SAD MEN

SAD MEN Collective is a zine series and an ongoing research into the abbys that is retro stock photography.

SAD MEN Collective publishes zines, merchandise and research.
Sign up for a zine subscription and you will get 4 zines a year sent to you by mail!

This project is about Stock Photography, a form of photography that seems shapeless and objective, waiting for a context to be put in. Stock images are defined by our western visual culture and can be seen as a reflection of our society. With the rise of image banks since 1920, photography was vigorously transformed into a commodity. Since then stock images are a big part of a picture market that directly reflects what is desired.

SAD MEN Collective are Io Cooman and Elki Boerdam.
The collective was born out of curiosity, wonder and simply because we are working as photo-editors and we have acces to many image banks. By working with these image databases on a daily basis we have developed a broad and critical view on functional photography and (stock) photography. With our zines, we add and subtract meaning and have a laugh by juggling images around in a playful, accessible, experimental and visceral way.

List of publications ↓

Zine subscription

4 zines a year
€35- incl shipping (NL)

• With a Zine Subscription you will receive 4 zines in one year. They will be sent to you sporadically by mail. Some of the zines will come with a little extra. Maybe a button? Maybe a postcard? Maybe a tote bag? For you to find out!

• A subscription costs 30 euros including shipping costs*. You pay for the zines, the inside of our brain, the merch and our office supplies (never underestimate the power of good scissors).
*Subscribers from outside of the Netherlands will pay 35 euro due to higher shipping costs.

• A subscription runs from January until December. Want to subscribe in the middle of the year? No problem! We will add the previous editions of that year to your first zine shipping.

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Sex

2024
24 pages b&w/full color
€10,- incl shipping (NL)

In a time of sweet sunshine and sweaty memories we step into the arena that is sexual symbolism. A cliché-ridden subject. Just think about your favourite romcom where in the heat of the moment the camera pans to either crushing waves, fireplaces or landscapes (weirdly enough).

We needed to wrap our minds around all the obvious eggplant emoji’s, high heels, wet lips and come up with some rules: - No full bodies (human) - Only referential imagery - Discomfort is allowed (we actually think that is a plus) - Tactility is key. You need to hear or smell the image.

This is our go at opening up the realms of sexiness, association, sensory images and saxophones.

Is this really where the magic happens?

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