Fingerprint magazine is an independent publication by Evan Tinker, junior film major, that first released in November 2018.
Tinker said he enjoys making films, but he wanted another outlet to showcase his other passions he could not showcase in film.
Tinker taught himself how to structure layout with the help of YouTube videos and spent five months assembling the content of the first issue, which mostly consisted of his own photographs.
When the first issue was finally released, Tinker said many people enjoyed his work.
“People liked it. It was well-received. I had a lot of friends and family support it; I’m very grateful for that, Tinker said. “People actually bought it and I wasn’t sure how that was going to go. I got a lot of good feedback on it and people were asking me to make another one.”
Currently, Tinker is working on finishing up the final pages of Issue 2, which is set to release in late November. In addition to Tinker’s photography, issue 2 will feature works by other photographers and artists.
“The first one was more just pictures I took that I thought were cool, quotes that I liked — something that would be fun to look at. But this next one is more focused on other people,” Tinker said. “I’m branching out with this one and I’m getting other people to get involved in it, but it’s still things that I like.”
Tinker said he gets much of his inspiration from artists, including Pharell, Kanye West, Tyler the Creator, John Coltrane, Oscar Peterson, Frank Ocean and photographers and filmmakers, such as Alex Prager.
Michael Duggan and Nathan Reirson, both junior film majors, are good friends with Tinker and filmed a documentary series that included an inside look at the process and production of Fingerprint magazine.
“As we’ve done the documentary and seen a little bit more about what goes into it, we definitely see how cool (the magazine) is and how much work he does put into it,” Reirson said. “Evan really enjoys having something you can physically hold and look through, and that interest for him translates well. When I hold it, I’m like, ‘Oh, it’s actually cool to hold these pictures. It’s very cool. Very well thought out.’”
Duggan said he and Reirson took Tinker with them to an art gallery shoot, where he took some pictures that will be featured in Issue 2 and said he feels like the experience gave him a personal connection to the magazine in this way.
“When we know we were there and we’re right outside the frame of that photo, it’s like we get to see ourselves in the invisible pages of the magazine. That’s the goal that he builds a fan base where every person that looks at it can see themselves in the invisible pages that aren’t there,” Duggan said.
Tinker said he plans on finishing Fingerprint magazine after its third issue. Like a true film major, he said he likes when things have an ending — and a cool one at that.
“I hope it inspires other people to just do what you want and don’t let anything stop you from doing it, because if you really put the effort in you could definitely make it happen,” Tinker said.
