The very best of CityMag

As we celebrate 10 years of producing CityMag, we asked our three past editors and co-founders to take a walk down memory lane and pick the stories that have stuck with them – and the readers – over the years.

JOSH FANNNING
CO-FOUNDER AND PUBLISHER OF CITYMAG

ISSUE 1: DISTRICT CENTRAL MARKET

The district articles zoomed in on a small patch of Adelaide and made the city feel infinitely bigger. The Central Market is such a vibrant district in Adelaide with the courts, the people who live there, and – of course – the iconic markets full of fresh fruit and full-on characters. City brands are built on a myriad of other smaller brands within them and the stories we tell and the myths we form. Central Market was one of the richest districts in that sense.

ISSUE 8: THE FUTURE OF ADELAIDE

Owen Lindsay and Shane Devries’ illustration for the cover and article inside this magazine was a high water mark for CityMag. The article featured near-future predictions that are absolutely on track and definitely going to happen, but more than that, this article led to Owen (long-time collaborator, illustrator, sub editor of CityMag) winning the commission to illustrate the Adelaide Design Manual for City of Adelaide.

ISSUE 10: NIGHT SHIFT

I have to put a fashion shoot in. They took So. Much. Effort. And they cost So. Much. Money. But they were fun. The pinnacle was the fashion shoot we made with Solitaire Automotive, my lawyer’s office (Shout out to WRP), and Proof (thanks Shane and Joe). We had James Hartley either before or back from New York and Aaron Schuppan made a stunning film that’s still relevant in aesthetic and camera movements today.

FARRIN FOSTER
CO-FOUNDER AND EDITOR OF CITYMAG

ISSUE 21: FASHION: NOWHERE IN THIS ROOM

I always struggled with fashion despite knowing its cultural importance, but this shoot – in which fashion director Sharmonie Cockayne included pasta, donuts, hoodies and pant suits – finally made me see how resonant a great concept can be.

ISSUE 17: CITY STANDARD: NO NEWS IS NOT GOOD NEWS

Although it’s possibly navel-gazing, I still think Annie Hastwell’s long-form look into the collapse of the media business model in SA, and its implications for society is important. Bonus points for the excellent portraits by Jonathan van der Knaap and the perfectly calibrated cover photo styling and article layout from creative director Lauren Bezzina.

CITYMAG ONLINE: OPINION: TAKING IT LYING DOWN

I was suspicious about trading more in the currency of opinion when we went digital, but Anthony Nocera’s writing helped me realise that opinion is a place for poignancy, intelligence and wit, not just for blown up, controversy-stirring hot takes.

ISSUE 15: PLATE AND CUP: AGRICULTURE TO ORDER

This seems like a simple story, but to me it’s exactly what a CityMag article should be. Excellent photos and writing from Jessica Clark and Camellia Aebischer capture something bigger behind a buzzy trend – in this case the family that grows produce for many of SA’s hyped-up chefs.

Remarks

This article first appeared in our 10 Years of CityMag, Spring 2023 edition.

ISSUE 16: WHAT TO WEAR ON A LONG HAUL FLIGHT

Working with illustrators like Jasmin Neophytou, Owen Lindsay and Chris Edser taught me a lot about how visuals can do things words can’t. There is something delightful and whimsical about imagining a long-haul flight through the aesthetics of Jasmin’s drawings.

ISSUE 19: CITY STANDARD: THE ACT OF KNOWING

One of the greatest privileges of journalism is entry into other people’s worlds. The First Nations people featured in this story were hugely generous in sharing their methods for continuing cultural practice and I am hugely grateful to have learned from them.

JOHNNY VON EINEM
EDITOR OF CITYMAG

CITYMAG ONLINE: The weight of Wangayarta

The gifts of journalism are the experiences and people you’re allowed access to.

In December 2021, I drove out to the Smithfield Cemetery with Angela Skujins, who’d been invited for an overnight reporting trip for the launch of the Kaurna burial plot, Wangayarta. I was there to assist, capturing photos and audio, although we were immediately put to more useful work painting wooden platforms to hold Ancestors’ remains for a smoking ceremony.

When dusk hit, we gathered by the fire with Uncle Moogy Sumner and Aunty Madge Wanganeen and her family. We spoke about all the years that led to Wangayarta, and the kids told us about their experiences with mamu spirits.

Retreating to our swags, there was a charge in the air. Maybe from being so close to the end of a long struggle, or at the beginning of the new one – or maybe it was being under the watchful eyes of mamu or some other spirits. I didn’t sleep much that night. It was a privilege to be at the site for this moment in history, and a humbling reminder of the worth and power of journalism and storytelling.

CITYMAG ONLINE: ADELAIDE’S BEST REUBEN

Some of my most engaging stories, by count of feedback emails, were the “Adelaide’s best…” articles we started producing in 2019. It was a way of namechecking some of our favourite venues while trying to show sub-regionality (for want of a wankier term), in particular food items within the city – what are the unique benefits of a Reuben from a pub compared with one made at a Jewish deli?

For that story, I weighed, measured, tasted and assessed seven Reubens over two weeks, which is several kilos more than the recommended intake of pastrami. The emails I got, right up until I left CityMag, from Reuben-interested readers, thanking me for my service and suggesting a new listing, made all the meat sweats worth it.