Letter from the Editors (Issue 6)

By Telo Hoy

Spring / Summer 2022 Issue

Lately I have been thinking about how technology stagnates, how the backlit screens we stare into have had their forms exhausted. I read an article in The Economist about the “search for the next big tech platform.” Though I disagree with this particular “searching” sentiment, it seems since reading the article, my digital activities through this small device have become ubiquitous. Reading a magazine through an app continues to feel less unique, less special, and all the articles blend into one. The app designs are monotonous, like the sleek-pixel-lime aesthetic of New York City subway ads. Perhaps the smartphone medium’s possibilities have all been found, but is a new technology truly needed to replace it? 

I find myself in a repetitive headspace on topics like these, and it brings me back to the importance of publications such as this one, and why we continue to do this. After our last issue (Fall 2021 / Winter 2022), Mána and I had considered ceasing our print publication, and moving online entirely, both to save money and to conserve our efforts. It now is clear to me that the print issue is more necessary than ever, as our repetitious digital habits become less individualized. 

I think of the beauty of graphic design; the possibilities of color, shape and texture that are possible through a print medium. These distinctions have yet to be translated into a digital form, though each year we inch closer. Magazines (including our own) who publish in print and digital are forced to templatize their articles in the digital form, while their artistic design freedoms still reign in print that a smaller readership enjoys. It’s clear that magazines in print are vital, as are publications that suspend time and space from the hyper-paced online spaces we read from. 

We are thrilled to present this sixth issue of The Documentarian “Lost and Found”, with numerous creative, memoir, and non-fiction entries. You will find an interwoven path of writing and photography that visualizes our lost moment in new ways. We hope you enjoy this issue, and thank you as always for supporting and participating in The Documentarian. 

-Telo