We love a good zine here at Wonderland. There’s something about the raw, DIY-aesthetic that transports us to another plane and gets us super-creatively hyped. So, this afternoon sees us kick off a new feature, dedicated to the art of zines. Today’s pick is Period., founded by Lena Modigh, who has been making zines for a few years now. She’s a pro at finding fascinating friends to contribute, interesting ways of lensing concepts, and, she promotes a wonderfully collaborative ethic to boot. Period. is just about everything a girl could want from a zine, it’s feminist, celebrates incredible females and explores taboo subjects not often discussed in print publications. It’s a dream to connect with, and makes you feel how wonderful it is to be a girl. Today we have a bumper introduction into the world of Period. zine, with an exclusively curated playlist by the team, incredible GIFs giving you a sneak peek inside the issue and an interview with Lena. Welcome to the world of Period.

Why did you decide to make Period.?

I did a zine/magazine called Animae together with Matt Ryalls. We met in London a few years ago. It was a great learning curve, we didn’t know anything when we started. In issue three we featured unpublished images by Steven Meisel and got an amazing response, so we decided to take a break from it for a while whilst on a high! I still wanted to do something printed… and Matt promised to help me with the design. He has a wicked sense of humour, which I love. I just love printed stuff. And especially zines and nicely printed magazines. So I wanted to do something printed, mixing writing, photography and illustrations. Since I can remember I’ve always loved paper, cutting and glueing pictures on paper. I used to rewrite recipes on an old typewriter, cutting them out and fitting them around pictures of food and then glueing them back on.

I saw this model Ia and just fell in love with her and the way she looks. I had no idea that she was also an amazing artist. And then I thought I wanted the first issue of Period. to be about women.

What was lacking in the magazine/zine world that you thought you needed to fill with Period.?

There are so many magazines around at the moment. It’s great that it’s so easy to publish and distribute now, and there is room for everyone but everything feels very polished. I love a magazine that feels a bit wrong. I can’t identify with most of the glossy magazines at the moment, and I love when you mix high and low together or what is considered intellectual and non-intellectual. When things aren’t too perfect. A bit on the edge.  Also I really like it when you can give people a chance to do something. Everyone I contacted to collaborate on this has been really positive.

Tell us a bit about what to expect from the Zine? 

I’m not sure. I’d like people to find out about it, buy it and like it a lot. I think it’s always going to focus on female experiences in some way. There’s not enough of that around right now. The next issue I’d like to work with even more contributors. I have a whole long list of people I would love to work with. I realise that the market is full of beautiful magazines, but I hope people will be able to connect with the stories, the humour and its honesty.

Who have you collaborated with on it? How has the creative process worked as a team?

I contacted friends and people that I had met in the past or kind of followed from a distance. People I thought were intriguing. It started with Ia, and then I thought about photographing different women at different ages. But then I didn’t want the zine to be all about me. I met Erika Wall when I was an assistant in London, and knew she was taking pictures. She wanted to do something with Anna Kleberg, and it felt right.  I met Jaana here in Stockholm via a gallery that she used to work at. I contacted Nina Andersson, as I’ve followed her work, even though we both live in Stockholm, we’ve never met. I love her work, because it’s so different from mine. Kristina is my favourite cousin and she’s an amazing writer. Ani Eloyan contacted me and Matt in the past when we were doing Animae. I really like her drawings and her mind. Paola is an old friend and her drawings are very funny. The process was really easy. I just told everyone what the theme was, sisterhood, girlhood, womanhood, and then just gave them total freedom to do what they wanted. I’d really like to carry that on in the next issues and have a very open approach to contributors and how they want to work.

What has been your vision or motto whilst making it?

Sisterhood!

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