brian mcdaniel Archives

Richmond Zine Fest: A World Of Creativity At Your Fingertips

Norrin Nicholas | November 8, 2019

Topics: brian mcdaniel, Budget Press, Richmond Public Library, RIchmond Zine Fest, self-publishing, Yonic Youth, zines

The 13th annual Richmond Zine Fest came to the Richmond Public Library last month and introduced attendees to an entire world of unique and wonderful do-it-yourself artistic expression.

On the second weekend in October, the Richmond Public Library’s main branch played host to the 13th annual Richmond Zine Fest — a small festival dedicated to the plethora of zine creators and artists around the city. Saturday’s Exhibitor’s Day showcase found tables crowding the perimeter of the basement and third floor of the downtown library, all cluttered with small, self-published booklets, as well as comic books, art prints, buttons and keychains, action figures, and even the occasional self-portrait. It was truly a wonderful sight.

I was first introduced to the idea of zines when I was in high school. I was astonished by the idea that I could input all my esoteric ideals and understanding of the world into a small booklet that I put together and printed myself, which would then be readily available to be picked up and read through by anyone.

I was also amazed by the variety of genres and categories zines could fall into; I’d only ever seen the highly-polished formats of the magazines you could buy in the grocery store, but the world of zines went in so many other directions. By the time I was out of high school, I’d officially decided to sacrifice my hands to the thousand paper cuts that come with self-publishing in order to create some of my wildest ideas.

Attempting to fit into the mainstream’s idea of literary and artistic creativity can leave a lot of creators at a dead end, searching for a way around the corners of creativity in which they’re less than comfortable. Zines allow artists to stretch out beyond the strictures of mainstream ideas and highlight their own unique talents for the world to see. The opportunity to go in all sorts of unconventional directions — replacing words with images, images with an artistic reformatting of word structure, and much more — makes zines a limitless space where everyone with a creative inclination can find a home.

That feeling is common in attendees of Richmond Zine Fest, even if they’ve never attempted to make a zine themselves. “I came here a year ago with a friend of mine and fell in love,” said one Zine Fest attendee. “It felt like a reunion of sorts… almost like a celebration for all of these artists.”

Finding your creative medium is only part of the battle for zine makers — finding your audience is just as big a struggle, one many zine creators face in the course of their work. Locating people who are as interested in your zine as you are is one of the hardest parts of the process. However, Richmond Zine Fest helps deal with this problem. If you’re a creator, at Richmnond Zine Fest, the audience comes to you.

“I’ve been coming for a couple of years now and every year it gets better,” said another Zine Fest visitor. “I always either find new work from some of my favorite artists, or find new artists with amazing work.”

This year’s Zine Fest brought many different writers and artists together in one place, to enjoy the talents and ideals of their fellow creators. The floors of the library transformed into a sort of mall showcasing the independent art scene of Richmond and the surrounding reason. You could find all sorts of different work.

Richmond’s own Brian McDaniel, known around town for his fashion photography and his involvement in Dialogue Magazine, brought a selection of personal zines featuring his own writing, photography, and what he called “doodles.” DC-based zine publisher Budget Press brought a selection of work by many different creators, including founder Johnnie B. Baker. Yonic Youth, a collective focused on the work of women, POC, and the LGBTQ community, were on hand with issues of their zine as well as stickers and hats. And there were many, many more on hand as well.

“I’m a writer myself so it’s great to see things like this happening in the city,” said a visitor. “It’s a reminder that there is space for me and others like me to have our work appreciated in the public eye.”

Richmond Zine Fest stands as an annual mecca for writing and illustrative artists from every subcategory imaginable. For anyone who feels there is no home for them in this vast, subjective field we call art, it offers a fire-lit cabin. If you missed it this time around, never fear — Richnond Zine Fest will be back next year. Until then, you can keep up with them on Instagram @richmondzinefest. Start working now and maybe next year, you can bring a zine of your own.

Top Photo via Richmond Zine Fest/Facebook

Keeping the Dialogue Going

Aviance Hawkes | May 13, 2019

Topics: Ben Cochran, brian mcdaniel, Cherry, Dialogue, Dialogue Richmond, sink/swim press

Last month, Richmond magazine Dialogue celebrated the release of their Spring 2019 sixth issue with an event at Cherry, a collaborative, artist-run space that works to provide for arising and established artists. The sixth and latest issue of the Richmond-focused literary magazine featured coverage of artists Cameron Spratley and Mattie Hinkley, musicians Alfred. and Negative Gemini, as well as a story about the end of Strange Matter and quite a bit more.

