{"id":1810862,"date":"2026-03-06T11:09:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T08:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1810862"},"modified":"2026-03-06T11:09:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T08:09:00","slug":"these-playfully-erotic-zines-capture-williamsburgs-00s-art-scene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1810862","title":{"rendered":"These playfully erotic zines capture Williamsburg\u2019s 00s art scene"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1200\/0-395-1799-1199\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/0\/1440414.jpg&#8221;]<\/p>\n<article class=\"main-article standard \">\n<div class=\"article-main-content article-wrapper has-media-but-its-an-image\" data-status=\"loaded\" data-primary-article=\"true\" data-url=\"\/art-photography\/article\/69830\/1\/paul-mpagi-sepuya-shoot-zine-nudes-photography-magazine-photo-book\" data-article-id=\"69830\">\n<header class=\"article-header has-portrait-image no-media\">\n<div class=\"wrapper dg-max-width\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<figure class=\"main-img has-figcaption\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.71\" data-template=\"Standard Article\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Paul Mpagi Sepuya, SHOOT\" class=\"img\" height=\"2550\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1280\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/0\/1440414.jpg\" width=\"1800\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"inner\"><span class=\"credit\">Courtesy of Paul Mpagi Sepuya and <span class=\"nowrap\">Primary Information<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"meta\">\n<div class=\"inner\"><time datetime=\"2026-03-06T11:09:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"06 March 2026\"><span class=\"month\">March<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"6\">6,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"titles\">\n<div class=\"tags\">\n<div class=\"sections\"><a class=\"category vertical - art-photography\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\">Art &amp; Photography<\/a><br \/>\n\/<br \/>\n<a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/lightbox\">Lightbox<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"standard-tag-container\"><a class=\"standard-category\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\">Art &amp; Photography<\/a> \/<br \/>\n<a class=\"standard-series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/lightbox\">Lightbox<\/a><\/div>\n<h1 class=\"title\"><span>These playfully erotic zines capture Williamsburg\u2019s 00s <span class=\"nowrap\">art scene<\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"standfirst\">\n<h2>Paul Mpagi Sepuya\u2019s experimental zines are collected in the new book SHOOT, bringing together the renowned photographer\u2019s outtakes and explorations <span class=\"nowrap\">of portraiture<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-03-06T11:09:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"06 March 2026\"><span class=\"month\">March<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"6\">6,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><time datetime=\"2026-03-06T11:09:00+00:00\" class=\"timestamp\" title=\"06 March 2026\"><span class=\"month\">March<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"6\">6,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2026<\/span><\/time><\/p>\n<div class=\"providers\">\n<div class=\"contributors\"><span class=\"contributor\" data-contributor-role=\"Text\"><span class=\"contributor-role\">Text<\/span><a class=\"contributor-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/user\/SamMoore\">Sam Moore<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article-body-container\">\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"dazed-gallery has-8-images \">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<header>\n<div class=\"info\"><span class=\"heading\">Paul Mpagi <span class=\"nowrap\">Sepuya, SHOOT<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"gallery-thumbs\">\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36801\/0\/paul-mpagi-sepuya-shoot\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Paul Mpagi Sepuya, SHOOT\" class=\"img\" height=\"1199\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-166-1799-1199\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/0\/1440415.jpg\" width=\"1799\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36801\/1\/paul-mpagi-sepuya-shoot\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Paul Mpagi Sepuya, SHOOT\" class=\"img\" height=\"1199\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-504-1799-1199\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/0\/1440410.jpg\" width=\"1799\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36801\/2\/paul-mpagi-sepuya-shoot\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Paul Mpagi Sepuya, SHOOT\" class=\"img\" height=\"1200\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-1800-1200\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/0\/1440411.jpg\" width=\"1800\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36801\/3\/paul-mpagi-sepuya-shoot\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Paul Mpagi Sepuya, SHOOT\" class=\"img\" height=\"1199\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-217-1799-1199\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/0\/1440412.jpg\" width=\"1799\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36801\/4\/paul-mpagi-sepuya-shoot\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Paul