DOCU Magazine: A Great Option for Documentary Photographers
I first came across DOCU Magazine in 2023, when I was featured in one of its digital editions. It was really interesting to see some of my work published in Volume 21 of its DOCU Books. Since then, it was always an interesting to look at some of the videos they posted on their social media about people getting their Special Editions.
The copies of DOCU Magazine Special Edition featuring my work.|Credit: Reynaldo Cruz Diaz
That prompted me to contact Tuomas Koskialho, founder of DOCU Magazine, to have some of my work featured there. Upon answering me, they checked on my Instagram account to look at my work as a documentary photographer.
After a couple of days, Tuomas contacted me and told me to select a group of photos and additional information like the title of my series and a small excerpt with part of my story and the story of the photos.
The process was a lot different from the one for the DOCU Book. My former interaction with them was simply an interview, with a small group of photos, and I was going to be featured alongside other photographers. The ebook had 427 pages, featuring a lot of photographers in alphabetical order, whereas the magazine, featuring my work alone, has 20 pages.
I focused only on some documentary photographs from my life in Cuba. I included many that have been posted online, either on Instagram, iStock, or this very website.
The amount of pages for the special editions is something I would potentially change, maybe adding ten more. However, this would also increase the price in production and printing, thus making it more expensive for prospective buyers.
The main idea is for DOCU Magazine to be able to sell at least 20 copies, which seems possible given the interest of people on Cuban photography. The price is pretty affordable (€15), and I ended up choosing to buy five of them, and then probably buy five more later on. It is definitely way cheaper than buying a copy of my Unfiltered Cuba book, which is a blueprint for a much bigger project that I intend to pursue in the future—and that is already being worked on.
Many photographers have used their DOCU Magazine editions as a calling card, sometimes selling signed copies away for more money to have their investments returned. Some friends have already contacted me to purchase copies directly from the website, which will help both me and DOCU Labs.
DOCU Magazine lies on the philosophy that “Print is not dead.” This means that apart from promoting the work of photographers all over the world, the magazine also promotes the use and value of prints to market compelling documentary images.
If you are a street photographer and have a body of work with over 50 photos that you are proud of, it would be a good idea to contact Tuomas at DOCU Magazine and try to get a special edition. Although my immediate goal is for 20 of them to be sold, I expect that more people will be interested.
You can click on this link to purchase your copy.
