A year ago I thought we might be in Gallery’s twilight. With our 20th birthday in the rear view and 200th issue in production, it felt like we might be getting towards a bit of an impasse for print media. Much like streaming services’ obsession with Twilight at this time of year, it was all a bit dark and moody. Autumn 2024 felt like I was readying the silver bullets.
Twelve months later, and it’s a different situation altogether. 2025 has been a great year (so far), and we’ve had input from more contributors and featured more people in this year’s editions of Gallery than in any in recent times. A local magazine is always a bit of a compromise, and we cover a lot of discrepant and varied subject matter within our pages, but I do optimistically hope there’s something for everyone. Our tapestry of subject matter, and the fact that we have now witnessed a whole generation of Jersey go from birth to workplace, means that the island has, quite literally, grown with us.
Whilst our sections and features have remained constant in some respects, it’s you, the people, who have kept this platform relevant. The faces of Paparazzi have moved from the back pages to the front, the Gradu8s have become the senior decision makers, new artists have grown in skill, and the young rebels have become old(er) masters.
Our theme for this edition is Change. I beat myself up when we miss the target on theme. Sometimes the blend of commercial reality and whimsical feature planning leaves some of the original ideas in the notes app. What has made it through to the coming pages this month counts, nevertheless. Whether it’s Amelia changing her habits to review run clubs, Flo changing pace to experience sailing in Greece, or Emma’s creative writing giving way to deep-diving into wealth trends, everyone made a change. Plus, we have hundreds of you who’ve never been in Gallery before.
When considering how to introduce that fact, I googled quotes about change to justify the state of flux that is Gallery. I copied and pasted, “There is nothing permanent except change,” as inspiration. I’ve been writing this introduction for a long time, and whilst life and processes sometimes feel static, there’s nothing in this magazine you’ve ever seen before. I guess that’s what keeps it going. If you stay fresh, we should too.
BD
