ONE BILLION ISO is an independent, grassroots magazine dedicated to contemporary photography and the emotional force of visual culture. Founded in Poland, the publication operates as a curated space for dialogue between image and thought, intuition and critique, art and society.

The magazine’s editorial vision is rooted in the belief that photography is not neutral. It shapes what we feel, what we fear, and what we desire. ONE BILLION ISO focuses on photography as an active cultural and political force, capable of generating discomfort, beauty, disruption, and insight.

Rejecting the disposability of digital content, the magazine affirms the value of print. Each issue is designed as an object—meant to be touched, held, and returned to. Through its physical form, the publication reclaims time and attention, inviting readers into a more intimate relationship with the photographic image. ONE BILLION ISO is not a passive archive but an evolving commons, where visual art intersects with literature, theory, memory, and resistance.

ISSUE #1 — ON EMOTIONS

The debut issue investigates the emotional dimensions of photography. Titled On Emotions, the issue explores how images provoke feeling, and how that feeling becomes a site of resistance, ritual, and repair. Whether documenting war and exile, exploring the interiority of queer identity, or staging personal mythologies, the artists in this issue demonstrate how emotion lives within and beyond the frame.

FEATURED ARTISTS & PROJECTS

• Marcin Kruk — No Tears Left to Cry
  A long-term documentary project on the war in Ukraine and its emotional impact on civilians.
• Vincent Wechselberger — READY
  A portrait series exploring the vulnerability, pride, and agency of queer sex workers across six global cities.
• Emiliano Gori — Visual Diary (Portfolio)
  A portfolio of diaristic photographs capturing the ambiguity and poetry of everyday life.
• Allan Salas — The Rooted Heart Began to Change
  A visual meditation on death, decay, and the self’s dissolution into nature.
• Anna Guseva — Let the Wolf Howl in the Night
  A performative series navigating alienation and belonging through archetype and self-mythology.
• Synchrodogs — Innerland
  A surreal, staged-documentary portrait series of creatives examining the psyche as environment.
• Dita Pepe — On Dogs
  A gentle reflection on family, emotional companionship, and the passing of time.
• Yorgos Yatromanolakis — The Splitting of the Chrysalis and the Slow Unfolding of the Wings
  A photographic allegory of transformation and the liminal state between trauma and healing.
• Michal Konrad — Upper Silesia (Portfolio)
  A visual self-exploration embedded in industrial landscapes and psychological tension.
• Ewelina Bialoszewska — Hall of Fame
  A documentary series on community, solidarity, and emotional resilience inside a Munich boxing club.

TEXT CONTRIBUTORS

The issue opens with a programmatic text by Tomasz Kudaszewicz and essay by Katerina Kouzmitcheva, positioning emotion as a contested and generative force in photography. Julia Stachura contributes a wide-ranging essay on the historical framing of emotions in photographic practice, from 19th-century medical portraiture to contemporary feminist reclamation. Olga Bubich presents photobook criticism that reflects on absence, hope, and the afterlife of images, with reviews of projects by Helena Melikov and Anna Bedyńska.

PUBLICATION DETAILS

Issue Title: On Emotions
Language: English
Pages: 152
Edition: 280 copies
Format: Softcover
Paper: Munken Polar Rough 120g/m²

Editorial team: Katerina Kouzmitcheva, Tomasz Kudaszewicz
Design: Kaja Gliwa
Proofreading: Joanna Osiewicz-Lorenzutti
Printed in Poland by Know-How
Release: Spring 2025
Next issue: October 2025
Published by TOM-POL Tomasz Kudaszewicz