Lodestars Anthology Japan

Introducing the latest addition to the Lodestars Anthology travelling family ... Japan! This issue has now sold out.

Journey to Japan and discover a land of tea and tropics, wabi-sabi and wonder. A place where symbolism abounds and nothing is without purpose. For here you’ll find an ancient and powerful landscape that has shaped history yet still dictates the rhythms of modern life. There are illuminated capitals and pockets of untouched wilderness, both marked by a deep sense of spirituality. Art flourishes, design inspires and others come first. May the light never dim on the Land of the Rising Sun.

None is travelling

Here along this way but I

This autumn evening

Matsuo Bashō

The Canada Magazine

This week the Canada issue of Lodestars Anthology - officially released in the UK on October 18 - will be avalible through our online store. So we thought we'd celebrate by sharing some of the wild and wonderful images and illustrations that fill the pages of issue 6. Thank you as always to our truly spectacular contributors - the world is indeed filled with some rather talented beings. You can order the magazine here.

About the magazine: Canada is a land where lakes glow, mountains soar and island life prevails. Wild, rugged and unfazed by time, luxury resides in unexpected corners, cities delight and outdoor adventure beckons, for nature is indeed all around. You yearn to explore, to get lost, to reconnect with a pristine beauty so hard to encounter in the modern world. The seasons astound - from frozen winters to summer’s never-setting sun - while waterfalls carve canyons, rivers become frozen highways and people smile, aware of their heritage and all that this land has gifted them. You’ll find snow and maple syrup, art and architecture and a landscape both inspiring and eternal. Greetings from the Great White North.

Some featured destinations:

Clayoquot Wilderness Resort Fogo Island Inn Vancouver Toronto Montreal The flavours of Canada Cosman & Webb maple syrup Left Field Brewery Canoe North Adventures The Yukon in winter Northwest Territories Nova Scotia Halifax Lobster Boil Ontario wines The Canadian Rockies Prince Edward Island Calgary The Canadian

Louise Nordström Pettersson

We had a chat with our issue 5 cover photographer Louise Nordström Pettersson about Sweden, light and the joys of spying the first buds of spring. You can see more of Louise's work on her Instagram page.

Why do you love taking photographs and when did you start?

I’ve always been creative and I loved to paint and draw when I was younger. But at the age of 14 I got my first camera and fell in love with photography. Photography means ”draw with light” in greek so I guess I let my eyes and camera draw for me instead of my hand and pencils. I just love to capture everything I find beautiful and show everyone what an amazing world we’re living in!

What do you enjoy taking photographs of in particular?

Nature. I grew up with the sea and forest just minutes away from my home and I think the nature is so amazing and beautiful. Especially sunrises, there is nothing as peaceful as being out in the forest an early summer morning, catching the first sunbeams through the trees with the camera in my hand.

Where are you from in Sweden?

I’m from a small village in Båstad county in the southern part of Sweden.

The subject of your photo essay in the new magazine is Swedish light - what makes the light in Sweden so special?

I think it’s special because the light is so different from season to season. It’s most extreme in the northern parts of Sweden where the sun never sets during summer and never rises during winter. And when the sun never rises we have the Northern Lights or aurora borealis which light up the skies instead. I love the variations and differences between the light of all seasons.

Do you have a favourite season?

I think summer is my favourite season, because it has the most beautiful sunrises and everything in nature is blooming. Everything feel so alive. Although, every spring, autumn and winter I think to myself ”this is my favourite season!” haha... Every season has its charm.

Do you have a favourite part of Sweden?

I fell completely in love with Björkliden in northern Sweden when I went there for the first time 7 years ago. The mountains, tundra and views are stunning and took my breath away. It’s just as beautiful in the summer as in the winter. But I will always love the peninsula, Bjärehalvön, in southern Sweden where I live and grew up. There is something special about this place and it’s where I shoot most of my photographs.

You've photographed quite a few flowers, what is it about them that you like so much?

I’ve always liked flowers, they are beautiful and they come in so many different shapes and colours. And when the first flowers bloom in the spring, you know it’s really spring. And when the meadows are full of all sorts of flowers, you know it’s summer. Flowers just bring so much happiness to me.

