The Exposed issue 2
Delivered to Stack subscribers in Jan 2017

by Grace Wang in January 2017

The Exposed is a print magazine that blends the offline with the online. Readers can download an app, which, through augmented reality, supplements the storytelling with audio and visual content. Without the app, the magazine exists as a standalone work of art, with fantastic photography printed on uncoated paper. Founder and editor-in-chief Henriette Kruse tells us more, including her vision for a contact lens-activated magazine experience.

Keep scrolling to find out more…

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What is The Exposed?
The Exposed is a magazine for photographic trajectories in the intersection of documentary and conceptual art photography. In collaboration with a growing list of emerging photographers we uncover narrow issues, reporting from the first sustainable city in the Abu Dhabi desert, visualising connections between beekeeping and science fiction and observing Earth’s moon-like landscapes from the northernmost sites of Iceland.

What makes it different to the rest?
The Exposed is different because it is accompanied by an iPhone app that recognises images inside the magazine. The printed pages are designed to visually intrigue you, while the app opens up a whole new editorial context. Through audio introductions and video elements the artist’s voice pulls you closer to their subjects and themes explored.

Who makes The Exposed?
The editorial team consists of Henriette Kruse, Cecilie Nellemann, Stefan Thorsteinsson, David Peñuela, Stephen Kelly and a close team of collaborators that flow in and out according to the needs of the publication.

Who reads it?
Our readers are those who care about a good story delivered with respect for both print and digital media. We represent the curious photographer, the critical journalist, the tech-sceptic designer as well as the tech-savvy computer scientist.

Why do you work in magazines?
The last couple of years we’ve seen media evolve rapidly with the entry of new technology. The templates for storytelling and publishing have gone from fixed to flexible and it has opened up new opportunities for publishers as well as artists. A journal can be written on paper, on a webpage, as a chatbot, it can be spoken through a podcast, performed through a video or experienced through virtual reality.

All these channels and many more have opened up a future where we constantly have to adapt and push the boundaries of the medium as well as the themes and stories explored. We are intrigued by this development and with The Exposed magazine we wish to experiment with and implement these new opportunities as a way to bring a small voice into a big and complex world.

Aside from the print magazine, what else are you involved in?
In June 2016 we launched a new project called Look & Listen. It’s an app based on the same principles as The Exposed but it’s an open platform for publishers, museums and other cultural institutions. After a lot of interest and request we saw a potential to provide this experience as a tool for the art world. It’s still in its beta version and we are developing it as a side project whenever we have interested collaborators. The vision is for it to be the bridge between the physical and digital and we are very interested in adding features such as live stream and 360 video.

What would you change about The Exposed if you could?
We strive to make better connections between the printed pages and the digital content. The hard part is not to develop the technology but to implement it in a way that enhances and enriches the story that you are reading.

Where do you see The Exposed in five years?
In five years The Exposed will be released with a lens that you apply to the surface of your eye. Inside the lens is a microchip that enables you to see what is behind the printed pages. All photographers will be aware of different realities; augmented, virtual and even the ones that transcend you through a live channel. In five years print will be more alive than ever.