How to force your way through a raging tide that tries to sweep you over? It is an energy that is out of control: you either have to accept or resist.
Already since 2005, we have tried to bring you the latest news about the developments taking place in contemporary photography, and we have had great pleasure in doing so. We thought that after so many years of experience, we would be prepared to continue doing what we love and sharing our findings with you for many years to come.
However, as the world turned upside down in the past two years, we have had to face many sudden difficulties, ranging from the pandemic, paper shortage to distributor bankruptcy. We felt there would be no way out… We were at a point when we thought that GUP wouldn’t survive and for that reason, we have had to make important and risky decisions to save it.
What has Changed?
We took the situation as a turning point to re-new GUP and try something different - merge it with our talent platform FRESH EYES. This re-designed double-sided issue is meant to show the full scale of the photography scene now, featuring both established photographers and emerging talents in one. For this change, we also decided to improve the design of the magazine, make it larger, and printed it on higher quality paper to highlight the beauty of the photographs we publish.
We presented you GUP 71 in a dummy version via the Voordekunst platform, where we placed all our hopes. We simply left the future of GUP in your hands and you decided to save it. Thanks to you, our campaign was successful and for that we are incredibly grateful. Both as individuals and as a collective, you have ignited a spark that designates the new direction of the magazine. This fresh wave of motivation and responsibility towards both our readers and artists has just emerged and we will make sure to deliver you the best magazine possible - more daring, yet engaged.
The New Theme:
For this special issue, we chose the theme for GUP 71 to be Energy - the strength and vitality required to sustain a certain activity. Fuelled by this new stream of inspiration, we selected artists whose work is signified by the intensity, and with that, we hope to energize you too! Inside this bold issue, you can find beautiful portfolios of international artists such as Gabrielle Duplantier, Jonny Kaye, Lara Gasparotto, and Sara Punt. To dive in-depth, you can get to know more about the creative processes of Campbell Addy and particularly his new monograph Feeling Seen or Marcus Schaefer’s upcoming exhibition in Amsterdam through our interviews. And last but not least, our five FRESH EYES talents for this issue are
Colette de Kinderen, Giacomo Bianco, Jade Joannès, Kincső Bede, and Xenia Petrovska.