Lodestars Anthology - Italy

With our Italy issue set to arrive back from the printers next week, we thought it would be grand to a) give you a little sneak peak of what lies within the magazine and b) let you know where copies can be ordered.

For UK, EU and US shoppers (and for Australian's who are reluctant to wait an extra two months) you can order copies from:

Newsstand.co.uk or Magpile

For more patient Aussies and New Zealanders there is the subscription service offered by

Hard To Find.

Just click on the above names and you shall be taken straight to the relevant site.

Of course if you have any questions or are after back issues don't hesitate to get in touch be emailing info@lodestarsanthology.co.uk and we'll lend a helping hand.

Simon Bray

While travelling upon Lake Garda for the Italy issue of Lodestars Anthology (out later this month) we first noticed the photographs of Simon Bray, who just so happened to be snapping the same subject as us. Drawn to his beautiful use of light, and ability to make this perfectly popular corner of Italy seem amazingly calm, we had to ask a few questions about his work ... and Italy of course.

What do you love about photography?

I have a desire to create images and often I won’t be able to rest until I’ve taken them, so in that sense, each image serves it’s purpose in feeding that personal need; it’s a scratch that needs to be itched, very therapeutic. At the same time, I know that each image holds a varying level of potential. I love that an image can evoke something in a person, a response or an emotion, that will be so vastly different to what I, as the photographer, see, or what anybody else might see in it. We’re all made up of a combination of our own history, cultural influences, our social upbringing, the places that we’ve been and the people that we’ve met. That can mean that an image that I’ve taken may mean absolutely nothing to you, but there might be one image, for reasons known or unknown, that you connect with, that sparks something, a thought or memory, or that you just enjoy visually because of the colours, tones, composition or subject matter. Each image has that potential power.

I’ve also been thinking about imagery and timescales recently. Photography is a long game. I’ll often think about the fact that the images I take may well outlast me, and that as much value as there is in viewing them now, I hope that the generations that supersede me will find them interesting in many years to come.

Can you remember the first photograph you took?

Not as such, although the first time I got really excited about an image was a photograph I took of a hummingbird hawk-moth in the French Alps on holiday. I was probably in my early teens and using my first 35mm film camera. Getting the film developed and looking at the print, and seeing that I’d somehow managed to capture it’s motion and movement felt quite incredible.

What inspires your work?

I’d like to say that each location I work in acts as the pure influence for the images I create, but I know that’s not totally true. I’ll certainly feed off the elements before me, but there are so many subconscious factors behind the decisions I make, if I’ve seen a similar image before I’ll need to decide whether I want to embrace that and create it for myself, or try something different. I suppose everything I read about photography, and all the images that I take in will influence my sense of how to portray subject matter in both potentially helpful or unhelpful ways. To a greater extent, it’s the light that will inspire me. I won’t often stop to make a landscape picture except for the fact that the light is particularly interesting, and my discernment for that is certainly something that has developed over the past couple of years and something I’m trying to encourage.

How would you define your style?

One of the most significant factors is space. Living in a city, I’m constantly yearning for greater physical space, so once I’m somewhere that I feel that greater sense of freedom, I can’t help but let that come through in the images, which often manifests itself in the form of negative space using sky or water. I was discussing this recently with a friend, how I won’t be proactively making decisions about an image as I take it. Previously, I will have taken a lot more time to consider the image I want before I shoot it, perhaps for technical reasons, or just slow decision making, but now it seems to come far more naturally and I’ll work quite quickly. I think that’s how my personal style will be encouraged, simply through the practice of taking images, although I still feel I need to slow everything down a bit! I’m trying to develop my understanding of how to create more concise images that dig deeper, to avoid simple surface level imagery and I’m sure taking more time to consider each image will aid that.

Does travel influence your work in any way?

