This page details some of the zines that I have produced from my photography.

There are four available currently, click on the linked words to move to the corresponding lower part of the page.

• car park – photographs of the Shrewsbury multi-storey car park
• shutdown – photographs of a factory after dark
• Concrete Class – photographs of the Brutalist architecture at the University Of Leeds
• Nihon Echoes – Photos from a journey around three cities in Japan.

All of these are available on my ebay store using the following links.

car park / shutdown / concrete class / nihon echoes

They are also available on my etsy store here.

More information about each can be found below.

car park

Over the previous 20 years I have been inspired to find beauty in objects or buildings that other people find distasteful or ugly. One such building is the Raven Meadows Multi-Storey car park in Raven Meadows area of Shrewsbury, the county town of Shropshire.

History

This concrete multi-layered “monstrosity” was opened in November 1968 by the Late Robert Brown Esq. MP

Brown was the Joint Parliamentary Secretary To Her Majesty’s Minister Of Transport.

The main contractor according to the small metal plaque was Truscon Limited. A London based company also known as Trussed Concrete Steel Company.

It originally opened with nine levels of parking but another two were added in the 1980s during works to link it to new shopping centres.

I spent many an hour in and around the area amusing ourselves and the overbearing building was not a useful building to me as we always used the bus to get into town.

As I’ve grown up and begun to appreciate my surroundings and the impact they had on me as I aged from the infant to the adult I have come to realise that the car park has always been there and not changed a significant amount. The concrete structure remains grey and dirty with soot from vehicle exhausts whilst the interior remains a dark and shady place to move around.

A Degree Of Appreciation

During my degree studies at University Of Wolverhampton I concentrated much effort on the photographing of this building and used it in some submissions. My collection of images has grown since then, visiting the building in day and night, as well as in different weather conditions. I particularly appreciate the effect that dark wet evenings give the overall appearance of the location.

With recent news that a large development fund has been released by the government for the redevelopment of the Riverside and Raven Meadows area it appears that the car park has no place in the upcoming redesign so will likely be demolished to make way for leisure facilities, offices or even some residences. Keeping this in mind I felt that I wanted to share the beauty of the car park with like minded people and even those who have yet to see the inherent gorgeousness of this utilitarian structure that has been present for the last 55 years.

As a method of sharing I chose a zine format in A5 size containing 16 pages containing 18 images with two being double page spreads. It shows images I’ve made of the car park and surroundings using film and digital photography and even a drone image.

As part of my study of this car park for my degree studies I was inspired to compose a poem that reflected my understanding of the environment within the concrete structure.

Multi-Stories

Thirteen levels of grey,

Outlined by yellow strokes.

Limiting blocks of red and green,

Drivers glance but hardly see.

Intricate guides efficiently designed.

Barriers, fences, cones and walls,

Knit concrete walls to floor.

Numbers, arrows, verbose signs,

Immediately essential but soon forgotten.

Rain seeps downwards through floors,

Birthing puddles and driplets.

Argon, xenon, neon,  krypton, and mercury,

Reflect in the liquid floor mirrors.

Shoppers in the warm light of day,

Miss the shadows, graffiti and urine of darkness.

Called simply “car park” it was published in 2023 and is available for sale in various locations, eBay and also by contacting me on email photo@bobgriffiths.uk

It is A5 portrait size, 16 pages, stapled, 170 gsm silk printed colour pages and cover is 250 gsm silk matt laminated. This 1st edition production run was 100 copies so pick up one of these before they disappear.

If you want it artist signed or a dedication please message with the details.

shutdown

My second zine, “shutdown” documents the internals of a factory once the workers and staff have left for Christmas holidays.

The facility is effectively powered down and mothballed for two weeks. These images were made using digital photography within the industrial environment and capturing the effects of light being restricted and freed.

The darkness and industrial landscape lends itself to misery and mystery but the light in these photos elude to the life that exists even in the absence of humans.

This is my workplace of over 35 years and I thought I knew it inside and out before I began to think about a project whereby I made images of the space using the available light from the processes and facilities around the scene.

The zine consists of 16 sides + covers containing 16 photographs in total,  A5 portrait size, stapled, 170 gsm silk printed colour pages and cover.

This 1st edition production run is limited to 100 copies so pick up one of these before they disappear.

All are numbered /100 on inside last page with number too.

Concrete Class

With a love of Brutalist architecture I visited the University Of Leeds many times to capture images of this icon of modernist buildings and campuses.

“Concrete Class” features 19 photographs, painstakingly arranged and printed using a risograph printer on 170gsm paper using Gold and Black inks. The whole thing is hand bound using binding twine and held inside a cardboard cover featuring a hand cut Lino print of the title. The result is a wonderful, hand made and very limited edition (20) of a zine featuring the iconic details from the University Of Leeds campus, starring the Roger Stevens building amongst the structures.

The zine consists of 20 sides containing 19 photographs in total,  A5 portrait size, hand bound,  170 gsm  paper, printed with gold and black ink on a Riso MZ970 machine and featuring a linocut printed cardboard cover.

This 1st edition production run is limited to 20 copies so pick up one of these before they disappear.

All are signed and numbered /20 on inside last page with number too.

Nihon Echoes

In June 2025 I travelled to Japan for a two week photography adventure and captured scenes from three cities and beyond. Images from Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and the North coast are gathered here in a limited edition zine.

Photographs are made using digital cameras for this publication and comprises of themes featuring People, Street Photography, Architecture, Vehicles, Landscapes, and Abstracts. A mixture of colour and black & white images will bring back memories if you’ve travelled to Japan or may provide the inspiration to visit in the future.

This zine consists of 46 pages + covers containing 48 photographs in total. It is A5 landscape size, stapled, 130 gsm silk printed colour pages and cover is 200 gsm silk laminated.

This 1st edition production run is 100 copies.

All are signed and numbered by the artist on inside last page.