[Public Knowledge] 'Hotshoe' - To Be Young Issue 213. (2025)

In this issue we tap into nostalgia for youth with the theme To Be Young, which encompasses something different for each of us. For some, it will be childhood, for others their teenage years, but we all feel that intangible pull to the past, whether we had an innocent or a traumatic upbringing. The longing can be triggered by a song or a smell or a photograph. We have contributions from eighteen different photographers, as well as a special Crude Metaphors featuring the work of Jason Lazarus who juxtaposes images with answers to the question, ‘Who introduced you to the band NIRVANA?’ Don’t miss the book reviews in this issue, they are some of the best photobooks I’ve seen this year. Bryan Schutmaat’s Sons of the Living is a masterclass in bookmaking and Chris Donovan tells a very timely story of Saint John, New Brunswick in Canada where one billionaire family owns, well, almost everything. Lots of Lots by Jason Fulford is very clever and Pia-Paulina Guilmoth’s Flowers Drink the River, ethereal and poetic.