Soko Magazine

Found Soko Magazine online a few years back—a Buenos Aires digital publication with photography worth actually looking at. The second issue had Elly Jackson from La Roux just existing on the page in that way she does, like smiling would be beneath her. Nirrimi Joy Hakanson’s photographs, all natural light, no studio setup needed. Work from Jonathan Leder, Manolo Campion, other photographers with actual taste.

There was this whole ecosystem of digital magazines around then. No printing costs, no distribution headaches. You made a PDF and people found it if they gave a shit. It meant magazines could take more risks, focus on the work instead of the logistics.

I got into browsing PDF Mags for a while, whatever new magazines showed up. Most of it was students making vanity projects. But some of it stuck. The Vice Guide to Berlin was one I kept around for years—funny, practical, written by people who actually lived there.

Lost track of all that eventually. But I remember Soko mattering when I found it. That’s the thing about magazines sometimes—not whether you keep coming back to them, just that they mattered when you needed them.