Actually, an often overlooked aspect of dōjinshi is that some of them (admittedly, a vast minority) actually aren't manga at all. There is a growing group of dōjinka (同人家) who use the dōjinshi medium to explore more traditionally themed illustrations, or even photography. I'm not talking about cosplay photobooks, which thematically are more or less still anime; I'm thinking, for example, of some of Onuphoto's stuff, or Amaguri Irofu's pinups.
Even more interesting, at least to me, are those dōjinshi that simply forsake the human form, and instead focus on 'documentary' themes, such as landscape or architecture. While most dōjinshi from this subset tend to take the otaku approach of cataloguing, and the graphic aspect is secondary to the textual content (otaku manuals of sorts, one could say), other take a more aesthetic approach, turning landscape and architecture into art and coming full circle with the kind of stuff one would expect from a coffee table art book.
Today I am reviewing two very different examples of this kind of dōjinshi: SORA vol.2 by じぇん, and MIDGARD by 廃墟探索部.
廃墟探索部 is the circle of Inaba Wataru and Rei Narumiya(twitter: @inabawataru, website defunct), which doesn't seem to have produced much in the past two years, but has previously built a nice catalogue of dōjinshi centered on the world of 'kojo moe' - which is to say, exploration of industrial and urban ruins. There is, for example, a photo reportage from Chernobyl.
I have been hunting for a while for one of their dōjinshi, and I finally got the chance to snag a copy of MIDGARD (2010). Horizontal A4, full color on fairly thick laminated paper which unfotunately tends to crease and fold quite a bit. Look at the cover above, and that's all you need to know: night pictures of an industrial complex - which one we cannot say, as there is literally no text on this dōjinshi outside of title and credits. If anyone recognizes it, please do let me know.
Sounds underwhelming? well, it's really not, believe me. The factory becomes an excuse to paint with light and play with the more painterly aspects of photography, giving birth to two-page spreads of swirling lights and shadows, massive geometries and so on. The documentary aspect disappears, and we are left with pure aesthetics. The concept itself and the process are fascinating to me in their own right (and it would be interesting to see what kind of market a dōjinshi like this one might have), but the visual results are just as stunning.
Another interesting case of an unusual subject matter for a dōjinshi is 2009's SORA vol.2 by じぇん (who has a very seldom updated Pixiv and site). Vertical A4, full color, laminated paper and, sadly, a meager 12 pages. The subject? skies. More specifically, very very VERY photorealistic digital drawings of skies. I cannot overstate the skills of じぇん: there were times in which I had to do a double take, and still couldn't believe these weren't pictures.
Thoroughly badass. Also, I did look for SORA vol.1 but couldn't find it anywhere.
In a way, these kinds of dōjinshi are fairly difficult to review - aside from the hook of the theme and the gorgeous graphics, there is very little to comment upon. You might have to decide for yourself is pretty pictures are enough for you: as far as I'm concerned, these are two instances in which they more than are.
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