Igor by Jakub MichalskiI first discovered Girls on Film (see also Boys on Film) zine a few months ago and instantly fell in love. A zine comprised of analog photographs by photographers all over the world. This photo zine is edited and curated by photographer Igor Termenón. Projects involving film I feel instantly gives me such a personal connection with the artist. Something that is a bit lost with todays digital culture. I got a chance to find out more about how his interest in photography and independent publishing all started, plus what this renaissance man is working on now.
LB: Introduce yourself. Where are you from?
IT: I’m Spanish although I’ve been living in the UK for the past 4 years. I’m currently living in Edinburgh, where I work full-time in a digital marketing agency and do lots of photo-related things in my free time.
LB: How did your interest in photography begin?
IT: I started taking photos when I was 20 or 21 years old. At that time, I was studying Mechanical Engineering in Spain and I guess I wanted to find some more creative to do after all these maths and physics lectures! I had always liked flicking through fashion magazines but I never thought I would end up taking photos for some of them!
LB: What was your transition like from photographer to founder/editor of Girls on Film Zine?
IT: I created Girls on Film when I was at uni as well – this time in Liverpool studying my Masters Degree. I felt that I wasn’t taking many photos but still wanted to be connected to photography somehow, that’s how Girls on Film started.
Before Girls on Film I had created a small zine with some friends in Spain during my last year of uni. It was just a very “diy” project, we photocopied it and distributed it for free. It didn’t last for too long because we all ended up moving somewhere else but I guess that’s what made me become interested in all the editorial and curational side of photography.
LB: What inspires you as a photographer?
IT: I find inspiration in lots of things but I think natural light is really important in my work. I also find inspiration in anything that has an industrial feeling, like brutalist architecture here in the UK. And I also love the great outdoors!
LB: What was your favorite shoot to date? and why?
IT: It has to be a fashion editorial I shot a few months ago in the outskirts of Glasgow, called “Suburban Dream“. The location is very me – the stylist arranged it and when I arrived and saw the area I knew the result was going to be good. I love the overall mood of the shoot and I think it represents my style really well.
LB: You also review zines on your site, The Rain Will Remain. How did that come about ?
IT: When I started editing Girls on Film, I got more interested in independent publishing and started to buy more zines. The past couple of years have been great for the zine scene, there’s lots of people starting their own projects all around the world so I thought it would be interesting to showcase all these publications and let people know about them.
I decided to call the section Sunday Zine Review because I realized that Sundays were the day of the week where I would usually sit down and enjoy my zines/magazines.
I started reviewing the zines I would buy online or at some shops here in Scotland but I started to get submissions and right now I even have to do a double review sometimes due to all the zines I receive!
LB: Random Question. What music are you into right now?
IT: This past week I’ve been listening to lots of shoegaze. Loveless by My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive’s Souvlaki have been on repeat on my iPod!
LB: Do you have a favorite model muse?
IT: I don’t think I have a favourite but there are definitely some models I’d love to shoot – I really like Eddie Campbell and Jester White right now.
LB: You shoot with film a great deal. Why do you love film?
IT: I love the whole process of shooting film, from buying the roles to collecting the photos from the lab. I somehow feel that film is more real and it definitely works better than digital for my style of photography.
LB: What’s next for you? Do you have any exciting projects coming up?
IT: I do! I’m part of a new project called Future Positive. It is a website that features videos, photo essays and interviews with creative and entrepreneurial individuals. The content is quite local right now, we’ve featured a couple of projects taking place here in Scotland but we’re planning to start growing our contributors’ network and feature people from different places!
For more of Igor’s work check out: