Editors Letter as featured in Remedy magazine issue 8 ‘The Mad Hatter’
Sometimes I feel as though we do live in a bit of a wonderland, its full of inspiring natural beauty, you can’t help but want to discover more and understand as much as possible about it. But just like Alice’s wonderland our world is full of a lot of nonsense and mad hatters (I call them politicians), the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. As our technology grows and allows us to communicate to an international audience, our next generation are feeling lonelier then ever, and people are dying as a result of greed. I don’t need to go on, we are all aware about our planets problems, and in our own small or big ways we are all trying to change things. But where does this leave us creatives? What’s our role here? Yes we love what we do and admittedly probably get a little too obsessive about it, but soon come down to earth when we realise that when there is a real crisis no one will call out “ is there a fashion designer in the house… or photographer, or artist, or even an illustrator?”
The answer came to me a few years ago, I met the editor of a very famous fashion magazine. She boasted about the fact that children as young as 6 love looking at her magazine and want to be like the models they see, later she remarked that they used size zero models because clothes look better on them and made it clear that she couldn’t care less about the effect this may have on young girls. Here was a woman with an incredibly powerful and influential tool, I couldn’t help but question how far will we go for fashion or any other creative talent for that matter. When should we start taking responsibility for what we put out there. This is just one of the many experiences that inspired me to create Remedy. I decided to create a magazine to offer an alternative to the majority of magazines out there, one that focuses on actual talent and skills, not what size you are, or how much money you have, or what background you come from. As these are often the messages portrayed in media and often the things people use to cover up any real achievement. It takes hard work to have real talent, even people who are born with talent have to work hard to maintain and make it grow into something substantial. It’s far easier to knock others down in order to make you feel good, to hide behind looks, money, or thinking that your culture or education is better then someone else’s, then to really look at yourself and be proud of yourself.
‘Be the change you want see in the world’ this saying by the legendary Gandhi resonates in me. I quickly realised that rather then complaining about this world, just get up and do something about, even if you inspire just one other person, it’s worth it. Yes it is a drop in a vast ocean but the ripple effect is an incredible thing, didn’t trail blazers like Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nadine Gordimer, to name a few, start out just like you and me? Normal human beings, just trying to get on and understand this vast wonderland. Who knows what we are really capable of?
I wanted to create a magazine that promoted real talent, which would encourage others to be proud of their skills, if we feature a fashion shoot it’s not about telling people what to wear or how they should look. We focus on the talent and hard work behind the camera, the photographers, the fashion designers, the stylist etc. We especially celebrate people who take even small steps in insuring that they are ethically aware in their pursuit of creativity. I’m very honoured to have been able to do this, and hope that it shows that you can to. I’m very humbled by the feedback I get through emails or meeting people who love Remedy, and to hear it’s inspired more people then I could have ever imagined, to be proud and promote their talents, and to be a positive role models to the next generation. Thank you for the opportunity. Enjoy issue 8!
By Farhana, Editor of Remedy Magazine
Sometimes I feel as though we do live in a bit of a wonderland, its full of inspiring natural beauty, you can’t help but want to discover more and understand as much as possible about it. But just like Alice’s wonderland our world is full of a lot of nonsense and mad hatters (I call them politicians), the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. As our technology grows and allows us to communicate to an international audience, our next generation are feeling lonelier then ever, and people are dying as a result of greed. I don’t need to go on, we are all aware about our planets problems, and in our own small or big ways we are all trying to change things. But where does this leave us creatives? What’s our role here? Yes we love what we do and admittedly probably get a little too obsessive about it, but soon come down to earth when we realise that when there is a real crisis no one will call out “ is there a fashion designer in the house… or photographer, or artist, or even an illustrator?”
The answer came to me a few years ago, I met the editor of a very famous fashion magazine. She boasted about the fact that children as young as 6 love looking at her magazine and want to be like the models they see, later she remarked that they used size zero models because clothes look better on them and made it clear that she couldn’t care less about the effect this may have on young girls. Here was a woman with an incredibly powerful and influential tool, I couldn’t help but question how far will we go for fashion or any other creative talent for that matter. When should we start taking responsibility for what we put out there. This is just one of the many experiences that inspired me to create Remedy. I decided to create a magazine to offer an alternative to the majority of magazines out there, one that focuses on actual talent and skills, not what size you are, or how much money you have, or what background you come from. As these are often the messages portrayed in media and often the things people use to cover up any real achievement. It takes hard work to have real talent, even people who are born with talent have to work hard to maintain and make it grow into something substantial. It’s far easier to knock others down in order to make you feel good, to hide behind looks, money, or thinking that your culture or education is better then someone else’s, then to really look at yourself and be proud of yourself.
‘Be the change you want see in the world’ this saying by the legendary Gandhi resonates in me. I quickly realised that rather then complaining about this world, just get up and do something about, even if you inspire just one other person, it’s worth it. Yes it is a drop in a vast ocean but the ripple effect is an incredible thing, didn’t trail blazers like Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nadine Gordimer, to name a few, start out just like you and me? Normal human beings, just trying to get on and understand this vast wonderland. Who knows what we are really capable of?
I wanted to create a magazine that promoted real talent, which would encourage others to be proud of their skills, if we feature a fashion shoot it’s not about telling people what to wear or how they should look. We focus on the talent and hard work behind the camera, the photographers, the fashion designers, the stylist etc. We especially celebrate people who take even small steps in insuring that they are ethically aware in their pursuit of creativity. I’m very honoured to have been able to do this, and hope that it shows that you can to. I’m very humbled by the feedback I get through emails or meeting people who love Remedy, and to hear it’s inspired more people then I could have ever imagined, to be proud and promote their talents, and to be a positive role models to the next generation. Thank you for the opportunity. Enjoy issue 8!
By Farhana, Editor of Remedy Magazine
