When we spoke with Jack Sunnucks, the 23-year-old was just two weeks out of Central Saint Martins and spending some time lying horizontal on a beach in Spain. He was resting up before starting his new job as editorial assistant at London-based fashion magazine 10 — after spending a solid six months dedicated to his senior project, his very own magazine titled (appropriately enough) Jack’s Magazine. The seven-by-ten-inch journal, all shot and written by Sunnucks, is sort of a cross between a diary and a scrapbook, featuring “women who inspire me by dedicating their time to things they love,” as he puts it. The first issue features Anna Sui, Louise Gray, and Sophia Neophitou, among others, and is stocked at Dover Street Market in London, Collette and Kenzo in Paris, and VPL in New York City. (Pretty impressive for a project completed with only the help of an art design friend, Carla Valdivia.)
At CSM, Sunnucks studied journalism, but spent plenty of time exploring his love of film photography; he even worked as an intern for Juergen Teller. ”I sent him this letter being like, ‘My photos are crap but I make really good cups of tea,’” says the London native with a laugh. The overall aesthetic of his magazine has a sort of casual snapshot feel. “I basically am very happy with my Polaroid camera,” he says. “The magazine is kind of my love letter to film.” Next year, Sunnucks plans to publish another issue, this time inspired by men. “I know it sounds stupid, but I just didn’t know what to do with men this year,” he explains. Click through our slideshow for a glimpse of Jack’s Magazine, plus hear more from our interview with the editor.
On the idea behind his magazine:
“I knew from the beginning I wanted it to be about women I admired. But not by putting them on a pedestal in an Über-gay oh women are fabulous way … And I wanted it to be Jack’s Magazine because it’s basically all about me, I guess. That sounds completely awful, doesn’t it?”
On his aesthetic:
“I’d say it’s colorful, clean, and fun, without being ridiculous. You can probably tell I’m not much of a high-fashion goth. … It’s kind of summed up by that picture of Hanna [Hanra] in the magazine, where it’s bright yellow and she’s sticking her tongue out. Playful!”
On selling the magazine:
“I had some savings prior to this and now I don’t. Let’s just put it like that. But I pay for quality — it’s something that’s really, really important to me. I don’t want it to look cheap. I want it to look like a beautiful little journal. It was a really small run — like 1,000 copies. Most of which are gone, which is nice.”
On shooting film:
“I basically am very happy with my Polaroid. I look at it like, this is what I’m good at and I shouldn’t worry about doing some fabulous digitally manipulated spread. This is kind of my love letter to film.”
On digital vs. print publications:
“I think there’s a lot of power in a book — a physical thing. To do something really special online for me would take another six months to brainstorm.”
On interning for Juergen Teller:
“Juergen shot this big, naked story of Kristen Mcmenamy for 032c magazine. Like, she’s really naked. Beyond naked. We had about 300 rolls of film, and I would cut out the contacts and label them. He’d edit what he wanted with a little pencil. I spent more than a week cutting out minuscule pictures of Kristen Mcmenamy naked. And I’d say that was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life.”
On his favorite magazines:
“I love Vestoj, the fashion theory magazine. It’s really intelligent, and it doesn’t bore your tits off, which is nice. I’d probably also say Vanity Fair for when you want to read writing, which happens sometimes.”