Diplopia magazine

Diplopia is a medical term for seeing double (from Latin dipl- "double" and -opia - "vision"). Diplopia is not a disease, it’s an ability. To see something the others are not able to see. In the word around us and also in ourselves.

Diplopia is about duolism. A possibility to exist in many different entities, backgrounds and identities at the same time. It’s about flexibility and constant change, where every second brings opportunity for the new metamorphosis.
Finally, Diplopia is about choice. A freedom to be as many things and shapes as one only wishes to be. Once at a time and all at once.

Diplopia magazine is a project started in 2022 which explores an unstable, constantly changing human nature by texts and profiles about people from different countries and cultures. It’s a self-reflection about cultural nomads like myself, a Russian-born naturalized Norwegian living in London. It is about our place in the world, cultural identity and attachment.

Persona. Place. Position. Panache.

Issue nr.1 What does a man want?
under development

Diplopia 1. 0 is dedicated to men. As the female voice has been growing stronger in the last decades, we have slowly learned how to listen. But what about a man, are we able to hear his wisper? What motivates him, what scares him, and makes him stronger? What does it mean to be a man nowadays?

In this issue, Diplopia studies modern masculinity from different angles. From how men determine themselves to how they are being determined. By their job, their surroundings, and their space. This issue tries to understand how our gender defines us in general. And if it doesn’t, what is our definition?

In this very first Diplopia magazine, men of different professions from London to Saint-Petersburg reflect about manhood through the same topics (Persona). An interior designer and a florist, Maxim Languev, reveals his intimate workplace. Or, probably his workplace reveals his true self (Place)?

Panache section explores duality of fashion and the expert opinions about modern masculinity are meticulously gathered in Position.

Finally, every story has its context. The work on that issue began in 2022 when the world has been changing into a new unknown with us trying to search for the new purposes.

What started as a couple of short interviews with different men transformed into deep personal stories.

I am increadibly gratefull to all men who agreed to contribute to this issue: Maxim, Andrey, Sergey from Saint-Peterburg (Russia) and to Adam and Paul from London (UK).

It is essential to mention two other men without whom this magazine would not be possible - Viktor Balaguer and Rory Langdon-Down, two fantastic street photographers who worked on a visual part of that issue.

3 years later, life took its own course. The restaurant in Saint-Petersburg, where Andrey worked at a time of our interview, has been closed. And Paul, a war-photographer from London, tragically died in 2024. His interview, full of reflections about his career, his past and future got a new significance once the terrible news broke. My deepest condolences go to Paul’s family, his colleagues and friends.

My functions:

Concept - Editing - Production - Art direction.

Photographer:
Viktor Balaguer @viktor_balaguer.
Rory Langdon-Down @rorylangdondown.

Cover photo: Viktor Balaguer.

Insights into Diplopia, Issue nr. 1:

Andrey