The provocative photography zine celebrating loose living
- Text by Niall Flynn
- Photography by Tom Woodroffe, Caitlin Quigley (main image)
What does it mean to be loose in 2018?
For Joe Goicoechea, Charlie Warcup and Sam Hamer, the founders of the eponymous zine, it’s about “having a belter on Wednesday night” and seeing what happens after that. That’s pretty much as deep as it gets.
Having formed in the summer 2016 after too many “cheap red wines”, Loose began as declaration of independence. The three friends – all working creative jobs in the advertising industry and yearning for a project in which they had full creative control – launched the zine as an all-encompassing space for art, photography and general free-spirited misbehaviour.
“Anyone and everyone can be a part of it,” they tell Huck. “We don’t care if you’re an international artist or a complete unknown, we like slamming those two worlds together and making it as inclusive as possible. If the work is lush, we’ll put it in the book.”
In April 2017 the trio shared their first issue, inviting contributors to submit work in in whatever medium they wanted. The brief, naturally, was straight to the point: ‘Loose’.
For their second instalment, they’ve kicked on with more of the same. Having continued with the same one-word mandate when it came to submissions, the collective invited various different interpretations of the titular term: the looser, the better.
Loose Issue Two features work from a plethora of artists – including Epicly Later’d creator Patrick O’Dell, Sex Skateboards founder Louis Slater, London-based painter Daisy Parris and Doomed Gallery’s Matt Martin – curated together in a roguish, A5 package. On Wednesday 21st February, they’re having a party at Brick Lane’s 5th Base Gallery to launch it.
For the three founders, the second they begin to overthink the project, the second it ceases to be. The zine – a mischievous smattering of art and photography that zips from candid to confrontational – is a celebration of making it up as you go along. Anything else is just a bonus.
“We’re absolutely winging it – and we’re having a fucking good time. That was the plan when we first set Loose up, so the less we know going forward, the better.”
Join Loose for their Issue Two Launch Party on Wednesday 21 February, 2018.
Enjoyed this article? Like Huck on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
Latest on Huck
The Blessed Madonna: “Dance music flourishes in times of difficulty”
The DJ talks about her debut album ‘Godspeed’, connection and resistance on the dance floor, the US election and more alongside exclusive pictures from her album release party.
Written by: Ben Smoke
Revisiting the birth of skate culture in 1970s Los Angeles
New photobook ‘Last Days of Summer: California Skateboarding Archive 1975–1978’ looks back at an iconic chapter of youth culture.
Written by: Miss Rosen
An unnerving portrait of the USA’s fractured society
A new photobook explores America’s increasing inequality, division and toxic culture wars in a historic election year.
Written by: Isaac Muk
“Music can save you for a day”: Touché Amoré on social media and subcultures
To celebrate a new album and reflect on a decade and a half of being themselves, frontman Jeremy Bolm chats about opening up via lyrics, subcultures in the internet age, and the hardcore re-revival.
Written by: Isaac Muk
Meet the Paratriathlete who cheated death twice
A near fatal training crash ruined British Paralympian George Peasgood’s Paris 2024 plans. As he recovers, his life and outlook are changing – will LA 2028 be part of his future?
Written by: Sheridan Wilbur
A glimpse of life for women in Afghanistan under Taliban rule
‘NO WOMAN’S LAND’ has been awarded the prestigious 14th Carmignac Photojournalism Award and will be exhibited at the Réfectoire des Cordelieres in Paris this autumn.
Written by: Isaac Muk