The Photocopy Club is a bi-monthly photography exhibition based between Brighton and London. It’s the project of self-published photographer Matt Martin, who first started photocopying his photographs to reproduce them cheaply and to create zines. The aim of Photocopy Club exhibitions is to get photography off the Internet, bringing printed matter back into the hands of the public.

We spoke to Matt before the forthcoming Photography Club show on 25th April at CREATE Studios in Brighton.

Photo: Matt Martin at The Photocopy Club.

Why did you start The Photocopy Club?

I wanted to make a platform for young contemporary photographers to get their work printed and exhibited at the lowest possible cost for the artist. The Photocopy Club is an exhibition that is accessible to everyone, like a giant zine that everyone can take a page from.

Why do you photocopy photographs? 

Printing in a lab has become expensive, so the way I get my own photography out in the world is by releasing photocopied zines and posters. The process is instant and you get an image that has a completely different feel to the original. I used to use photocopies to incorporate my work into the graffiti scene: I’d get my photographs printed as photocopies, A3 size, then wheat paste them all around my hometown.

Did you ever imagine yourself curating exhibitions and has that role changed how you look at photography?

I started working as a curator and photographer just over three years ago with an online gallery for young photographers called We Are Lucky. I love thinking about how images work together, but starting The Photocopy Club hasn’t really changed the way I look at photography. It has taught me a lot about working with a huge body of work.

Photo: Edana Harris's photocopied submission to the Photocopy Club.

Tell me about your own work as a photographer.

I love taking photographs of people and I started out by taking photographs of my friends. This was a lot more of the snapshot style: photographing my mates skating and messing about. In the last year or so I’ve slowed right down. Now I work full time as a photographer, so the work I put out is more considered since it is what I focus on everyday.

Where do you live and why are you based there?

I live in Brighton and moved here just over two years ago to try and get full-time work in photography. I work at CREATE studios and assist photographer Kevin Mason. It took me a over a year and a half of working in telesales and shoe shops to get work in the industry.