Eyeshot Magazine - Review of “Street Fashion” Edition

March 22, 2020 Martin Kaninsky

Hello everyone, welcome back to the All About Street Photography channel, and I am here today with yet another photography book, or rather magazine, review. This time I am going to talk about the Street Fashion issue of EYESHOT magazine. I am going to be giving one copy of the magazine away. All you need to do is to subscribe to the Youtube channel and leave a comment below this video. You can let me know, for example, what is your favourite photography magazine or website. Now, let’s get back to the review.

So what is the EYESHOT magazine? The magazine was created by Marco Savarese in 2017. The goal of the magazine is to focus on street photography as an art form. It is a publication created by photographers for photographers. Each issue has a main theme on which they build the rest, and from there they select photographers. In the past the themes were, for example, Street Jungle, Street Christmas or Surreal edition.

Marco always thought that Instagram and social networks are not real study tools for true street photography enthusiasts. He has always had a passion for limited editions and believed that the collections of the best shots must be kept forever. He is creating a printed collection that he believes will increase in value over time because all the editions of Eyeshot are currently Sold Out (except the last issue, because it was released only a few weeks ago.)

And that is also something I think about regarding the photography books. The photography books seem to be an analog revolution opposing the flood of digital photographs we see every day when we look at social media. For me it’s often a very nice moment to enjoy a photography book with a cup of coffee, in a chair.

The photographs for each publication are found on Flicker, Instagram and photographers personal websites. You can also submit your photographs directly to the EYESHOT webpage. What I like about it is that the photographer does not in any way release or relinquish their copyright by publication in EYESHOT, and neither will their photos be used for any other purpose except for publication in the magazine and the promotional materials related to the magazine (Instagram, Facebook announcements, etc.). Any other possible use of the material is first discussed with the photographer on a case-by-case basis and is subject to their prior written approval.

So, with each issue they explore different street photography themes. Five international guest photographers are invited to curate the photographs related to the topic. Some of the issues also offer collaboration with the most important international street photography festivals, and include a section dedicated to the winners of the festivals within Eyeshot.

Now, let’s take a look at what is special about this particular edition. For this edition the idea Marco had was to build a complex story on tendencies, excesses, cultural and social differences that walk down the urban catwalks all around the world. The selection of artists talk about a fashion which is pretty far from haute couture, but it isn't unrelated to the Fashion System as a whole. There are shots from all over the world, specifically there are photographers from over 50 countries in the world and over 130 in total for each edition. Eyeshot is said to be one of the largest collections of street photography currently in circulation. Eyeshot is actually the only publisher specializing entirely in street photography. It actually surprised me since I have been a long time street photography fan and I didn’t know about the publication until recently, which is also why I have decided to do a review. I hope more people will find out about it and will maybe support this great project.

This issue has 188 pages which is more or less standard for this magazine. The next publication of Eyeshot will be “Flora and Fauna”. you can check it out on their website.

What I usually do when I review photography books is I pick my favourite picture and talk about it. Now, it wasn’t actually easy to pick only one picture here. So I ended up with four. Let me know what is your favourite photograph from this issue in the comments.

The first one is Brooklyn Beachwear, taken by Gisele Duprez. What I like about the shot is how timeless it looks, even though it was taken in 2019. I like the composition as well as the colours in the picture.

This one, from Julia Coddington, has very nice colours but it also has this superhero vibe.

Matt Stuart is one of my favourite Leica photographers and I Iove the colours in this shot as well as the composition.

When we talk about composition I have to mention this photograph from Thailand. It is a great example of coincidence and forced perspective.

So, if you want to get the EYESHOT magazine what are the options? When you check the e-shop where you can choose between the digital and paper edition. The paper edition is limited which is written on the paper tag as well as on the first page which gives it really a premium feel. Once they are gone they are gone. Now speaking of premium I have to mention the packaging. From the first moment I have received the package I have to say, I was very impressed with the packaging. It really is premium and invokes the feeling that you really bought something special. Oh, and I almost forgot that you will also get a special postcard. Marco told me the postcards are selected from the previous issue signed and numbered by the photographers themselves. “In practice, the postcards that Eyeshot customers receive have gone around the world.” He said.

The magazine is printed in Italy and more precisely in a company near Marco’s home in Bologna because he has everything under control there. Marco is very fond of printing and of high level materials. He always ships from Italy, and Eyeshot takes care of all the logistics phases, it is because he likes to be precise in all the details. The size of the magazine is pretty standard but you are probably wondering, does it fit into an Ikea cabinet? And the answer is yes. This will fit nicely among your other books if you want to store it. A new edition is published quarterly so there are four issues per year.

But, Eyeshot is also going to be producing monographs of individual photographers with hard covers and we will be able to find them on the Eyeshot’s website. They also plan to do more videos for their youtube channel. I will leave all links in the description.

So who is this magazine for? Among the publications I have reviewed so far, this is for a little more niche audience. It is obviously for someone who is a fan of street photography. I think it can also be a nice gift especially the annual subscription considering the price. Photography books often serve as an inspiration. What I really like about having a collection of Eyeshot magazines is that if you want to get inspired in specific theme you can always pick up the magazine and see different approaches from all over the world.

Make sure to visit EYESHOT Instagram and leave a comment there since they have some really hard times now in Italy. Also don’t forget about the giveaway so leave me your comments below for that. I will end with the words of Japan Camera Hunter. My favourite hunter, from Japan.“You can look at something online all day, but there is nothing like looking at a beautiful print on paper, it stirs the soul.”

Check out EYESHOT:

Website: https://eyeshotstreetphotography.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eyeshot_magazine/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eyeshotmag

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-_Vpol9Y-jZ1bP6Hl5qz0Q