Tar Magazine Premiere Issue

There is something unintentionally ironic about new magazine Tar running an article on overcrowding in its premiere issue. If there is one thing not needed at the moment, it's another magazine that promises a new wave, and burns itself out within a few issues.

Good thing Tar, despite its borderline cringeworthy mission statement ('tar' is an anagram of art, the distillation of organic matter, sticky stuff we pave roads and secure roots with - a foundation) has a few signs of longevity.

There seems to be a reputable publishing company at work behind it, and the inclusion of higher profile features, such as the main spotlight and interview with Benicio Del Toro gives it a certain seal of quality and scope.

That said, I hope that much like bed-fellow Tank, Tar manages to maintain quality of content, and hasn't peaked straight out the gate by using too much of its target content straight away, which reads like a dream list. However, given that it's a bi-annual we can hope this isn't the case.

Features include:

Matthew Barney, David Cronenberg, Andreas Gursky, Ryan McGinley, Terry Richardson, Naomi Wolf.

Trent Parke Profile In Tank Magazine

Trent Parke is the only Australian to have been represented by the revered Magnum photo agency. In their 10th Anniversary Edition, which has been a long time coming and worth every penny, Tank Magazine pay homage to this master of atmosphere.

Parke's most stunning photos happen in black and white, where he masterfully uses intensely bright weather to draw out dark atmosphere in his compositions among other brilliantly effective techniques. A selection of his work can be found here, some personal favourites being the ones below (taken from his Seventh Wave book), and one that turns a day on the beach into an Independence Day apocalypse. It's well worth purchasing Tank just to see the photos on paper if for nothing else.