First: Made in JA, reengineered in Germany

FIRST magazine celebrates its fifth anniversary next month, well it would were there actually some $ around, but more on that another time. Collaborator Gabriel Holzner has redesigned and repackaged First content as a 150-page book.


Gabe took everything a step further with the book, which is a stunning document of today's Jamaica: from when First was in print between 2004-5; fleetingly as a blog last year; and some new stuff produced by him and Tobias Huber – the co-owner of Seen, from Germany.

Among other things there's: the aftermath of five alleged gunmen being killed by the police-army in Tivoli Gardens; a fashion shoot; the plight of a Jamaican emigrant; community boxing and an encounter with some drunk, oversexed American tourists.

My favourite is Our Darkest Hours, Gabe's ghostly but rich nighttime photos of downtown Kingston. Click here to view the entire book online, complete with special mp3 mixes...