NOESIS: NO THOUGHTS ZINE

Kind of safe for work.

If you’re a photographer right now, chances are you’re following some pretty cool web spawned projects.  We have themed photo blogs, flickr groups and ffffound pages, offering thousands of images to reblog, like and favorite. Hundreds of artists are grouping together, showing together online, and becoming friends after meeting on flickr, tumblr, and twitter.  No longer limited to the geographical constraints of just one city, artists (like any other group) are taking full advantage of this digital landscape.  You would think that movements as new and evolutionary as this would require little entrance into the real world.  However, photo projects like the self published, artist run No Thoughts Zine, gives photo lovers a tangible alternative to the ever in flux web based art scene.

But what exactly is a photo zine?  While flipping through the most recent issue of No Thoughts together at Trident Cafe, myself and editor Michael J. DeMeo both came to the same conclusion: a photography zine is most definitely a hand held, mobile exhibition, and, in as little as a few black & white pages, they have the ability to unite a group of artists, who may not have met, together for as long as the pages are still intact.

A Boston native, DeMeo spent the majority of his career so far living and working in Portland, OR;  He curated the former Sugar gallery, a small, partner run space that focused on uniting home based artists with photographers from around the world.  While at Sugar, he had the opportunity to hang the work of some amazing photographers, including Elizabeth Weinberg, Jimmy Fontaine, & Mike Schreiber.  And with the art scene in a Renaissance of sorts on the West coast, an internationally driven, no boarders project like No Thoughts was the next logical step for DeMeo and co-curator/photographer Alyssa Noches.

“It’s a place where we can simply publish pictures we like, by people we like.  We usually publish a mix of autobiographical, fashion, street and erotic photography.”

The latest issue of No Thoughts features the work of 23 artists from three corners of the globe, with a cover shot by the Ukraine based collective (and personal favorites) Synchrodogs: Roman Noven & Tania Shcheglova.  Issue 6 is a very unselfconscious analysis of the naked human body (don’t worry guys, it’s mostly women here).  The aesthetic ranges from the sensual (captures of a lover in bed), the voyeristic (naked freely in the woods), and the downright naughty (crotch touching and come hither stares). Overall, it’s a wide scoped portrayal of the contemporary nude, with an eclectic focus on the intimacy shared between the photographer and subject.

Here are just a few (kind of) SFW pages, for your otherwise bored to tears work day:

Recently back in Massachusetts, DeMeo is working on a photo series called ‘Waiting’, where he is actively shooting people while they wait on public transit.  No Thoughts will continue to run here in Boston, with the 7th issue dedicated to new portraiture.  He continues to work with international galleries, most recently, a photo exhibition in collaboration with Pogo Books, Berlin.

no·e·sis, understanding | from noein, to perceive | from nous, mind
Love photography & want to follow up? Here are some related links:

NO THOUGHTS ZINE
@NOTHOUGHTSZINE

Michael J DeMeo
@michaeljdimeo

Alexis Avedisian
@this_is_vellum