Play is the starting point for how we interpret the world around us, it develops the tools to navigate the world and form relationships. In this issue, through photography and writing, we have explored playful processes of photography, play therapy, nightlife, performance and identity, collaboration, virtual realities, and war play.

INSIDE THE PLAY ISSUE: 

BODY COPY Is our Issue 12 cover story.  Utilising their background in theatre, circus, opera, puppetry, and stage illusion Mitchell  Moreno reacts to adverts found on gay and queer hook-up sites. Through self-constructed sets and personas, Moreno portrays the envisioned characters and explores role play as a therapeutic tool to self acceptance.

Natalia Kepesz documents the increasing popularity of military-focused youth summer camps in Poland. These camps offer children adventure through ‘playing soldiers’ but Kepesz uneasy images allude to the darker side children play out scenes of war.

in our accompanying article Tim Saunders, a military historian and ex infantry officer explores how the Nazi party militarised a generation of young Germans via the Hitler Youth.

Exploring a resurgence in illegal raves, Joe Magowan has been following ravers and parties for the last 5 years. Documenting the period of quiet after each rave Magowan presents semi-posed portraits as the sun rises.

In the accompanying article Elliot Pearce, a music producer and journalist analyses the factors that lie behind the decline in UK nightclubs. Pearce reveals an industry threatened just as much by developers as the pandemic.

Courtney Craven an ex-photographer and disabled gamer and writer uses in-game photography to document their exploration of the edges of the map within open-world computer games. In their written piece Craven raises questions of accessibility and representation in games and the wider gamer community.

Featured Photographers: 

Courtney Craven
Natalia Kepesz
Joe Magowan
Mitchell Moreno
Tom Pope
Andy Price
Oliver Raschka
Red Rubber Road (AnaHell and Nathalie Dreier)

Writers:

Courtney Craven
Harry Flook
Elliot Pearce
Tim Saunders
Rachel Segal Hamilton
Megan Wilson-De La Mare

Sponsored By:

Hahnemühle
Loupedeck
CineStill Film
FujiFilm
Kodak
Millennium Images
MPB
Mprint
PortraitPro
Royal Photographic Society
Street Photography.com
Traia
Work Show Grow

Print specs:

100 pages

240 X 170mm Portrait

Perfect bound