Victory Journal #13
Brooklyn-based sports mag Victory Journal continues to go from strength to strength. Building on its core idea of great sports photography and writing, it is unique in its interest in every and any sport, from the most popular to the most obscure.
This issue includes Nepalese archery, cycling and checkers. There’s also a wonderful archive piece, a series of portraits of seventies English footballers at home.
Its other great attribute is its scale. The super-sized 277 x 418mm pages are a mixed blessing: fabulous when you have a copy in front of you, yet really awkward to distribute. But the Victory team have stuck to their decision to go big and should be congratulated on resisting downsizing.
This week’s page 23 is from the brand new 13th issue and features a typically in-your-face blow up of an action shot. This is where the page size counts – where else can you see such large images printed? – as the final image in Jessica Frankl’s set about athletics training shows young athletes hugging each other. The intensity of the preceding, less abstract pages comes to a stuttering halt with a close up of muscle, straps, sponsor logos and hands whitened by grip powder.
Creative directors: Aaron Amaro, Christopher Isenberg, Kimou Meyer
Editor: Christopher Isenberg
Art director: Aaron Amaro
Photo editor: Shane Lee Lyons