Absolutely. I live in central Manchester, which really doesn’t provide much to feed my desire to create landscape images, so it’s almost a necessity for me to travel. I really savour the opportunity to explore a new location with my camera. There’s an excitement that comes with visiting a certain place in a certain season and capturing it in it’s current state, knowing that other photographers will visit later in the day, week, month or years later and see it in a completely different way. Landscapes evolve and the light makes all the difference. I’m not usually able to return on multiple occasions, but in many ways it’s a privilege to preserve a place on any given day through my images, it forces me to work with the environment I’m in and create in the moment, avoiding any preconceptions of what I’d like to create, which can be distracting.

What makes Italy such an interesting subject?

It’s a popular holiday destination for a reason! The combination of the the incredible food, weather and variety of scenery make it such a special place for me. The area surrounding Lake Garda is an alpine wonderland. Exploring the mountains and lakes was such a privilege, so many breathtaking views, and even though it was warm, everything was washed in this amazing blue light, probably the moisture in the air, it made for some stunning scenes to photograph. I’d recommend visiting in the off seasons in order to appreciate the true sense of space without the crowds of tourists, because there are some stunning small towns and villages, where I could just sit and watch the world go by for days with a glass of wine and some fresh pasta!

Has there been a particularly memorable project either past or present?

I’m currently working on my first long-term project, a collaboration with a Manchester based artist called Tom Musgrove. We’re visiting a selection of the most stunning locations across the UK, and each creating a piece for each location, which we’ll be exhibiting side-by-side at a show in the autumn. It’s taken nearly 2 years already, and it’s been great to visit stunning places that are only a few hours away. Our most recent trip to Glen Coe in Scotland was just incredible, the scenery, the light, the people we met, the conversations it sparked, the whole experience was very memorable. I also get to watch my work evolve, which is very important, but the most influential element has been the development of my relationship with Tom, the opportunity to discuss the discourse of our work, our varying methods and explore the motivations behind each piece we create. Tom takes his time on each trip to sketch, which has really forced me to slow down and appreciate the changing elements and light within the landscape.

What is your dream subject?

I don’t know if I have one at the moment, maybe that will develop over time. For now, any scenic location that I have the chance to explore with my camera in my own time would be a dream come true! Every commission I receive or project that I set out to do furthers my work, it’s a fresh challenge that I want to fully embrace. I still feel like I’m defining my practice and as a result, my style or imagery, maybe one day that will feel more concrete, or maybe I’ll just keep trying new things!

A selection of Simon's landscape work is up at www.simonbray.co.uk and can also be spired on Instagram.

The Chaos Older Still

Rome-4to Rome

to Rome, la città aperta

The light here is ancient, the chaos older still— buzzing across the Appian Way, but one of the every that lead to the city eternal, suspended, you can hear her muffled roars, traces of a hungry mouth with frazzled mane a cracked throat craving aqueducts defunct, now long dry and thistle crowned. What could appear as more bereft than landscapes of rubble, marble stripped and sun burnt, awaiting still another ravaging? Yet therein is her secret held: there remains in these fabled ruins, bequeathed to us as though our coming had been foretold, a quivering palpable beneath the footfalls of our approach waiting to be given voice and body— for a city is never completed, only inherited.

Poem by David Warren Grunner and Photographs by Nic Rue.

to Rome

to Rome

to Rome

to Rome

to Rome

to Rome

to Rome

to Rome

Tom Bunning

We met Tom Bunning in a coffee shop in South London where he greeted us with coffee and a portfolio. Understandably, we fell instantly in love with his photographed world, made up of etherial landscapes that play with light and scale and intimate portraits that capture the sitter's soul in the most artful way possible. We just had to chat to him about what makes his work so easy to get completely lost within.

What do you love about photography?

Where to start. I think I love a photo’s ability to transport the viewer: be it back to a special memory; forward to a place they’d love to visit, or to give a glimpse into a person’s mind. But in less romantic terms, I’m basically a lazy painter. If I found that wielding a paintbrush gave me as much immediate pleasure as taking a photo does I’d probably be trying to do that now, probably rather badly. For me the greatest pleasure right now is to be able to earn a living doing something that I love. Fingers crossed that continues. I also really enjoy seeing other photographers’ work. I feel part of a community of like-minded souls, all of us trying to create something meaningful or beautiful or interesting, using photography to try to make sense of our world.