The free event included music by Shormey and an opportunity to purchase the brand new issue, which retails for $20. This price may seem high to some, but Dialogue sells all of their issues at the same price it costs to print them. Rather than an opportunity to turn a profit, the magazine’s staff sees themselves as merely offering a platform for Richmond’s underground creative community.

Ben Cochran and Brian McDaniel work together in the leadership role for the magazine. Dialogue started when Cochran was a student at VCU; he produced the first issue by himself, as a self-published zine. “It got noticed by this guy that owns a company called Sink/Swim Press,” said Cochran.

Sink/Swim became the publishers of Dialogue beginning with the second issue. “From there we kind of built a team,” said Cochran. “That’s when I brought Brian along.”

The magazine wants to provide an authentic impact on the local art and culture. “We feature artists on the local level from Richmond, [but] also people that move beyond Richmond,” said McDaniel. “We just write about people that may get overlooked or unnoticed, under the radar — which happens so easily.”

Dialogue’s latest issue sold out quickly, but rest assured, the magazine plans to continue writing about cool people in and around Richmond. Some back issues are still available through their website, so check ’em out: https://www.dialoguerichmond.com

Photos by Aviance Hawkes

Catching Up With Dirty Richmond

Aleda Weathers | September 5, 2013

Topics: brian mcdaniel, fashion, richmond, RVA, RVA fashion

Born and raised in Chesterfield — about thirty minutes south of Richmond—Brian McDaniel made a name for himself in 2009 by launching Dirty Richmond, a street style and lifestyle blog that gained national attention. Now approaching his one-year anniversary at Ledbury, we wanted to catch up with McDaniel and talk with him about his time at Dirty Richmond and the world of fashion blogging.

McDaniel graduated from VCU with a degree in business management but was always interested in photography and seeing what other people were wearing. The passion for photography and street style was the reason why Scott Schuman, photographer and founder of The Sartorialist, was and still is a huge inspiration to McDaniel.

During a life-changing study abroad trip to Hong Kong in the second semester of his junior year, McDaniel realized that he talked about Richmond… a lot. He realized that he loved Richmond and had a lot to say about it. Combining this new realization with a new camera, McDaniel created Dirty Richmond, a place where he could showcase what people were doing, wearing and who they were.

In the beginning, McDaniel stayed in the compass of VCU because it was “safe.” He also realized the hardships of starting a fashion blog. “Starting a blog is so hard and I don’t think people realize how hard it is to start a blog. It’s new, you don’t have any followers, you’re figuring out what direction to go in, what the blog is going to look like, what your voice is, who your readers are and what kind of content you’re going to use,” says McDaniel. “But through actually doing it you figure all that stuff out.” And figure it out he did.

Eventually, McDaniel moved out of the comfort of the VCU compass and began to photograph people all over Richmond. “There’s two people I like photographing: people that you can tell are obviously into fashion and cared about what they were wearing and put a lot of thought into it and other people who didn’t really care at all and were who they were and were natural in how they dressed,” said McDaniel.

Dirty Richmond gained popularity locally and nationally but that is not what made McDaniel’s day. “It was cool getting recognized in publications and people started telling who I was, but what really made it all worth it were the people that I just met through the blog that I would have never ever met or talked to or approached otherwise. Over time, through repeatedly taking somebody’s picture, you become friends with them in a way,” said McDaniel. For him, the thrill has always been about the personal connection and the excitement of capturing the perfect person in the perfect outfit at the perfect time.

Although Dirty Richmond is no longer active (for the time being), it has opened a lot of doors for McDaniel. The attention he gained from Dirty Richmond combined with his unique blogging techniques, helped McDaniel to land his job at Ledbury, a local menswear store where he blogs frequently. Although McDaniel may be expanding his brand and tackling new career choices, he has not forgotten where he started and offers advice to anyone who wants to do fashion blogging. “Just keep an open mind and don’t think too much. Through Dirty Richmond, for example, a lot of times I would think too much about if I wanted to stop and photograph somebody and miss an opportunity…Those times, where I was going back and forth in my mind and I didn’t stop them, I regretted it,” says McDaniel. “Also, keep your eyes open and observe what’s around you.”

Keep up with Brian McDaniel on his personal blog here.