Mpagi Sepuya, SHOOT\" class=\"img\" height=\"1199\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-268-1799-1199\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/0\/1440413.jpg\" width=\"1799\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36801\/5\/paul-mpagi-sepuya-shoot\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Paul Mpagi Sepuya, SHOOT\" class=\"img\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-123-3000-2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/0\/1440416.jpg\" width=\"3000\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-footer\">Gallery \/ 8 images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><em><span>SHOOT<\/span><\/em><span>, a new publication of old work by photographer Paul Mpagi Sepuya, exists in a strange space, in between the past and present of his artistic practice. <\/span><em><span>SHOOT<\/span><\/em><span>, as originally conceived, was a series of zines which Sepuya published between 2005 and 2007. Back then, there was an urgency to this way of distributing work. \u201cAs far as producing something tangible, it was the zine or nothing,\u201d Sepuya tells me, stressing the fact that \u201cit was accessible and playful\u201d. But now, he admits, decades later, \u201cthere is a radically different audience for my work\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The playful nature of zines as a way of producing and disseminating work carries through to the photographs that make up <em data-start=\"259\" data-end=\"266\">SHOOT<\/em>. A series of double-page spreads, the images wink at their own artifice \u2013 one subject is flanked by a camera, others by fragments of text; some stretch across both pages. \u201cI made the first two zines from what were otherwise outtakes and additions to the \u2018right\u2019 or final portrait selection,\u201d Sepuya says. In photography, the emphasis is often placed on finding the \u2018right\u2019 image, but he was more interested in \u201cthe accumulation of images, the contact sheets, things that reflected duration and time with multiple possibilities\u201d. Portraiture, stretching back centuries to ornate paintings of kings, queens and aristocrats, has long been fixated on the idea of a flawless, untouchable \u2013 even unknowable \u2013 subject. By selecting these images, Sepuya presents his subjects \u2013 and photography itself \u2013 as containing multitudes, far more than could ever be contained in a single image.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"fe72daab-7a47-43b8-b3ef-b404011d2e15\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/0\/1440416.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.41\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Paul Mpagi Sepuya, SHOOT\" class=\"img\" height=\"2125\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/0\/1440416.jpg\" width=\"3000\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">Courtesy of Paul Mpagi Sepuya and <span class=\"nowrap\">Primary Information<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>These multitudes are also reflected in the artist himself; this collection of zines traces the emergence and continued transformation of his practice. \u201cThe text started off incredibly earnestly [in a way that] feels cringe-worthy to me now,\u201d Sepuya admits of some of the writing that features in the book, even as it \u201cbecame more refined and sparse as the issues went on\u201d. Through <em data-start=\"591\" data-end=\"598\">SHOOT<\/em>, his work also reflects the growing importance of \u201cfriends, muses, and collaborators\u201d, each shaped by the context in which he met them and the social worlds they inhabit. One muse is a crush that once felt \u201cunattainable\u201d, the shoot taking on the quality of a romance; another appeared on <em data-start=\"887\" data-end=\"896\">Artstar<\/em>, a reality TV show about the art world. Sepuya himself even features in <em data-start=\"969\" data-end=\"976\">SHOOT<\/em>. \u201cI knew I had to make a self-portrait, and it was about heartbreak, but the subject of that heartbreak was not pictured.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Sepuya confesses that some of the ways <em data-start=\"238\" data-end=\"245\">SHOOT<\/em> is being considered now, as a collection, are \u201call in retrospect\u201d, even if that retrospect \u201cbegan probably around 2009\u201d. This includes a growing ambivalence around \u201cthe idea that the subjects of my pictures needed to all be Black people\u201d. Audiences, he tells me, wouldn\u2019t \u201cread [the] work as Black the way they did as gay\u201d, often presuming that all of the subjects were gay, which they weren\u2019t. For Sepuya, the work was simply capturing the world around him at the time: the Williamsburg of the 00s. \u201cAnd I was being honest about the spaces I was in, for better or worse.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>What gives <em data-start=\"199\" data-end=\"206\">SHOOT<\/em> its continued impact today is the way Sepuya explores these spaces and those who occupy them, challenging the limits of how a person, a body, or an art form might be perceived. These photographs offer the power of possibility \u2013 a way to consider the things so often cast aside in the name of the \u2018right\u2019 aesthetic. Even now, looking back on the work, Sepuya seems to think of the zines as alive with what might come next. \u201cThat last zine, number seven, positioned me \u2013 my hand, my eye \u2013 behind the camera, moving back and forth in a visual choreography [\u2026] and I think it was getting somewhere\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>SHOOT is published by Primary Information and is available <a href=\"https:\/\/primaryinformation.org\/product\/shoot\/\">here<\/a> now.