Letter from the Editor #1

Hommage is driven by a certain sense of timelessness, wherever it may be found – a product of its time, reverent towards that which precedes it; in search of modernity outside of its own era, evocative of work that would not be out of place in 1920’s Paris, 1930’s Hollywood, 1960’s Italy, or the present day. This project exists in homage to that feeling, exemplified for me by Edward Weston’s Floating Nude, from 1939, Andre Kertez’ Chez Mondrian, Paris, from 1926, or Imogen Cunningham’s Two Callas, about 1929 – a startling, shocking modernity, works existing in their own time and yet outside of it. Not that the feeling need be found strictly in such rarified air; far be it from me to forsake the lowbrow, that which may be considered popular culture. I find as much joy in Pompeo Posar’s Playboy pictorials of the mid-century as I do the classic reportage in Life Magazine; I draw just as much from Antonioni’s La Notte and Schrader’s American Gigolo as from Welles’ Citizen Kane.

In search as it is for a modernity outside of its time, Hommage eschews deliberate anachronism. There is a tendency for that which lionizes the past to emulate it, which almost invariably produces a poor pastiche, removed as the work is from the circumstances to which the artist responded. There are a few key exceptions which prove this rule, primarily as it relates to the manner in which work is created. Standing on the shoulders of our forebears, all of the work presented in this magazine is shot on film. Minimal editing is done to the photographs – really, no more than a skilled darkroom technician would be able to accomplish, with an eye toward having each photograph shown be a scan of a darkroom print. It is an especially slow, meditative process – far more expensive, far less efficient, and yet in many ways, unequaled in terms of fulfillment.

Working with dèmodè camera equipment does not mean the views expressed here will be similarly antiquated; Hommage is of the belief that sensuality requires both consent and collaboration, and all of our shoots are reflective of that ethos. Admittedly, within these pages exists a primarily heteronormative depiction of feminine beauty, which I suppose can’t be helped, given Hommage is a reflection of the tastes of its founder; however, our aim is to build an enticing space for talented creatives in all fields to contribute to broadening the bounds of each issue. Raison d’etre established, you may wonder what exactly the purview of this project is. There are a number of fantastic publications from which we draw inspiration, both extant and relegated to history. It is inevitable we will cover similar ground. Our unique lens, if indeed there is one, is an intense focus on locality – the people who dare to dream, make those dreams reality, and in so doing make their cities special. I have experienced a gradual shift in the manner with which I regard where I am in space and in time now, having noticed that, with few exceptions, it seems we all want to be somewhere else, doing something else.

Many a love letter has been written to the great American cities – New York, Lost Angeles, San Francisco, Miami et. al, to say nothing of the exoticism associated with the distant capitals of far flung continents. I love the ideas of those cities as much as the next man; I love the idea of experiencing them in their quiet moments of repose as much, if not more so, than in their full regalia. Luxuriating like a local, simply there, nothing to do and nowhere to be; seeing what there is to see in no particular rush, and pulling the perfect reservation for the best dinner you’ve ever had at a low key spot you’ve never heard of, accompanied by, if so inclined, that breathtaking beauty you caught just a glimpse of, disappearing around a corner just out of shouting distance. Such sublime evenings aren’t happenstance; they require familiarity, relationships, repeat visits. Relationships that cannot blossom overnight. Reflecting on this dream, it became clear what Hommage was – a guide to accomplishing that very day, in each city that is the subject of each issue. The best in art, culture, cuisine, and craft, with particular focus on the men and women who make their cities special. Not to belabor the point, but the additional focus here is on the overlooked cities, the undiscovered gems; unexpected pleasures.

Why a print publication? The proliferation of independent print publications and zine culture writ large indicates that the rumors of the demise of print may have been slightly exaggerated, but the travails associated with an endeavor like this are not. Nevertheless, our team coalesced around a shared love for books and magazines far and sundry, and it was ever our aim to add to the corpus. As a young designer, I worked with a few friends to provide creative direction to a project that resulted in my first print publication. Over the span of four or five months, the team and I worked to create video interviews, editorial features, and collaborations with photographers. As I reflect on that project over ten years later, there are many things I would change from a technical perspective – I would make different typographic choices, I would write the features I contributed differently; very little would remain untouched by the design and art direction experience I have amassed in the intervening years.

One thing I would not change, however, is the energy and the vitality of the folks I worked on the project with. One could attribute the joie de vivre with which we labored to our youth; the confidence inexperience incites, the willingness to charge forward into the unknown because it is unknown, the lack of the scars of rejection – all commonly associated with youth. This, then, begs the question; does age, by default, rob us of these precious qualities? Perhaps it is not age in the abstract, but the hard come by memory of the lash that causes hesitation, indecision, and an unwillingness to venture forth.

As in the Robert Frost poem, it is from here the path diverges in the woods. Those who recognize and protect the inner child travel the enlightened path. One could posit there are not two paths at all. Not trodding a separate path, no; just a few steps further down the one you are on. I have been experiencing a gradual creative fervor of my own as of late, and it has brought with it a rush of memory, reminding me of who and where I was when I last truly felt it. Once again, my interests have coalesced into a desire to create a print product, and once again, I have found people with whom I can create freely – people within whom I see a kindred creative urge, desire, and will to express themselves for the sake of it, reception or lack thereof be damned. Here, then, is the first salvo, raging against the dying light. I do hope you enjoy.