I went to the party to celebrate the first and second issues of Some/Things magazine on 8th April – lured by the fact that Jarvis Cocker was DJing – and found myself in an artists' studio space surrounded by models with black lipstick and their hair in top knots and men wearing top hats. That’s the sort of East London party it was but I also gained an insight into a print publication daring to do things differently.
Some/Things is a Paris-based bi-annual arts book, produced in limited editions with strong photography and no adverts – issue one (above) includes photographs and text by one of my favourite Magnum photographers who I once saw give a talk, Antoine d’Agata; issue two, fiendishly entitled ‘The Black Book’, features a behind-the-scenes shoot with Gareth Pugh (pictured).
The hefty issues of Some/Things are made from quality paper stock and are hand bound in Lithuania, where editor in chief Monika Bielskyte is from. She says that print must offer something extra if it’s going to compete against digital media: “With the digital media evolution one has to completely reconsider making a paper publication today. Some/Things tries to offer readers something that is associated more with books and deluxe artist publications than with magazines."
Bielskyte works with a team of 10 staff including her partner James Cheng Tan, associate editor Raina Lampkins-Fielder, fashion editor Carlo Zollo and stylist Ellen Af Geijerstam. Interestingly, the colour palettes change each issue. “Every issue has a sub-title that encapsulates the emotional, conceptual and aesthetic universe we want to explore. The two issues we've published are both anchored in quite austere and minimal aesthetics graphically and colour-wise – black and white imagery is predominant. However, the issue we are working on now, 'Farewell my concubine', is going to be very different in intense colours of flesh red, blood black, deep indigo and visceral greens,” says Bielskyte.
Some/Things is not sold on the newsstand but at select boutiques and galleries in 18 countries.
www.someslashthings.com/magazine
