Tag Archives: zine

Very Nearly Almost Zine Interview

When I started regularly photographing street art over a decade ago wandering the streets of East and West London with my mate Sam “HowAboutNo”, not so many people were interested in the culture or doing this kind of photography.  George MacDonald was!  He created a photo based printed fanzine called Very Nearly Almost, usually abbreviated by its audience to VNA.   I remember George wandering up and down the queues for urban art shows outside Black Rat Press and The Leonard St Gallery giving the zines away.  Even though I had not started uploading any of my photos onto the net at the time of those early issues in 06/07, my gut reaction was “print is dead”, George proved me completely wrong.

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VNA Issue 3 – CarTrain makes the cover!

 

Fellow contributing  photographer Matt “Cheffo” Strutt has a very interesting interview with Editor in Chief George and Art and Design Director Greg in which they describe how the mag developed from being a photocopied stapled freebie to the lush feature filled publication it is today and how the culture has evolved in the years they have been covering it.

 

I have been proud to contribute photographs and the occasional article to VNA since about issue 6 or maybe 7, despite which Very Nearly Almost is still going strong.

London, Shoreditch, street art, Very Nearly Almost, George McDonald, Greg Beer, zine, magazine, interview, Cheffo,

Very Nearly Almost through the ages

 

The ethos behind the magazine (high quality photography) was touched upon in this article which appeared in the Evening Standard in 2010, down in the bottom corner a shot of the cover of Issue 11 features though the caption at the top, “street art’s NVA” does rather expose some poor sub-editing at the Eeny Stannit.

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Evening Standard, 13 Sep 2010

Being print based, many of the fascinating interviews with artists featured in VNA can only be found in the pages of a real copy you hold in your hands but fortunately many previous editions are still available as very reasonably priced back issues through the VNA shop .   VNA  is well worth considering for a subscription, Christmas is coming you know.

 

Interview Link: http://gcasfm.com/blog/very-nearly-almost

VNA Issue 26: Robert “3D” Del Naja Interview and Special Cover

Just a quick follow up to our post the other day about Very Nearly Almost issue 26, last night at the launch we picked up one of the two special edition screen printed covers and what a beauty it is.  Faced with the tough choice between pink and lemon, we went yellow!

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Glittery Special Edition Lemon Cover

There are four variants on the cover Mr Greg Beer from VNA explained last night.  The retail over-the-counter edition features a portrait of the artist.

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Cover 1

The mail order/subscription order edition features a cover based on 3D’s art.

Very Nearly Almost Zine Launch Issue 26

Cover 2

Then there is the limited edition screen printed cover which comes in either glittery pink or glittery yellow.  This photo does nothing to show how glittery and lemon yellow this cover is in the flesh.  The pink is stunning too.

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Special Edition Lemon colour

Finally, we came across this short clip of the VNA interview with Robert “3D” Del Naja made by our good friend DScreet whose art sometimes features on the Shoreditch Street Art Tour, depending upon what route we take. If you can hear the tune that kicks in at about 1 minute without thinking of Ruth Wilson, then you probably missed Luther.

 

Very Nearly Almost Zine Launch Issue 26

Once a quarter a new edition of street art/urban art/illustration mag VNA hits the streets and excitement is unrestrained.  The launch is heralded by not one but two launch parties.  Thursday 22nd May sees a launch at Lazarides Outsiders Gallery on Greek St, Soho then on Saturday the festivities move to Weapons Of Choice Gallery in Bristol.

VNA25_launch-party_LDN

 

Cover artist for Issue 26 is multi talented Robert “3D” del Naja, artist and musician with Bristol’s seminal Massive Attack (my cue to put Heligoland on the hi fi right now).  The magazine comes in four versions including a glitter sprinkled limited edition featuring a heavyweight cotton tote bag, featuring one of 3D’s iconic knife and fork prints, and some tasty postcards of his work.

Very Nearly Almost Zine Launch Issue 26

Cover 2

Facebook event pages for the two launches are available here:

Bristol Launch – Weapon Of Choice Gallery – Saturday 24th May – 6-9pm www.facebook.com/events/672665359467071

London Launch – The Outsiders – Thursday 22nd May – 6-9pm – www.facebook.com/events/456982974436187

Having read the Robert del Naja and Aida interviews we can say that VNA’s impeccable coverage of the scene is sustained through this issue.  Artists featured in this issue include Numskull (Aus), Augustine Kolfie (LA), Calma (Brazil), Buff Monster (NY via LA), Katrin Fridriks (Iceland), Greg Lamarche (NY), Ernest Zacharevic (Lit), TenTen (Poland), truly an international roster of the highest pedigree.   VNA issue 26 also contains the usual slew of great photographs from Mark Rigney, Paul Grey, Claude Crommelin and (cough) NoLionsInEngland, as well as Chasing Ghosts’s photo feature on stickers and street art from Singapore.

Very Nearly Almost Zine Launch Issue 26

Both Covers

Cruise the party, get the mag.  VNA Issue 26 is here, details of an online lottery to get the ridiculously cheap special limited edition are due to be announced by VNA shortly.

VNA Bristol Launch

VNA Bristol Launch