This is officially the last edition before we grow up. When the sun sets on the 31st August, Gallery will be waiting nervously for the release of issue 186 and our 18th birthday. Remember your 18th? I have vague recollections of branded shirts, a barrel of beer each and a lost night in the wilds of Wales. I’m hoping Gallery is able to bridge the milestone with a bit more class.
For most of us, turning eighteen is a rite of passage, the chance to feel like an adult in your own right, the rush of a bolstered sense of maturity and the feeling that the world is your oyster. You can also feel less guilty about going out, as you’ve probably been spending time in licensed premises drinking shots for a couple of years already at that point.
As Gallery gets set to become an adult, it’s a chance for me to reflect on the fact that this little magazine I started when I arrived in Jersey has made it to maturity. As print media was an endangered species back then, I’m proud on behalf of everyone that’s ever contributed and been featured in Gallery and supported independent media in Jersey. With print prices through the roof and kids getting phones and obsessions with tiktok before they’re ten, I doubt another adult generation will pass before print really does become extinct.
I shouldn’t really go on too much about the milestone, as I’ll no doubt repeat myself with a pseudo-Oscar speech in the edito of our eighteenth birthday edition in September, but as this edition is themed ‘open’, it’s an opportunity to open up the house to new ideas for Gallery. This month sees our longstanding designer head off to pastures new in the world of aviation and our events photographer Sabi head back to the warmth of his European passport in Hungary. We therefore have the smallest staff footprint we’ve ever had as our world turns almost 100% freelance.
So….if you’re interested in words and pictures, please do get in touch this month. We want to work on new content for future editions and we’re open to new ideas. As we’re going to be over eighteen, I could refer to it as a new ‘adult’ Gallery, but there was a pretty prominent porn magazine called Gallery way before us, so let’s keep that differentiated. However, if you like to write with an irreverent tone of voice and have ideas for a new Gallery that fits taking us into our 20s, do get in touch.
BD
