In 2017, I met Manabu for the first time on a trip to Tokyo with my friends Micca and Ryan. Our meeting was brief, but over the years, he became more than just a friend; he became a mentor, an older brother, and someone whose quiet presence has shaped my life in ways I never expected. In December 2024, I stayed with Manabu at his home in Hatoyama, Japan. For six days, we lived simply, walking his dog Natty, sharing coffee and conversations, photographing whatever felt like should be frozen in time. This body of work and the photobook that it produced is a thank you. It is also a reflection on friendship, learning, and the passage of time. His name itself means “to study” or “to learn,” and in many ways, that is exactly what this book represents: what I have learned from him, about him, and about myself. The first edition is limited to 25 copies, each including a special edition print on Ilford Galerie Washi Torinoko Japanese photo paper. Manabu is now available on my webstore and via direct message through my Instagram. I hope to soon exhibit this work and see you there.
When I came up with the idea of this magazine back in February, it was to simply put something physical into the world that showcased a few of my friends’ photographic work. I had a bit more time on my hands when the virus first spiked in South Korea and I had just started working remotely from home. As a teacher who is typically one of the last people to leave the building during the school year in normal circumstances, I found great freedom in working from home and the breaks I took felt like they really disconnected me from my work. It felt like I finally had the time and the mental energy to embark on a new project.
Initially, I used that time to start sketching and brainstorming what this zine would be and look like. I wanted the timeline to be free of unnecessary extraneous hurdles and I wanted it to be achievable in what I thought would be a relatively short amount of time. Even at the start, I already wanted the project finished. However, I had a few non-negotiables in terms of a final product. It had to feel like a substantial final product. It had to be a product that the photographers involved would be proud of. Lastly, it had to be something that focused on and felt true to the work of all of those involved. It had to be done with integrity.
It had to feel like a substantial final product. It had to be a product that the photographers involved would be proud of. Lastly, it had to be something that focused on and felt true to the work of all of those involved. It had to be done with integrity.
As they say, anything that is worth doing, will take time. Not long after, I found myself engulfed in the process of tailoring the finer of details of which I swore I wouldn’t mull over when I first started the project. But I quickly began to realize that things that are worth doing will take time, and in that time, you should appreciate the journey just as much as and if not more than the destination.
I would like to thank Ryan for getting on board with me for this project. Working with your best friend can be a challenge, but it’s one of the most rewarding experiences throughout the creation of this zine. I appreciate the honesty and the challenges that come along with such a relationship. At times, working with someone who knows you so well can be extremely validating, but it also provides a necessary pause and outside perspective that is invaluable when making a final product that is being created with others’ work and is intended for a wider, diverse audience.
Whether they are visual or conceptual, this first issue is full of flaws. I would be very hesitant to call them mistakes, but rather a set of prompts that call for us to do better next time and to be more conscious of how and why we are making the decisions we do and improve accordingly. Alas, we are happy that this thing we have created is real and we are grateful that it has made it to your hands. I hope that while we have your attention, that this zine provides a space to appreciate the experiences and photographic work of others who carry a film camera to capture the world around them.
Details:
A4 Size
Cover: Luxury Rendezvous Ultra White 240g with Matte Coating
Pages: Luxury Rendezvous Ultra White 160g Matte
Perfect Bound
118 Pages
Photographers: Zhou HanShun, Roman Permiakov, Fred Mitchell, Ryan Berger, Kyle Horton, Letao Tao, Dylan Barnes, Michael Ivnitsky, Alexander Donalson, Victor Norgren
Ordering: You may pick up a copy at the following stockists or order your copy online now at www.overunder.dev/
Like many others during this very odd and unique time, I have been looking for ways to be productive with my time. With the extra time spent at home, I have finally had a chance to create some sort of vision for an analog photography zine. While there are many details to be hashed out, I believe I have planned out enough to get the ball rolling and can figure out the rest along the way. Even if there is only a single issue created out of this, I believe that the process will be worth it. The goal is to simply get the idea out of my head and into the world.
I am excited to get this project started and contribute to the analog photography community in a meaningful way, giving a platform and a voice to those who utilize the medium to create images with substance and authenticity.
The first issue of the Now Developing zine will feature 12-15 analog photographers worldwide. An open call for entries is now live and the rules and guidelines to submit your work can be found here.
Today, we take a look at Amy Jordan’szine All the Places I Thought Were Strange. Amy is a contemporary landscape photographer living and working in Portland, Oregon. Amy specializes in working with black and white themes. Amy’s latest zine includes twenty pages of monochrome images in an 8.5×11 format, taken between 2015 and 2017. These images put a spotlight on what the title simply states: places she found to be strange.
The opening preface by Harper S. sets the stage for the zine and gives remnants of a feeling of entanglement with an inability to break free from unfamiliarity.
Looking through the images, some places are more obviously strange than others. While all images have something “off” about the environment recorded, I specifically enjoyed the images that has a single or simplistic element that breaks a balance or pattern that would be there otherwise.
Amy does a great job in allowing you to experience the set up of each shot through her mind, framing, and finally snapping the shutter. A great expression of her planning and photographic vision.
Of course, like any other black and white images, the beauty is either constrained or exuded by its lack of color. Many of the images in Amy’s latest work are not only visually appealing in their content, but show a rather wonderful use of lighting and contrast.
Perhaps my favorite aspect of these images is that the landscapes are rather common places that most people would walk by and think nothing of, however Amy does her best (and succeeds) in making the ordinary world into an extraordinary photograph, and ultimately a body of work.
Thanks so much to Amy for reaching out and submitting her latest zine. This is definitely a great collection of photos to have for anyone who loves contrasty, black and white images. To see more of Amy’s photos and to inquire about purchasing your own copy, check out her Instagram accounts here and here.
If you have a book or a zine that you would like to have featured here on Now Developing, feel free to send an email!
At the beginning of the year, I wrote out about forty New Year’s resolutions. Yeah. Forty, I know. I keep that list in my phone and I try my best to reread it everyday to remind myself of the goals that I have set forth for myself for this year.
One of those forty goals was to self publish a physical book of photographic work. Needless to say, I am proud to say that in less than three months I have completed that goal and it looks like that goal will form a new goal of having a showing of the body of work in the near future.
The short 20-page publication that I have published under the Now Developing name is aptly entitled twenty seven, twenty eight. The background of the work from the book itself reads as follows:
“These images were cerated between January and December 2016, a time frame that encapsulates my last six months of being twenty seven years old and the first six months of being twenty eight years old.
This work stands as a personal visual record and reflection of a time where unexpected, tragic, and transformative circumstances, both direct and indirect, made me become more aware of my interrelation with others through ambivalence, loss, and despondency.”
The timeframe that these images were taken come from one of the toughest and trying years I have experienced in my life. The work magnifies the hardships that me and others very close to me have encountered in the past year. This book serves as the closing of a chapter of my life and moving into a better mental and emotional place.
The amount of love and support I have gathered throughout the design and printing processes has really touched my heart and I could not have done it without the support of those people.
If you would like to obtain a copy of the book, you can now order one through my personal website here. I apologize for any long waits in shipping times, but please expect up to 10 days for shipping confirmation.
If you happen to pick up a copy, I want to sincerely give you my thanks. It is the raddest feeling to share my work with others and although this project is small, it means so much.
Perhaps my favorite aspect of these images is that the landscapes are rather common places that most people would walk by and think nothing of, however Amy does her best (and succeeds) in making the ordinary world into an extraordinary photograph, and ultimately a body of work.
dylan barnes | blog 