Negative Feedback #1 is the first irl magazine from George Muncey and the Negative Feedback team.
With short photo essays from Damien Maloney, Liam Stock, Laurence Watts, and Tim Palman, and single images from nearly 20 contributors, Negative Feedback is an excellent collection of contemporary photography in the Alec Soth vein, with a heavy dose of disconnection and alienation mixed in. The trademark peachy pink disarms and sorta makes the whole thing.
https://youtu.be/fOK5cW8fzHg
In “Sunday El Rancho,” Damien Maloney tries to understand and find some connection with his father and how the man lives. “Americana” is an excerpt from Liam Stock‘s (apparently) ongoing series of the same name, and forms a sort of visual diary from a 4 month stint working in a wealthy Massachusetts town, where everyone appears wealthy and relatively carefree. Laurence Watts spent 10 days in a small town in New South Wales, Australia, for “Notes From A Country Town,” and it looks to me like New South Wales looks quite a bit like massive swaths of rural US areas, though I may be mistaken. Tim Palman recently moved to Wellard, Australia (a suburb south of Perth) and documented his discomfort with the “gated estate” in “Wellard.”
The different series all work internally, and come to something more together—the alienation and disconnection mentioned above—especially when you add in pictures from “The Pool,” where small groups of 1-4 pictures from Sean Murgatroyd, Aria Shahrokshahi, Luis Bryant, Katharina Possart, Lauren Brown, Dan Harris, Dimitri Berenger, Harrison Clarke, atdenn, Clark Hathaway, Holy Farndell, Harry Hitchens, Natalie Asumeng, Trey Piepmeier, Alexander Denning, Josh Phillips, Andrew Janjigian, Louis Bryant, Daniel Martin, and Geoff G. Money. These add a bit of teenage-and twentysomething wildlife, but are mostly also images of distance and separation, with some navel-gazing thrown in for good measure.
If I’m being honest, I would’ve preferred all series or all pool, rather than the mix, but it works ok. The printing quality is excellent and the book feels good in hand.
| Concept | |
| Content | |
| Design |
Overall, Negative Feedback #1 is a solid 3.5.
Negative Feedback #1 is sold out, so stay tuned for #2. I, for one, am excited to see what George Muncey and team come up with next.