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! 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href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/article\/69713\/1\/gracie-brackstone-photo-book-friendship-love-community-protest-london-manchester\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"card-latest__img-wrapper\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Gracie Brackstone, Heaven &amp; Hell, Love &amp; Loss\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/480\/0-0-1539-1024\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/8\/1438421.jpg\"><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"card-latest__content\">\n<h3 class=\"card-latest__title\">These photos document love and loss in times of political crisis<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline\" data-newsletter hidden>\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"dazed-gallery has-8-images \">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<header>\n<div class=\"info\"><span class=\"heading\">Paul Mpagi <span class=\"nowrap\">Sepuya, SHOOT<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"gallery-thumbs\">\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36801\/0\/paul-mpagi-sepuya-shoot\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Paul Mpagi Sepuya, SHOOT\" class=\"img\" height=\"1199\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-166-1799-1199\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/0\/1440415.jpg\" width=\"1799\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36801\/1\/paul-mpagi-sepuya-shoot\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Paul Mpagi Sepuya, SHOOT\" class=\"img\" height=\"1199\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-504-1799-1199\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/0\/1440410.jpg\" width=\"1799\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36801\/2\/paul-mpagi-sepuya-shoot\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Paul Mpagi Sepuya, SHOOT\" class=\"img\" height=\"1200\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-0-1800-1200\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/0\/1440411.jpg\" width=\"1800\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36801\/3\/paul-mpagi-sepuya-shoot\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Paul Mpagi Sepuya, SHOOT\" class=\"img\" height=\"1199\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-217-1799-1199\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/0\/1440412.jpg\" width=\"1799\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36801\/4\/paul-mpagi-sepuya-shoot\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Paul Mpagi Sepuya, SHOOT\" class=\"img\" height=\"1199\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-268-1799-1199\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/0\/1440413.jpg\" width=\"1799\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36801\/5\/paul-mpagi-sepuya-shoot\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Paul Mpagi Sepuya, SHOOT\" class=\"img\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/320\/0-123-3000-2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/0\/1440416.jpg\" width=\"3000\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-footer\">Gallery \/ 8 images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><em><span>SHOOT<\/span><\/em><span>, a new publication of old work by photographer Paul Mpagi Sepuya, exists in a strange space, in between the past and present of his artistic practice. <\/span><em><span>SHOOT<\/span><\/em><span>, as originally conceived, was a series of zines which Sepuya published between 2005 and 2007. Back then, there was an urgency to this way of distributing work. \u201cAs far as producing something tangible, it was the zine or nothing,\u201d Sepuya tells me, stressing the fact that \u201cit was accessible and playful\u201d. But now, he admits, decades later, \u201cthere is a radically different audience for my work\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The playful nature of zines as a way of producing and disseminating work carries through to the photographs that make up <em data-start=\"259\" data-end=\"266\">SHOOT<\/em>. A series of double-page spreads, the images wink at their own artifice \u2013 one subject is flanked by a camera, others by fragments of text; some stretch across both pages. \u201cI made the first two zines from what were otherwise outtakes and additions to the \u2018right\u2019 or final portrait selection,\u201d Sepuya says. In photography, the emphasis is often placed on finding the \u2018right\u2019 image, but he was more interested in \u201cthe accumulation of images, the contact sheets, things that reflected duration and time with multiple possibilities\u201d. Portraiture, stretching back centuries to ornate paintings of kings, queens and aristocrats, has long been fixated on the idea of a flawless, untouchable \u2013 even unknowable \u2013 subject. By selecting these images, Sepuya presents his subjects \u2013 and photography itself \u2013 as containing multitudes, far more than could ever be contained in a single image.