Cover of Blink, Issue 3
(SOURCE: blinkreflex.com)
In an age when print publication is in decline, magazines continue to offer some of the most interesting content out there. Whether they’re weekly, monthly or seasonal, magazines give us useful information and enjoyment all throughout the year. A unique one you may not be familiar with is Blink.
Blink is a magazine that features the latest exhibitions of artists in the international spotlight. Therefore, it consists of photographs by artists and short interviews with them. Because the magazine aims to show cutting-edge photography, it will look a little strange to the casual reader at first. In the process of reading the whole magazine, however, we will be able to empathize with the artists’ thoughts, feelings, and sense of aesthetics. You will find that reading an issue of Blink is like visiting an art gallery!
Despite its high production values, Blink is an independent publication. Kim A-ram, the chief editor of Blink, chooses all the photographers, interviews them, writes the articles, edits the magazine, and even promotes it alone. Because the magazine doesn’t have any sponsors, readers won’t find disruptive advertisements like the kind we see in most publications. According to interviews with Kim on Blink’s website, she decided to make her own magazine after suffering the tedium of working at other Korean magazines for many years. “Other magazines are thrown out after reading,” she says. “Blink, however, is like a small gallery. With this magazine, you can enjoy artists’ work all the time.”
Just like when you go to an art gallery, reading Blink might be difficult and awkward the first time. Simply look at the photographs and feel them. Read the stories of the photographers and try to see the world through their eyes. That is the only way to read Blink.