Water Journal #4
There is no text on Water Journal’s latest cover. It comprises a hazy photograph of figures running along a sandy beach without, it seems, a care in the world. It is the perfect anecdote for the rest of the magazine.
By way of its own explanation, Water Journal is a “quiet exploration of all things water and life.” It is a magazine for daydreaming and provides a momentary escape from the franticness of everyday life: when you read Water Journal it feels as if life slows down a little. Romantic and nostalgic photographs coupled with tender first-hand accounts have the remarkable effect of transporting the reader to the very scenes depicted and described on the pages laid before them.
Water Journal is a bi-annual magazine founded by 20-something, London-based Lithuania-born, Edvinas Bruzas. A print and digital designer, Bruzas has previously contributed to indie fashion titles Renaissance and Jungle, but Water is his first solo project. Aesthetically, the magazine has been thoughtfully approached – the matt pages have been arranged to allow a perfect ratio of white space to content (not cluttered, not sparse) and subtle design details are present throughout. While it tends towards these familiar traits of indie publishing, it still carves its own identity.
The magazine’s focus is photography and indulges readers with page upon page of bespoke imagery. There’s still life (Out West, top), a monochrome fashion shoot (Ebb of Tide, above), hazy landscapes (Scotland, below), hazy cityscapes (Given Name, also below), and a good helping of documentary photography (Octopus Fishing at Moraira, Spain, further below).
A likeable trait of the magazine is that each feature is not entirely necessary. While the articles are driven by curiosity, often informing its reader of a narrative or subject matter that they are unlikely to have come across before, they are not particularly time sensitive. Nor do they bear a huge importance to the wider world. This is somewhat refreshing. There’s no pressure to interpret or critique the magazine, it is just there to enjoy.
Water Journal is created in London. However, to its credit, the geographical diversity of both its contributors and subject matter makes the magazine’s grounding not entirely obvious. Articles within issue four transport you to Whiskeytown Lake in northwestern California, Costa da Morte in the Galicia region of Spain and take your on a journey across Scotland. By focusing on a subject that has such inherent ubiquity, Water Journal achieves both diversity and inclusivity almost by default.
Editor: Edvinas Bruzas