru from Vampire Sushi Distro and Laura & Lucy of Lazy Soosan and I think we must have had the most colourful table in the building! Met up with some lovely people, picked up some awesome zines (half of which I've lent to Flick now but I'll have to get them back at some point for a review) and got soggy feet running for the bus at the end of the day. Good times!

What are you rebelling against? Whaddaya got?

A MARLON BRANDO ZINE! Excuse me while I slip into spasms of Brando Love insanity ♥ ♥ ♥ I can't believe I failed to spot this little pink pamphlet of gorgeousness at the London Zine Symposium but thankfully I managed to track down a copy online and have been stroking it fondly ever since.

"Johnny, are you queer?" is a mini version of Pink Mince; a sharp, witty and rather naughty gay zine with quite an established back catalogue. They describe the Brando zine as "a brief meditation on the steamy dynamics churning beneath the surface of The Wild One, one of the most deliciously homoerotic epics of all time, intentionally or not." I can't say I noticed but hooray to them for making it all the same!

You can get a copy for a modest £2 on the Pink Mince website.

& the winner is...

Congrats! I'll be posting your zine out soon, Nicola. If anyone else is still interested in picking up a copy of the final Girl Photographer eveeeeeer then there are still a few copies left on Etsy or via the Paypal button in the post below. I'll also be listing the remaining copies of issue 1-4 on Etsy as soon as I remember where I've put them... & then it's on to zine pastures new!

As for the rest of my photography, I'm getting back to business after my little hiatus. With a band to shoot, a lovely classic wedding at a 17th century mansion and a weekend snapping away at Download festival (also had my fingers crossed to film an interview with Slash but that's fallen through - boo! I had my Guns & Roses t-shirt all ready to go & everything!) I'll hopefully have some more interesting pictures to post soon.

Anyone else going to Download? Look out for me in my stomping new wellies & come say hello! I'm also going to attempt to catch up with technology and tweet from my phone so check out my Twitter for all the hairy metaller action from the backstage press tent. I probably wont know who anyone is but we can all be mystified together. Hmm, I hope they have good veggie food... two days munching out of a burger van do not a happy Ffotogirl make!

The Final Hurrah...

Echo, echo, echo... is anyone still out there? I'm afraid I'm still flying the blog flag at half mast but I'll be back properly soon, I'm sure. In the meantime I'd like to introduce you to my final Girl Photographer per-zine... Girl Photographer FIVE! There are lots of reasons I feel like I'm done with per-zines, none of which I really want to get in to just yet, but thank you (lots ♥) to every one who has supported these silly booklets of my random scribblings and snapshots in the past. I have some older issues left over from London Zine Symposium (more on that another day) and lots of copies of the new issue waiting to be stamped up and posted out but after they're gone I doubt I'll be making any further reprints. This really does seem to be the final hurrah for Girl Photographer!

Girl Photographer five is 48 full colour quarter sized pages mostly all about my first trip to the United Arab Emirates to visit Dubai but also mentioning my current obsession with gardening and focusing on the positive when something rubbish strikes you down. 

If you'd like a copy for FREE (yay, who doesn't?!) then please leave a comment on this post and I'll do a little prize draw on the weekend to choose a winner.

Or if you simply cannot wait for ziney goodness it's available via the Paypal button below or from my Etsy. 

Now, let's see how many copies Royal Mail will swallow this time!

Location

Within UK £4.77 Outside UK £5.53

Ffotogallery's Book Arts Fayre... THIS SATURDAY!

Ffotogallery's Book Arts Fayre is back... THIS SATURDAY! Hooray! Even though I usually turn up late, crumpled and frantic with multiple staple injuries, it's still the best fun a ffotogirl can have (and there's free tea all day long!). The theme for the spring fayre is 'collaboration' and both floors of the gallery will be stuffed to the seams with stalls showcasing and selling all manner of artist books, from hand printed zines and digital books to hardback monographs and one-off pieces. There is usually some sort of hands-on activity to get involved with and BBC Weather assures me that the sun will be shining down upon us so there'll be plenty of opportunity to meet and mingle with other creative folk on the grass outside.

Highlights include:

♥ Collaborative groups like The Book Room, Jazz Cakes and Ffotogallery's FORUM artist group.
♥ Self publishing from Henry Ireland, Hazard Press, Doubleplusgood Books, Kathrin Ollroge and my good self.
♥ Publications such as Hotshoe, Blown Magazine, Impulsive Random Platform and Rubric.
♥ Plus many more zines, cakes and arty ephemera from new & old sellers alike.

So, come come! It will be awesome to see some new faces there and if I get my act together in time I may even host a small giveaway on my stall for you all. You can see pictures of past fayres and keep up to date with who & what will be there on the new blog.

♥ Ffotogallery Book Arts Fayre ♥

YAY... IT'S BACK! Ffotogallery's Book Arts Fayre has some sort of supernatural hold over me and even though I usually turn up late, crumpled and frantic with multiple staple injuries, there is absolutely no keeping me away. It's the best fun a ffotogirl can have (and there's free tea all day long!). The theme for the spring fayre is 'collaboration' and deadline for submissions is March 6th. I'm attempting to bash out a project in time but I guess we all know that no matter how much work I put in in advance, I'll still be pulling everything together  from the back seat of the car on the day whilst manically shouting directions to Penarth! But yes, submit! Come! It will be awesome to see some new faces there. You can see pictures of past fayres and keep up to date with who & what will be there on the new blog.

