https://volumebikes.com/

Print Matters - Black And Blue

More Northern DIY

16 Dec 2016

Leadmaybe2

Photos by Paul Robinson

Print Is Dead? Yes... well no. I don't know if it's just me but it feels like the DIY culture of printing your own Zine, although not at all new, is more alive than ever. We all know that our out-of-date medium can't compare to the all consuming black hole that is the Internet, but why the hell should it? The purposes of both are becoming more and more distinct and even though most daily / weekly printing habits are now unrealistic there seems to still be an insatiable appetite for more exclusive paper based passions. Long time DIG contributor Paul Robinson has BMX coming out of his ears and after the last seven years of shooting he couldn't bare to see the photos gathering digital dust any more - welcome to Black and Blue. We'll let Paul explain more...

Page3 Copy

What is Black and Blue? Format etc. What's the deal with the name?

Black and Blue is a photography zine, it’s a little bigger than A5 in size and this first issue has 86 pages of my own photographs from the last seven or so years. It’s all black and white; it really has that old zine vibe when you feel the printed pages. The name has no real personal meaning, I was briefly in a band about six years ago called Black and Blue that never escaped the rehearsal room and I just really liked the name. I guess it just stuck with me.

Blkblue1

How long have you been cooking this up? Who's in there?

For like ever, I am really self critical, to a weird point where I will just delete everything and start again - this has happened to me on about five different occasions. I start with an idea, I get half of it done and then I leave it, I revisit it and I don’t like it, I scrap it. Black and Blue happened really one night; I had a few beers and just said to myself “If you don’t do this then you’ll never do it”. Now it’s done and printed, I’m happy with it, I don’t know what all the fuss was about. Since I’ve had the opportunity to travel with awesome people, the zine includes many of my friends, people like Dillon Lloyd, Mo Nussbaumer, Devon Smillie, Bruno, AK, Sean Burns, Shane Weston, Ben Hucke, Pat Morse, Dan Coller, Geoff Slattery, Christian Rigal, Fat Head, Jeff Kocsis, and Jared Washington.

Page7 Copy

What's your favourite story / outtake?

I think the printed emails back and forth from the owner of the Air BnB place in Austin are hilarious. I mean, I was totally in the wrong; I just couldn’t stand the rules and the reason to complain so much over some dirty plates (I guess you have to read it to make sense of it).

Any more plans for Black and Blue?

My job is way too full on for me to be pumping these things out on the reg, but I feel that now I’ve jumped that first hurdle, I will continue to put these out intermittently. I also want to work with friends and just explore what I can do with it; I have some ideas that will just add to the whole print experience.

Print is far from this benumbed slumbering beast everyone talks about, but of course it struggles to compete with the instantaneous feed of the Internet. People need to just learn to look at print differently. I just think that a good photo will never look as good as it looks in print, no matter what stock of paper its printed on or how big or small it is. It takes on a new meaning, it stands out, something happens anyway and it’s worth keeping this shit going for that reason alone. 


Order your copy of Black and Blue via the DIG Online Store

Blkblue2

Previous

Our Problem With Authority

Is our problem with authority more deep-rooted than we think.

Next

11 Times BMX Won

It's not all doom and gloom.

Related Content

Permasummer  Our  Wild  Abandon

Print Matters - PERMASUMMER - Vision Kingdom

"getting sideways, grinning and getting it - all things pure and free"

10 Feb 2016
Print Matters Uphill Work Logan Ostrom By Mikey Almodovar

PRINT MATTERS: Uphill Work

'A Book About Street Riding'

9 Jun 2016
Print Matters Schweppes Z9 A0531

PRINT MATTERS - SCHWEPPES

Buy this instead of that 30ml bottle of vape juice.

16 Sep 2016
Bad Lands Cover 99

Bad Lands – The Book

Limited Edition DIG X RED BULL Photography Book Now Available

20 Jul 2016
https://rixinbikes.com/

Latest Content

Boz75h Z7fk0hqdefault
Play Button

BOTTLE KIDS - CHRISTMAS SPECIAL

Santa's got a fat sack of clips

25 Dec 2024
N0gn4oi5 Us Qhqdefault
Play Button
L Vxv Vm3 Atdchqdefault
Play Button

Antonio Smallwood - 'MOTION PICTURE' | BSD

Lisbon, Tenerife, Budapest and Glasgow

23 Dec 2024
XE7y I6 T0b P Ehqdefault
Play Button

TAMSTYLE - 'KONGKLUNG'

Thailand

23 Dec 2024
B Iyo FKO4 Ao Mhqdefault
Play Button

BLKWDS #2

RIPPING A POT OF GOLD

22 Dec 2024
Uo Tb TA6c H Ahqdefault
Play Button

jib bmx - 'late tape' number five

Better late than never

21 Dec 2024
From the north in the cut 1
Play Button

FROM THE NORTH - 'IN THE CUT'

42 Minutes of Extras

20 Dec 2024
Gll DC2 H5p M0hqdefault
Play Button

One Man Show 3 | Urban Wander

Weird & Revered

19 Dec 2024
QR9 Zlg Sjn 4hqdefault
Play Button
Mankind Catalog Cover jpg
S P7t6 Xn8g4 Yhqdefault
Play Button

JASON ENNS - DIG 'FRAGMENTS' - Episode 3

Taking his tech roots to the streets

18 Dec 2024
Y K Hu Q9ys R Qchqdefault
Play Button

Cold Cuts - Harrison Arcari - THIRTY - Kink

Raw and unfiltered

16 Dec 2024

DIG Partner stores

More Dig This

30 YRS POSH BOOK MNTN V V 004

(Almost) 30 YEARS OF POSH WOODS

Now available for pre-order

24 Dec 2024
BSD Grime Safari Reed Stark Austin 6

Reed Stark - A Photo Safari

Safari Forever...

6 Dec 2024
Et FW24 Dig Magazine Collab Shoot 031

Introducing the DIG X ETNIES Collection

Celebrating a 25 year partnership

7 Nov 2024
24 photo comp web leader

THE 2024 DIG PHOTO COMP IS NOW LIVE!

OVER $1000 WORTH OF PRIZES UP FOR GRABS

15 Oct 2024
Greystoke issue 2

GREYSTOKE BMX MAGAZINE - ISSUE 2 OUT NOW

132 pages of tangible, hold-in-your-hands BMX print media.

11 Oct 2024
SUNDAY Silvawave Frame 3 Q web

PRODUCT DROP: Brett Silva's signature SUNDAY 'SILVAWAVE' frame

"It was only a matter of time before Brett got to call the shots."

26 Sep 2024
Osomatsu 4

SETUPS - Kazuei "Osomatsu" Oimatsu - ALIVE INDUSTRY

A Ben Lewis signature frame stacked with Animal parts

12 Sep 2024
20240907 BOH 019 perris

BATTLE OF HASTINGS 2024 - Everything you need to know

Schedule, livestream links, highlights, results & more...

2 Sep 2024
Garrett ss24

SIMPLE SESSION 24 - EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

Highlight videos, schedules, results and more

24 Aug 2024
Volume frames 2

PRODUCTIVITY - NEW VOLUME JASON WATTS & KRIS FOX FRAMES

Certified for roasting - THE SMOKO & THUNDERHOOF

6 Aug 2024
Efise leader results

WHO WON THE €22K at E-FISE 2024 WOLVERHAMPTON?

The results are in!

12 Jul 2024
Kink 2025 bikes

PRODUCT DROP - KINK 2025 BIKES

That New New!

12 Jul 2024