WHY I STARTED JUKE
Photography, Interviews, and Independent Media
Juke started as an idea I couldn’t really explain at first. It wasn’t meant to be a brand, and it definitely wasn’t supposed to turn into a website. It was more of a feeling I kept coming back to for several years. The idea that a lot of the work I like the most lives somewhere between photography, design, music, skating, and whatever else happens to get mixed in along the way. None of it fits cleanly into one category, and most of the time the best stuff comes from people who aren’t trying to fit into one either.
For a long time I was shooting photos for other people, other projects, other companies, and that’s something I still enjoy. After a while it starts to feel like everything you make belongs to something else. Juke came from wanting a place where the work could exist on its own without needing to be tied to a client, a campaign, or a deadline that had nothing to do with the original idea.
The name itself comes from the idea of a juke move: changing direction fast, doing something unexpected, not following the line that looks obvious. That’s how most of the people I respect seem to work. They don’t stay in one lane. One day they’re shooting photos, the next day they’re building something, starting a band, printing shirts, filming a video, or opening a shop. None of it feels planned in the traditional sense, but it all makes sense when you see the bigger picture.
Juke is meant to live in that space.
Instead of focusing on one type of content, the goal is to document the process behind what people make. Not just the finished product, but the way they think, the things they carry with them every day, the places they work, and the ideas that keep showing up over and over in their lives. A lot of the interviews and features here will be with photographers, artists, skaters, musicians, or anyone else who builds their own path without waiting for permission to do it.
I’ve always liked magazines that felt personal but still intentional. Publications where the writing sounded like a real person, but the layout, photos, and pacing still felt considered. That’s the direction I want this to go. Something that feels independent, a little rough around the edges, but still put together with care.
Another reason for starting this was honestly just to make myself shoot more. When you’re working on assignments all the time, it’s easy to stop making things unless there’s a reason. Having a project like this forces you to keep going out, meeting people, asking questions, taking photos, and putting something together even when no one told you to.
The interviews on here aren’t meant to be formal. Most of the time they start the same way conversations usually do, by talking about what someone is working on, what they’re into lately, or what they would be doing if they weren’t doing the thing everyone knows them for. Sometimes that leads to talking about gear, sometimes it turns into stories about growing up, jobs people had before this, or ideas they haven’t figured out yet.
That’s the part I like the most.
Juke isn’t supposed to be perfect, and it’s not supposed to follow one format forever. The whole point is that it can move, change, and go in different directions depending on who’s involved and what feels interesting at the time.
If anything, the goal is simple: keep making things, keep documenting them, and keep the door open for whatever comes next.
-MS