Out now: Victory Journal #8
Due to Printout commitments – more of which later – I missed last night’s Chelsea-Liverpool semi-final match. But what better way to mark the win than the new edition of Victory Journal with its cover shot of a grounded Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli?
‘The Squad’ – NFL cheerleaders shot by Abbey Drucker.
‘Knees and Elbows’ – Muay Thai boxers shot by Steven Counts.
‘Mersey Sides’ – the intense rivalry of Liverpool’s two sets of football fans, shot by Nils Ericson.
Flo-Jo’s Seoul Olympics medal haul, shot by Henry Leutwyler and represented larger-than-life on the huge pages.
There’s space for illustration too – Le Roy Nieman’s sketches of sportsmen (the Spasky–Fischer chess duels above) are rehabilitated.
I’ve followed this large-format sports photography mag since launch, and it just gets better and better; it’s a magazine that appeals even to people who usually resist sport. Instead of fan-worship via facts and stats, it celebrates the iconography of sport and its associated worlds. And the format makes great use of the photography, most of which is new work but also includes some archive material. Victory Journal is a magazine that matches content and form perfectly; and their website is well worth a look too.