Vol.02: What's Inside

"The film answered with a visual temperature. In a haze of red light, one person's room became a lonely monodrama, and another's street became a lively sitcom."

A year after the first issue, the second story of 5ft magazine is finally on paper. This issue is about the moment a single roll of film turns ordinary life into a scene from a movie. Here is a quick look at what's inside.

This Issue's Theme: What Genre Is Your Space?

One line is printed on the cover: "What genre is your space?" Every photograph and every piece of writing in the second issue gathers under that question. The heart of the issue is the moment a familiar scene suddenly becomes a film still, and the visual temperature of that moment, seen through many different eyes.

The film for this issue is Cinestill 800T, a variant of Kodak Vision3 500T, the motion picture stock loved by Hollywood's great filmmakers, modified so that any ordinary lab can process it in C-41. Under tungsten light it holds a cool balance, and when it meets strong light it blooms with red halation. It is a film that turns the world in the viewfinder into a scene beyond ordinary reality.

Three Photographers, Three Genres

This issue brings together three photographers, along with a writer, an interviewee and an illustrator. Each of them likened their own space to a film genre. Here are their answers.

Six people, six different genres. How one roll of the same film can open onto such different scenes is something to see for yourself, page by page.

A Preview of the Spreads

Here is a small preview of the three photographers' work inside the magazine. Shot on the same film, each carries the mise-en-scène of an entirely different genre.

Jang Hyeong-su wrote in the magazine: "Rather than one film, I think the genre of my space could be every film. The mise-en-scène of every film might be the genre of my space." These are not well-taken shots but scenes where the story has paused. Light is placed with intent, like stage lighting, and space and objects explain the situation without a word.

Noh Ae-gyeong photographs figures who stay out of sight, hidden narratives and the air of a space. "My space is somehow busy and chaotic, unruly and full of daydreams, so I think it's closer to dystopian fantasy." The exact meaning stays unclear, and imagination starts in that empty space. Scenes that quietly simmer.

Park Soon Yeol's eye lingers on the small scenery of the city. A worn-out chair, a car loosely covered in plastic sheeting, a plastic bag caught in a tree branch. "Not glamorous, but somehow a little lonely and quiet. If it were a film, I think it would be a slightly dull indie film where the lead never appears and only the background keeps rolling." Things other people walk right past, but that keep catching his eye.

Finding the Extraordinary in Everyday Streets

The other big pillar of this issue is an interview with Shin Noguchi, who has spent about twenty years photographing the streets of Kamakura and Tokyo in Japan. He takes Mark Twain's "Truth is stranger than fiction" as his photographic creed. 5ft magazine sat down with him for a long conversation about what goes through his mind when he presses the shutter on the street, and about the extraordinary moments inside ordinary life.

His work has appeared in international outlets such as The Guardian and The Wall Street Journal. He has done client work for Hermès and Apple and was selected for 'M is M,' Leica's campaign for the 70th anniversary of the M. He is a street photographer the whole world is watching.

Grain Is Not Noise

This issue has one more special section: 〈10 Films Recorded on Film〉, curated by Film Social Club. From the chilly winter air of 〈Carol〉 to the blazing summer sun of 〈The Florida Project〉, the tungsten night scenes of 〈Chungking Express〉 and the heavy black-and-white IMAX film of 〈Oppenheimer〉. Ten films that bring the way the masters handle light into your own viewfinder.

Vol.02 at a Glance

• ● Photo: Jang Hyeong-su, Noh Ae-gyeong, Park Soon Yeol
• ● Essay: Kim Hyun-a, 〈When Dumb Thoughts Keep Repeating〉 (멍청한 생각이 반복될 때) · 〈Dating in Your Thirties, Hoping It's a Slice-of-Life Show〉 (일상물 같길 바라는 30대 연애)
• ● Interview: Shin Noguchi
• ● Camera Review: Voigtländer Vitessa 500 AE (Kang Hye-won, Ally Cameras)
• ● Film Review: Cinestill 800T (Film Social Club)
• ● Feature: Grain Is Not Noise, 10 Films Recorded on Film (Film Social Club)
• ● Illustrator Story: Myeong Su-gyeong, 〈Staying In〉 (집콕), 〈The Story of Mr. A, Who Only Shot Digital〉 (디지털 사진만 찍던 A씨의 사연)

Next Issue

Vol.03 is shot on Kodak T-Max 400. The clarity you only see once every color is gone. The camera review looks at the romance and the beautiful inconvenience of the Leica Barnack IIIf, and the interview meets Sajakkyo (Nam Kyo-hyeon), a photographer and YouTuber who finds a warm gaze inside a cold city.

Same film, different people, different genres. That is what we promise with every issue. 5ft magazine isn't after photographs that only satisfy ourselves. We hope to be a magazine that grows together, made by more and more people joining in.