Melissa De Witt

Metronom: Can we begin with your background and how you came to be the director of Hotshoe?

Melissa DeWitt: I studied sculpture at St Martins and planned to be a practicing artist, but took on Hotshoe magazine in 2003, reinventing it as a showcase of portfolios around different themes in photography.

M: The magazine has been in circulation since 1977 and had a very different function until its revamping in 2002. Why did you make the switch to working thematically post 2000?

MDW: When we bought Hotshoe we kept the title but changed the content from being a photography industry magazine to a showcase of photographic portfolios. I wanted to create something accessible that I would want to buy and collect and go back to for reference when I was searching for inspiration. We didn’t start working thematically with any consistency until 2017 with our Youth issue and that was just because things evolved so it was the right time to make a change.

 M: How do you go about selecting themes and what is the philosophy of Hotshoe in light of what’s happening in our surrounding world and movements in photography? 

MDW:We try to have our finger on the pulse of what is happening around us. Being an independent magazine, we have huge freedom to feature whatever we think is interesting relevant and timely. We’ve always been quite good at anticipating a trend or being the first to feature amazing photographers. For example, in issue 204: New York Street, which was released last November, we featured Shawn Walker, a founding member of African American photography collective the Kamoinge Workshop in Harlem and an amazing photographer, but not widely known. I’ve just read that the Library of Congress acquired his collection and that he will have an exhibition of his work in London.

M: In the past, you’ve collaborated with other organisations to make an issue corresponding with an exhibition. How do these collaborations tie in with the philosophy of Hotshoe? 

MDW:We’ve done a few collaborations, for example with Photo London and Hamiltons Gallery for the Don McCullin issue, which gave us access to the most wonderful images that we would never have been able to feature otherwise. We’ve also worked with The Photographers’ Gallery to exhibit the work of Miho Kajioka in Hotshoe 333. This allows us to bring photographers that we do not represent to an exhibition space that isn’t just a gallery, which is a great way to extend the spirit of the magazine and continue the community we started to build with our gallery in Farringdon, and at the same time support and promote the magazine.

 M: Working with a medium that has continuously shifted towards immaterial practice and dissemination, how significant is it for you that magazines, like Hotshoe, keep printing? 

 MDW: Hugely significant. I know I’m not alone in feeling that books and print magazines are a wonderful platform for photography and in some cases become collectable works of art. Holding a book or magazine in your hands is an intimate experience that not only delights the eyes but also engages the senses of touch and smell. Something we all need right now.

Melissa DeWitt is the owner of Hotshoe 333 at 333 Portobello Road, and the director and editor of Hotshoe Magazine, one of the UK’s leading photography publications since 1977.
6/04/2020
©METRONOM and Melissa DeWitt