Can you remember the first photograph you took?

I don’t think I can remember the first photo I took, but I can definitely remember an early view that inspired me to take pictures. I grew up in a very small village in Suffolk, our home was surrounded by fields and the view from my bedroom window was of a giant oak tree set in the centre of a field. All year round I’d watch the colours of the landscape change and in the summer the old proud oak would stand tall in the centre of a bright yellow square of rapeseed flowers, the small window providing a perfectly framed photograph in my mind’s eye.

What inspires your work?

My inspirations have changed over the years I’ve been growing - both as a photographer and as a person. When I seriously started trying to take pictures for a living I was working at Abbey Road Music Studios (it sounds glamorous but I was mostly in a dark room QCing music videos!) so my early work was definitely inspired by rock and roll. I had several great years of shooting live gigs, taking portraits of musicians and touring with bands, interspersed with fashion work, which I think went hand-in-hand quite naturally. In recent years I think I’ve become earthier, more inspired by the natural world if you like, and I think this change in personal perspective has affected what I’m inspired to shoot professionally. One of my current projects is entitled Crafted and is a series of photos documenting and celebrating those in Britain who make the small, the hand-crafted and the individual. I’ve always been interested in England’s landscape and heritage and I suppose Crafted is an extension of this interest, focusing in closer on the personal aspect of our environment. On the flip-side, as my commercial work increasingly takes me further around the world, I’ve been enjoying capturing foreign landscapes.

How would you define your style?

I’m still developing as a photographer and my style will continue to change over the years but I like to think it’s honest, clean and simple. I don’t like to over-process or over-edit my shots and I always try to get what’s on the back of the camera as close to how I want it before it gets to the editing stage. Of course some clients know exactly what they’re after in terms of a feel or look of a shot and when that’s the case I think you have to find the balance between your personal style and their needs - always a challenge but a fantastic one. I recently had a great meeting with an agency and they described my work as having a ‘very gentle approach’ which was a lovely thing to hear.

Does travel influence your work in any way?

As I touched on above, it has done much more so recently. My commercial work over the last year or so has taken me around the world to all sorts of incredible places, from Seoul to Islay, from Vietnam to New York, Kuala Lumpur to LA, among others - although I should say that amidst all this excitement I’ve had many shoots in dirty parts of London to keep my feet on the ground! I think the thing about travelling for me is that as a full-time Londoner, living and working in the fast lane, being away gives me an opportunity to expand my view of the world and gives me time to see things I probably miss at home. Something that seems very ordinary to locals can look extraordinary through a foreigner’s eyes.

Has there been a particularly memorable project either past or present?

I would have to say my ‘Death Valley’ series from earlier this year, wonderfully displayed here by your good selves! One of my current gigs is working with David Beckham and his team for Haig Club Whisky which has been an absolute pleasure. In the grey depths of January I flew to the sunshine state for a promotional shoot for Haig. The shoot was only for the day but it would have been rude not to make the most of it so my assistant Danny and I stayed out there for a week, hired a car and took a road-trip from LA to Vegas via Death Valley where I spent several days shooting a series of landscapes. An absolute dream trip. The colours and expanse of the landscape out there were so rich and photogenic and I’m really pleased with the results.

What is your dream subject?

That’s a tricky one. In terms of humans I love photographing interesting faces, be they young, old or in-between. I’d love to turn my lens on someone like John Hurt or Morgan Freeman but equally so on a sheep-farmer or a dress-maker. Landscape-wise I have a real hankering to go to Iceland. I don’t have much experience of working with such a cold clear environment and, having recently invested in the new PhaseOne IQ250, I’d love to get out there with it and see what I can capture. My ultimate goal is to bring the two main aspects of my work closer together, working on location to take portraits of interesting subjects, set in interesting environments.

Where can we see more of your work?

I’ve recently had my new book made, by Cathy Robert at Delta Design who’s done a wonderful job, so I’m in the process of making appointments with agencies. Much of my recent work is showcased on my site at www.tombunning.com. I plan to exhibit the Crafted series next year in London so look out for that.

