US Esquire September 2023 : Aaron Taylor-Johnson by Norman Jean Roy

[Marc10]

 

[aracic]

Ummm chile Love it.

 

[Benn98]

Wow, the actual cover is great! Gorgeous background. Norman Jean Roy excels at cinematic photography. It just needed a bit more fashion to make it more style-forward instead of making it look like a movie still.

 

[GERGIN]

It’s epic, it’s sexy, it’s tough, it’s masculine, it’s Esquire baby!

 

[amby]

 

[Mihail Mihailov]

Norman Jean Roy is one of my favorite photographers of the new era in the past 10 years or so, he must be hired from Vogue USA, Vanity FFair and Harper's Bazaar to shoot covers again, because in the past 4/5 years every magazine is ruined rom dull photographers

 

[Lucien112]

Delicious.

 

[KoV]

Esquire is working overtime to capture the "thirsty gay" market share.

 

[Kimy Jo]

Hot

 

[Benn98]

Esquire is working overtime to capture the "thirsty gay" market share.

The pink dollar is their last resort. Lol.
They've unintentionally alienated their readers. For decades this magazine used to have an unapologetic approach to politics and pop culture, but sadly for them, the latter two have become divisive, especially in America and Esquire just so happens to find themselves at the polar opposite of their readers. You only need to look at the comment section of their socials to see out of touch they are with their audience.

 

[Phuel]

Norman Jean Roy is one of my favorite photographers of the new era in the past 10 years or so, he must be hired from Vogue USA, Vanity FFair and Harper's Bazaar to shoot covers again, because in the past 4/5 years every magazine is ruined rom dull photographers

A straightup (...no pun intended), no-nonsense, experienced photographer with a quiet, confident, creative vision and the masterclass skilled technical know-how hired by Vogue…??? And without a lick of gimmick??? No chance in this current era LOL

The shoot is gorgeous— for heteros, casual fashion fans and thirsty gheyz. Norman takes full advantage of the misty Avalon-esque location, and Aaron’s athletic musculature to full effect. Unfortunately, the layout diminishes the selects to save page count, so that only the leading spread and a measly single page select is given the full-page treatment. 124pg total. The other stories are forgettable.

 

[Benn98]

124pg total. The other stories are forgettable.

Crikey, I know Esquire is not a fashion bible but 124 pages for a September issue?
How many fashion editorials?

It's time to do dual months and eventually shutter into digital-only.

 

[Yasouss]

For a second, I thought it was a repost of a cover of Details magazine. Really captures what they were all about.

I wish there was less mud on the first cover, but happy to get a decent photo from US Esquire.

 

[phungnam96]

 

[Phuel]

2 measly fashion stories, Benn. "Whatever Suits You" by Jason Kibbler, and an advertorial for Dior "Cosmic Couture" by Jennifer Livingston.

 

[KoV]

It's time to do dual months and eventually shutter into digital-only.

I think their current schedule is as follows:

Winter (December/January/February)
March
April\May
Summer (June/July/August)
September
October/November

 

[Xone]

The coverstory:

 

[MagFan]

It is on their site with text as well: It's Aaron Taylor-Johnson Season!

 

[honeycombchild]

September issues just aren’t really a thing anymore, let’s face if. They’re no different to any other issues. 124p is measly indeed isn’t it.

 

[Phuel]

^^^ Meanwhile, Esquire Korea consistently offers a plump pagecount of 300+ every issue, with solid fashion productions, to boot. If only a talent like Norman also would shoot regularly for these Asian Esquires: I can only dream how epic, cinematic, and such a mood this Aaron shoot would have been if it were presented in Esquire Korea...

The irony of the basic Esquire US InstaGallery presentation being stronger than the published layout is deliriously hilarious. The majority of the selects looking like several thumbs squeezed into a spread looses all the impact of dedicating a page/spread to an image. And Norman’s imageries are so good. They really couldn’t spare 6 more pages LOL