CULTURE

Man on the Zine

Photographer and curator Lele Saveri’s favorite zines of the moment.


Lele Saveri

Zines—those handmade, self-published odes to underground culture that were so big in the ’90s—are enjoying a resurgence, and they have digital mediums like Tumblr and Instagram to thank. “People have spent the past five years staring at their cell phones, and they’re tired of it,” says Lele Saveri, a photographer, curator, and former Vice photo editor. Aside from producing artist books and running the Brooklyn art space Muddguts, Saveri, 34, oversees the biannual 8-Ball Zine Fair, which he founded in 2012 as a way to highlight work from an international roster of artists and independent publishers. Here, his favorite zines of the moment.

1. Cats Hate Cops, by New York Year Zero “My favorite anarchist collective produces this compilation of Xeroxed newspaper clippings about cats attacking policemen.”

2. American Women, by Adam Rossiter “Printed with pink ink on pink paper, this zine offers a look into the life of Lil’ Kim, with a series of two-inch-by-two-inch screen shots of the rapper from all different stages of her life.”

3. F.T.L. #20, by Weirdo Dave “This is the latest edition of a classic New York zine. It features collages made by the artist using strong images from newspapers and magazines.”

4. A Day at the Dog Fights, by Will Boone “Inspired by a 1979 Esquire article by Harry Crews, this zine contains images of pit bulls and dog fights that Boone has been collecting for years.”

5. Nat Sethi, by Nick Sethi and Nathaniel Matthews, published by Pau Wau “Sethi and Matthews teamed up on this unusual work, which contains their self-portraits positioned to interact with each other. The spiral binding makes it feel like it has no beginning or end.”