“You don't make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.” ― Ansel Adams

Saara Karppinen

Saara Karppinen

The best thing about launching a travel magazine about place and people is that you cross paths with some immensely talented individuals with passions for paint, the unexpected and the world. London-based Saara Karppinen is one such person. We fell in love with her whimsical creations, all of which have a dream-like element and a distinct fondness for colour and material, meaning she was the perfect illustrator for our Scotland edition. We had a chat with the creative lass about her work, training and the joys of travel.

Saara Karppinen

Can you tell us a little about your training and artistic background?

I studied illustration at Camberwell College of Arts, where I learnt that the most important thing is to enjoy your work, and to always keep experimenting. It seems like a simple lesson, but it can be easy to forget. During university I did a lot of printmaking, mostly stone lithography. Though I’m not working with these techniques at the moment, they helped me to learn a lot about colors, how to build texture, and most importantly, patience.

How would you define your style?

I think everyone has their own natural style, and there isn’t really a need to ‘name’ it as such. Of course there are influences, but what I mean is that I’d rather focus on doing the work then analyzing what I’m going to call it afterwards.

What inspires your work?

I listen to a lot of podcasts, like Lea Thau’s Strangers, which is basically people telling stories about their lives. I’m interested by stories about people, but in my work I like to focus on a single moment. When I work, I imagine I’m painting the scene from the middle of a story, where you won’t know the beginning or the end, but you can get a sense of an atmosphere. So often, I will invent a story to go along with what I’m painting.

What do you love about your job?

Sometimes I can watch Buffy in the background while I work.

5) There is a certain innocence to your work - is this intentional and where does this come from?

I would say this is intentionally unintentional. I paint by what I call ‘working backwards’, which is painting on acetate so that the final image is the reverse of what I am looking at when I paint. In a sense, I keep myself in the dark from the final image, so that there are qualities that I can’t control. Sometimes I paint really small so that when I blow up the image the proportions are slightly odd and you can see all the fine brushstrokes and scratches. I try and work in a way where I am constantly surprised and allow ‘accidents’ to happen. I want my work to feel playful and a bit dynamic, which I guess is a kind of innocence.

Does travel influence your work in any way?

I grew up in five different countries, so I think it would be hard to sort out the start of the influence of ‘travel’ in any tangible way, but I’m sure it’s there. I’m interested in the natural curiosity people have when they travel, that kind of gentle wondering around and appreciating everything in a different way than you would in your own neighborhood. I have a lot of paintings of people and dogs just wondering around, which I suppose captures a bit of this sense.

Has there been a project (past, present or future) that you’ve particularly enjoyed?

I wrote and illustrated a comic for a competition which was supposed to be on the theme of ‘polar night’, but I got a bit carried away and it ended up being about some kind of space purgatory with dogs and 80’s starlets. Needless to say, the competition didn’t go so well, but I had so much fun with it. I think it was the first time I really worked with a long narrative, and I couldn’t really contain my enthusiasm.

What advice do you have for aspiring illustrators?

I spent a whole year trying to figure out what I thought ‘illustration’ is, and trying to adapt my work to suit this - whatever you do, don’t do this! The most important thing is that you enjoy your work, then other people will too. There isn’t much point in making work that you think is boring, because it will be so boring. And you don’t want to get stuck doing that.

Saara Karppinen

Saara Karppinen

Saara Karppinen

Saara Karppinen

Saara Karppinen

Welcome to Lodestars Anthology

Welcome to Lodestars Anthology, a magazine for curious travellers who long to see, eat around, chat about and experience this big ol’ world of ours. Basically, we’re a magazine-meets-journal all about place, travel and exploration - one you’ll ideally like to keep atop a coffee table. Or filled with scribblings and safely stored in your suitcase.

We are independently published, distributed internationally and all set to explore the globe one country (or should that be one issue) at a time. With the first magazine due out in summer 2014 things are getting a little exciting around here.

So go on. Pack a bag, hit the road and get your discovery on.

Photo by Tommy Harrison.