Vampire Sushi

I will stop making Halloween themed posts soon, I promise! But not before I say HOORAY for my friend Tukru who, along with her boyfriend Carl, opened up VAMPIRE SUSHI DISTRO on October 31st. There are hardly any UK zine distros so this is very exciting news. Not to mention the fact that Tukru is totally adorable & talented & smashing with amazing taste in zines so you can guarantee good reading material is to be found in the catalogue. The first 13 people to place an order will receive surprise spooky presents. I like presents! 

And the winner is...

Congratulations Christina! I'll be popping your goody bag in the post tomorrow.

Sorry if you were unlucky this time but keep an eye on the TREATS page for more goodies in the future. You need to keep an eye out for sneaky hints on the blog though or you might miss out. Happy Halloween!

Trick or Treats

Mwahaahaahaaa *cackle cackle* 

Not everyone has noticed that the TREATS section of this site has been updated with a new giveaway- I need to work out some sort of alert system - so I thought I would repost the page here before it's too late.

I'm not entirely sure why but I'm really in to Halloween this year! It started when I was tabling at LePub's A Fashionable A'Fayre mini market event last month and was asked to donate a prize for the raffle to help raise money for the charity that kindly donated the tables for us to use. I'd been saving some Paperchase Halloween goody bags ever since I bought them in the sale last year and had been eager for an opportunity to use them so I popped a few zines in one and then went on a mission to the supermarket to buy a few spooky treats to fill it up with.

I seriously have never seen shops in the UK stock so many Halloween goodies as they have this year! Tesco had two whole aisles of costumes and decorations and enough sweets and chocolate to rupture your insides zombie style! Even all the regular brands have got in on the festivities and brought out limited editition cakes like Fiendish Fancies, Lime & Slime Jaffa cakes and Cadbury's Cinder Toffee cakebars... yum yum! So I picked up loads of ace snacks and silly accessories and was especially pleased with my contribution to the raffle.

I know so many people are all cynical about Halloween as it stands today - a commercialised amalgamation of the Irish Samhein, the British Calan Gaeaf and the Celtic All Hallows' Eve - but really, what's wrong with a little bit of fun?! Get yourself a pumpkin, carve up a Jack o'lantern, invite your friends round to drink scrumpy cider and bob for apples, tell ghost stories, light a candle for a deceased relative, paint your face white, pop in some fangs and run around the streets in the crisp Autumn air foaming at the mouth from sugar overload. No? Why on earth not, you stuffy old trout?! Enjoy yourself! Most importantly, instead of complaining that no-one speaks to their neighbours and communities don't exist anymore - stop hiding behind the curtains when children come knocking. Open the door! Admire the creativity in their costumes,  challenge them to perform a trick, share some sweets or make some toffee apples and actually meet the local children in your area. Be generous. You'll be a much happier person for it.

So, incase I haven't made myself clear... Yay for Halloween! And in the spirit of generosity I've put together another Halloween goodie bag full of zines and treats. Just email your name and address to eleanor@eleanorjane.co.uk with the word 'TREATS' in the subject line by Monday 26th October and hopefully the Royal Mail will stop striking long enough for me to get your treats to you in time for the 31st.

Unfortunately, in my excitement I forgot to check the  ingredients in the sweet packaging and as a result, not everything is suitable for vegetarians. Which is really rather naughty of me being a vegetarian myself. Oops! So if you do happen to be a veggie then please say so in your entry message and I shall endeavour to swap the treats for something a little friendlier should you win. You can always give the spares away to trick or treaters...

Good luck!

PS. Pumpkin bucket not included... he's mine :)

Buys You Chips

"From a city in which art and creativity amount to little more than tumbleweed, comes Buys You Chips (and shags you don' I?); a pigeon-encrusted, collaborative zine of photography, biography, poetry and observation inspired by life in Newport. Available now from Diverse Records on Charles Street for less than the cost of a dirty burger and a bottle of pop."

It's high time Newport created something worth engaging with that isn't another dirty low-on-alcohol-high-on-syrup cocktail from a souless chain pub on the high street. So, with the help of Chris and lots of talented contributors I have made a Newport fanzine! Issue One features; photography and scribblings from me, Chris' work ethic, the lament of a sad, stumpy pigeon by Geraint Wilson, The Old New Seattle - Andy Barding's tales from the Newport punk wars, an illustrated guide to thrifty livings, Joe Strummer's old flat, a small dispute between the residents of Swallow Way courtesy of the Environmental Health and Services Department 1988, Laura Symes' experiences of being a young Mum in Duffryn, the best Chinese takeaway on Chepstow Road, a guide to the world of zines, the ghost of music scenes future by Jonny Janiero, a word from the 'mayor' and after preliminary discussions in the Angel, adambob recruits for a mission to the moon.

The reception of the zine has been fantastic - we've sold out and had to replenish the stock in the record shop a couple of times, had some amazing feedback and have been given an ace review on The Joy Collective. I'm so pleased that Newport is actually interested! In fact, I was in a coffee shop with my friend Adam the other day, rambling on about how concerned I was that Newport wouldn't be receptive to something so far from the mainstream only to discover that the man sitting opposite us had bought a copy a few days before. Amazing! That's why I love Newport sometimes.

You can buy a copy for £2 at the Oxjam merch table at tonights' gig at the Meze Festival where you can also witness the return of the Elephant Rescue Plan (Chris' band) along with Tenants Supermen and a bloke from the GLC djing afterwards. Fun times!