Alone in a New City 1 & 2
Allysha Webber
https://allyshawebber.com
https://www.instagram.com/allyshawebber/
Alone in a New City 1 & 2 are A5 sized black and white photography zines.
I love black and white photography. I feel like there’s something about stripping an image of colour that makes it feel like you’re revealing something new.
“Everything has beauty but not everyone sees it.” – Confucious
Alone in a New City 1 opens with that beautiful quote from Confucious, and it speaks so well to photography and most any art, really. From there, both zines take you through a collection of images taken in and around Melbourne. While the first zine focuses a little more on people and the second seems to focus a little more on street art, they both have a varied collection of images. They give more of an ‘observations of the world around’ rather than focusing on one element in particular. (Though one could certainly argue for Melbourne/Melbourne suburbs being the element.)
Each photo is granted a page and a title of its own, and most of them are accompanied by a quote as well. I love a good quote, and I like the added layer of context and consideration for the photos. However, there were a few pictures where just the title alone gave me a different perspective of what I was looking at.
I should note that I do have a bias in this because I quite like Melbourne, and it’s a place that holds a lot of good memories for me. These photos had an added element for me of knowing this place or that. So, like any form of art, I can’t say as to whether they will have the same impact on you.
I did wonder what different paper and printing might have done for the clarity of the photos or the little details, but it’s entirely possible that it’s intentional. That perhaps you don’t always see things with crystal clarity when you’re in a new city.
I enjoyed Alone in a New City 1 & 2. I didn’t feel lost or confused as to what I was looking at. I enjoyed views in and around Melbourne, and I will definitely be flipping through them again.