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"fe72daab-7a47-43b8-b3ef-b404011d2e15\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/0\/1440416.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.41\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Paul Mpagi Sepuya, SHOOT\" class=\"img\" height=\"2125\" src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/786\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/0\/1440416.jpg\" width=\"3000\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"credit\">Courtesy of Paul Mpagi Sepuya and <span class=\"nowrap\">Primary Information<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>These multitudes are also reflected in the artist himself; this collection of zines traces the emergence and continued transformation of his practice. \u201cThe text started off incredibly earnestly [in a way that] feels cringe-worthy to me now,\u201d Sepuya admits of some of the writing that features in the book, even as it \u201cbecame more refined and sparse as the issues went on\u201d. Through <em data-start=\"591\" data-end=\"598\">SHOOT<\/em>, his work also reflects the growing importance of \u201cfriends, muses, and collaborators\u201d, each shaped by the context in which he met them and the social worlds they inhabit. One muse is a crush that once felt \u201cunattainable\u201d, the shoot taking on the quality of a romance; another appeared on <em data-start=\"887\" data-end=\"896\">Artstar<\/em>, a reality TV show about the art world. Sepuya himself even features in <em data-start=\"969\" data-end=\"976\">SHOOT<\/em>. \u201cI knew I had to make a self-portrait, and it was about heartbreak, but the subject of that heartbreak was not pictured.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Sepuya confesses that some of the ways <em data-start=\"238\" data-end=\"245\">SHOOT<\/em> is being considered now, as a collection, are \u201call in retrospect\u201d, even if that retrospect \u201cbegan probably around 2009\u201d. This includes a growing ambivalence around \u201cthe idea that the subjects of my pictures needed to all be Black people\u201d. Audiences, he tells me, wouldn\u2019t \u201cread [the] work as Black the way they did as gay\u201d, often presuming that all of the subjects were gay, which they weren\u2019t. For Sepuya, the work was simply capturing the world around him at the time: the Williamsburg of the 00s. \u201cAnd I was being honest about the spaces I was in, for better or worse.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>What gives <em data-start=\"199\" data-end=\"206\">SHOOT<\/em> its continued impact today is the way Sepuya explores these spaces and those who occupy them, challenging the limits of how a person, a body, or an art form might be perceived. These photographs offer the power of possibility \u2013 a way to consider the things so often cast aside in the name of the \u2018right\u2019 aesthetic. Even now, looking back on the work, Sepuya seems to think of the zines as alive with what might come next. \u201cThat last zine, number seven, positioned me \u2013 my hand, my eye \u2013 behind the camera, moving back and forth in a visual choreography [\u2026] and I think it was getting somewhere\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em>SHOOT is published by Primary Information and is available <a href=\"https:\/\/primaryinformation.org\/product\/shoot\/\">here<\/a> now.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"newsletter-inline-last\">\n<div class=\"newsletter-small\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<h1 class=\"newsletter-title\">Escape the algorithm! Get The Drop<\/h1>\n<div class=\"meta-row\">\n<p class=\"meta\">Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"confirmation\" aria-live=\"polite\">\n<p class=\"confirmation-title\">Thank you. You have been subscribed<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/privacy-policy\" class=\"meta-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><br \/>\nPrivacy policy<br \/>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>[analyse_source url=&#8221;https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/article\/69830\/1\/paul-mpagi-sepuya-shoot-zine-nudes-photography-magazine-photo-book&#8221;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[analyse_image type=&#8221;featured&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/1200\/0-395-1799-1199\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1440\/0\/1440414.jpg&#8221;] Courtesy of Paul Mpagi Sepuya and Primary Information March\u00a0 6,\u00a0 2026 Art &amp; Photography \/ Lightbox Art &amp; Photography \/ Lightbox These playfully erotic zines capture Williamsburg\u2019s 00s art scene Paul Mpagi Sepuya\u2019s experimental zines are collected in the new book SHOOT, bringing together the renowned photographer\u2019s outtakes and explorations of portraiture [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,76],"class_list":["post-1810862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-dazeddigital-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1810862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1810862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1810862\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1810862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1810862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1810862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}