POUPI WHOOPY
by Clark Rayburn / Images courtesy Poupi Whoopy
There is definitely something new in the air when it comes to erotic photography, yet somehow it’s been a bit hard to define. We’ve been thinking about this quite a bit over here at ANPQ. We’re constantly doing research, looking at all these new approaches and trying to define exactly what it all means. It was during one of these searches that we came across Poupi Whoopy magazine from Belgium. The publication is really like no other we’ve seen. Entirely handmade and combining multiple printing techniques in one publication, we really thought it was something to be celebrated. We got a chance to speak with the editors and to learn a bit more about how this particular collaboration came to be. ANP: Who are the main editors of your magazine? Jan Lemaire: I’m a photographer and printer. I created the magazine with my then-girlfriend, Sky van der Hoek, who does wonders with hairdos and is also a professional make-up artist. Ulrike Biets: I’m a photographer. Jill Mathieu: And I guess I kind of function as the glue between all the artistic impulses. I help where I can fixing models, applying eyeliner, DJ’ing at our release parties with Ulrike and writing press releases. ANP: Can you tell us a bit about your backgrounds? What did you do before starting your magazine? JL: I have a masters degree in graphic design and free arts, and I studied art history and art critique. But mostly I’m a print and photography enthusiast who loves screen printing, stencil printing, offset, xeroxing, collages and graphic design. I make artwork for small record labels like Conspiracy Records, and I often roadie for bands such as Earth, Isis, Keelhaul, Knut or Alabama Thunderpussy. I was part of art collectives like Rotkop (underground publications with Dennis Tyfus, Kati Heck, Michèle Matyn) and Building Transmissions sound performances/architectures at Haus der Kunst Munich, Venice Biennale, and Porto Alegre Brasil (with Nico Dockx, Peter Verwimp and Kris Delacourt) UB: After I graduated university as a master in philosophy, I started working on film sets as a production manager for full-length movies. But quickly after that, I rolled into being a photographer on a professional level. I’ve been taking photos for as long as I can remember, so I guess it was inevitable that one day this would become my ‘job’. Besides my personal photography work, I’m also collaborating with different magazines and publications. JM: I’ve been spending most of my days writing all sorts of things that somehow involve young people and all kinds of culture. I was the editor in chief of Vice Magazine in Belgium and now I organize retro themed parties and burlesque revues all over the country. ANP: How did the concept to start a magazine about sex/sexuality begin? JL: I was looking to do a project together with my then girlfriend and mother of my son Louis. She is a hair and make-up artist, I was doing some photography but mainly print. We both had a great interest in old pin-up images but thought that the whole aesthetic of modern pin-up or burlesque was just a cheap rehash of ‘50s-styled images combined with rockabilly and tattoo parlour influences. Like
everybody wanted to be Bettie Page with a dice tattoo. We thought we could try to do something a little different, with witty humor and through different print techniques in one magazine lift it above your average glossy magazine. UB: After three editions Jill came up with the idea to do a male issue. Jan was a bit uncomfortable to stand in front of naked guys, shooting their packages, so that’s when I joined the crew as a photographer. After that, we stayed together and continued making new issues. ANP: Is there a mission statement behind Poupi Whoopy? JL: We love boobs? Haha. UB: That includes man boobs. ANP: Your visual content is so visually diverse. Do you work with many collaborators or do you do it all in-house? JL: I come from a DIY punk and hardcore scene in Antwerp where you do everything yourself within the limited budget you get. So we do everything ourselves: concepts, scouting of models, styling, location hunting, hair and make-up, photography, photoshopping, printing, the actual fabricating of the books, selling and distributing, bookkeeping... everything. The visual diversity is something we aim for, we’d hate to repeat/rehash the same thing over and over again, it can’t become a drag. It has to stay fresh and innovative and fun to do. UB: By now, we’ve gathered a great fan base. Amongst them are a lot of creative people we can count on to work with on a regular basis. It sometimes feels like one big family. JM: Models often come along with great ideas too, or with crazy costumes they want to wear. Meanwhile, we jot down our dream photo shoots in a Google doc, and we’re pretty good at actually realizing those ideas too, even if they involve public nudity in tourist-crowded areas. ANP: How does an issue of Poupi Whoopy come together? JL: One shoot at a time, we come up with an idea, find a model, do the shoot and repeat the process until we reckon we have enough for a book. Or sometimes we come up with a concept for an entire issue, like the Casting Issue, for which we did a nude model casting and photographed everybody that showed up and signed a waver. 34 people showed up that day, anything in between 18-year-old girls to 65-year-old men, which makes for a funny and pretty diverse magazine/book. UB: I’m not going to speak about a book as if it’s a baby, but I do think you can compare it with giving birth. It grows inside
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of you, and it will not come out without contractions, blood, sweat, tears and laughter! When it’s finally there, you hold it, name it, show it around, and feel really proud. Or do I sound really lame right now? JM: Haha, I guess the putting-the-book-together part is comparable: we quarantine ourselves in a damp little room manically performing the same actions over and over again. We fold pages, cut pages, stack pages and staple pages until we’re all cramped up and covered in paper cuts. And when we’re done, we boast about it on Facebook. ANP: You are part of what seems a whole new movement in erotic magazines. There seems to be a changing of the tides. How do you feel about this? JL: That it was about fucking time! I try to keep looking for alternative erotic magazines, I don’t know about the U.S., but here in Europe they are still spread thinly. UB: It’s a real trend these days to shoot naked people. As if clothes are the new taboo. I think what distinguishes us from lots of other photographers and publications is that we welcome every one. You don’t have to look like a model, you don’t have to have great skin or perfect sizes. Far from! For us, you have to have personality. We want to show people that feel good about themselves. ANP: Each issue has a very handmade element to it. How do you think this adds to the overall experience of the magazine? JL: I think it’s key. You can tell a lot of love went in the creation of every issue. We all handled each issue at least ten times in the process of its creation through folding, stapling, screen-printing or whatever. The downside is that we can only realistically make about 500 copies max of each issue. To make more would be a logistical nightmare. UB: You need to feel it to really read it! Half of the experience of Poupi Whoopy is the touch, the textile, the ink on your hands after glancing through it. That’s also why we call it a really dirty magazine! JM: Unlike naked girls on a screen, you can actually touch naked girls in print! ANP: How did you come up with the name Poupi Whoopy? JL: Poupi is like a cuddle name I called my ex-girlfriend and Whoopy is as you know a cheesy exclamation of joy. It just sounds funny and it gets misspelled all the time, which is always funny too... www.poupiwhoopy.com