In today's world of immediacy, algorithms, and burnout, it's all too easy for otherwise meaningful photography and articles to simply disappear into the never-ending sea of content. Attempting to press pause on this digital media intake cycle with a slower medium is DAYBREAK, a new biannual print publication founded by Midwest-based designer and photographer Tommy Moore.
Positioned at the intersection of the creative and outdoor worlds, DAYBREAK's glossy pages are filled with photographs and stories highlighting musicians, painters, the occasional surfboard shaper, and so much more.
"The general idea behind it all is trying to take the gritty content of your standard adventure magazine and then juxtapose [it with] the airiness and simplicity of the museum-grade art book," Moore tells us. The combination begets a truth and stillness only carefully crafted print visual media can provide.
After years of dreaming with friends and colleagues about creating a book, Moore shifted focus to a magazine project, launching DAYBREAK in February 2020. The pandemic, which stunted so many artistic endeavors, ended up being just the thing to give Moore the time he needed to fully dive in. Curating and designing a magazine filled with others' personal stories (punctuated by occasional original work by Moore himself) comes with the responsibility of doing it right. In DAYBREAK, a magazine by and for creatives, Moore just wants to help people tell stories in the most legible way possible.
Throughout his years spent outside, from shooting branded work in Iceland to sleeping on Michigan's beaches, Moore noticed a trend across the outdoor photography scene: the images that we care about most tend to appear when we least expect. For DAYBREAK's third issue, called "Faded Film" and now available for pre-order, that means pages of grainy analog moments documented with point-and-shoot cameras. The issue's theme seeks to conjure memories of nightly summer bonfires, bleached and sandy hair, and the nostalgia only a film photo—even a bad one—can inspire.
"Saying it's meant to be timeless feels douchey, but it's meant to feel that way in the sense that nothing is specific to a certain moment," Moore says. "The goal is if somebody reads these stories in 20 years, it's as relevant then as it is now."
Following the first two volumes ("Water," published in September 2020 and "Strong Coffee," published in April 2021), the 200-page "Faded Film" is now available for pre-order.
Among others, the latest volume features work and words from Montana photographer Mak Crist, Portugal-based watercolor painter Johny Vieira, Indigenous film photographer and Field Mag contributor Judianne Thomson, the American folk duo Jamestown Revival, and outdoor storyteller Ben Moon.
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Published 03-29-2022
