Flipping through the pages of the Future Issue feels at once familiar and brand new. The important things are the same: our sustainable newspaper print, original designs and commitment to authenticity remain intact. But there’s some new stuff too. Like our first cover photo shoot!
We collaborated with photographer Kate Edwards, designer Ilana Kohn and model Bianca Briggs to create an image that would represent past and future selves. The goal was to create a cover that aligned different versions of the self, layering those versions together to create a single image. We documented the process along the way, and we’re so happy to be able to share it with you.
We’re marking the beginning of our second year by thinking about what the future means for us and for the women whose stories we share. Throughout the past year we’ve grown considerably. A Women’s Thing started with a handful of women and now has over 60 contributors sharing their writing, photography and art.
We are building A Women’s Thing to redefine the meaning of “women’s things”—those vague attributes traditionally associated with being a woman. As we’ve grown, we’ve realized that looking forward also means looking back. The Future Issue explores this idea with the usual mix of essays, interviews, poetry and artwork. It grapples with a sense of history while emphasizing the role of the past in shaping the future.
We interview women working in STEM fields about their professional experiences, consider what it means to live in the present while perpetually planning for the future and take a close look at how urban planning affects the sustainability of places like the South Bronx. Turning our attention to women’s media, we trace the path from print to digital journalism, showing where women’s media has been and where it’s going. We also challenge notions of gender in the Middle East by sharing the story of a female activist in Afghanistan.
As always, we balance these explorations with art that reflects the diversity of the stories we print, including works by Lynn Hershman Leeson and Delphine Diallo.
We hope that you’ll connect with the material in this issue, and that you’ll like the changes we’re making as we continue to move forward.
Ready to start reading? Check out our preview version here and don’t forget to subscribe.
About the cover:
Video: Andrew T. Vanette
Music: Keith Madden
Photographer: Kate Edwards
Art Direction: Natalieann Rich
Art Assistance: Georgette Maniatis
Clothing Design: Ilana Kohn
Model: Bianca Briggs