JUNGLES IN PARIS

The approach of summer every year brings with it thoughts of escape—fantasies of road trips and jungle hideaways and secluded beaches seared by Instagram-worthy sunsets. Those of us without the privilege of dropping everything and heading off for distant lands, however, can make do with Jungles in Paris, a new travel website from writer Darrell Hartman and his brother Oliver. Eschewing the expected posts on the latest luxury hotels or fashionista favorites, Jungles in Paris takes a more thoughtful approach, going small and digging deep by focusing on the unexpected surprises uncovered by the careful traveler, from ritual skin-piercing in Ethiopia’s Omo Valley to the daredevil moto-taxi drivers of southern Yemen.

The first thing visitors to Jungles in Paris will notice is the sleek, stark design, all sharp white text against a clean black background, carefully framing the arresting imagery that serves as the site’s focal point and raison d’être. “The visual approach is one thing,” Darrell says. “Yes, we research and write up each story, but we position the visual component as the main attraction, whether it’s a short documentary or a collection of photos.” Oliver adds, “The goal is always to enrich the story with high-quality multimedia.” For Darrell, who has written for New York Magazine, Travel + Leisure, Details, and the Wall Street Journal, the chance to work closely with others was another impetus for the new endeavor. “I’ve been a freelance writer for years,” he explains. “It’s a wonderful life but a bit of a solo one, so I was drawn to the idea of collaborating. With my brother, for one thing, but also with photographers and filmmakers. I’d interviewed plenty of them as a journalist, but never really worked with them.”

Appropriately, both Darrell and Oliver are experienced travelers themselves, the former pointing to trips through the Serengeti and Nepal as “life-changing” journeys while the latter recalls a year spent in Nicaragua: “Years after that, I still feel a human connection to that place.” The contributions on Jungles in Paris are, even at this early stage, already similarly wide-ranging, roving across Tanzania, the historic Romanian town of Ciocăneşti, and the infamous Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland. The brothers list Antarctica and the Middle East as dream destinations, but until then, the site will suffice. “We wanted to give ourselves a job that involved learning a little more about the world every day,” Darrell says. “Not the pain and suffering, but the rare and amazing stuff that just knocks your socks off—the timeless and long-lasting things, rather than the immediately concerning ones. We wanted to discover more of that, and to share it.”

For more information, please visit JunglesinParis.com. Photography by Lane Coder for Jungles in Paris.

Esteban Gomez Finds Creatives a Home

With years of experience in the fashion industry, the Creatives Agent at Compass offers designers, photographers, stylists, models, and others a new approach to find a place to call home.

The Last Magazine Celebrates the Fall 2019 Issue

The cover story of our Fall 2019 issue is a love letter to New York City by photographer Dan Martensen and stylist Clare Richardson starring one of our favorite models of the moment, Binx Walton. For our launch party, we packed into Lola, one of the East Village’s newest hotspots, for an all-night dance party […]

Peter Ash Lee's New Magazine 'Burdock' Celebrates Asian-American Talent

Named after a root vegetable common to Asian cuisine, photographer Peter Ash Lee’s new magazine and digital platform celebrates Asian-American culture in an attempt to welcome a more diverse group both in front of and behind the camera.

Hans Neumann's Berlin Skaters

In an exclusive photo essay and “video poem,” the Peruvian photographer and director explores his family’s ancestral home through the lens of a group of young skateboarders who reflect the vitality of a new generation of European youth.

FUMI NAGASAKA STARTS A 'TEENAGE RIOT'

In her second book, the Japanese photographer captures the individual personalities and æsthetics of four adolescent girls in their hometowns in a collection that is both intimate and anthropological.

RO KWON ON CULTS AND YOUNG LOVE IN 'THE INCENDIARIES'

In her propulsive début novel, ten years in the making, the author ponders the unfathomability of others in the tale of a young woman who joins a cult.

MARTIN ZÄHRINGER GOES FISHING WITH JOHN BAKER

In his first book, the London-based photographer documents every facet of the life of a Barbadian fisherman with whom he felt an immediate kinship, acting as both visitor and companion.

JONAH BOKAER'S FIFTEENTH ANNIVERSARY

The collaborative, media-mixing contemporary choreographer celebrates fifteen years of his own company with a retrospective program and world premiere to look back while moving forward.

MARIO SORRENTI SHOWS A NEW SIDE OF KATE MOSS

In a new book of previously unreleased photographs, the famed photographer spotlights the iconic model’s innocence from their days of youthful love.

ROMAN MEJIA SHINES IN A NEW GENERATION OF DANCERS AT NEW YORK CITY BALLET

As the company makes its way through tumultuous times, the eighteen-year-old demonstrates the promise of a rising young crop of dancers with his clean lines and bounding jumps.

NEW YORK BY THE LAST MAGAZINE: VICE IMPACT PUBLISHER KATHERINE KEATING CHANNELS YOUTH ACTIVISM TO CREATE CHANGE

In an era of flourishing youth activism, the politically-minded advocate is harnessing the tools of social media and the internet to effect positive change by a young generation through direct calls to action.

NEW YORK BY THE LAST MAGAZINE: AUTHOR ALEXANDRA KLEEMAN SAYS WRITING IS LIKE PLAYING A VIDEO GAME

In her novel and short stories, the Staten Island-based author probes the border between science and literature with discomfiting tales about the body and its relationship to the perilous world around it.

HERMIONE HOBY'S 'NEON IN DAYLIGHT' REINVENTS THE NEW YORK NOVEL FOR A NEW AGE

In her début novel, the young British author ponders questions of selfhood and power dynamics in a thoughtful bildungsroman set during a sweltering New York summer.

ADWOA ABOAH HOSTS OUR TENTH-ANNIVERSARY PARTY WITH BURBERRY

Take a look at our tenth-anniversary celebration with Burberry at Radegast Hall in Brooklyn, hosted by our latest cover model Adwoa Aboah.

KANAZAWA

Photographer Marie Zucker was given rare access into an okiya, or boarding house, in the Japanese city of Kanazawa, where she captured these reflective images of geisha-in-training.

THE LAST WORD: ICEBERG

The Arctic ice pack puts the freeze on a teetering relationship in the latest edition of The Last Word, our ongoing series of original short fiction.

THE LAST GIFT GUIDE 2017

Our annual selection of gifts for you and yours, including everything you can imagine from a silk toothbrush on up to your own private island.

DAVID HALLBERG ON INJURIES AND INSECURITIES

In his new memoir, the celebrated principal dancer of American Ballet Theatre recounts his intense childhood training, joining the Bolshoi Ballet, and the arduous yearlong rehabilitation after a nearly career-ending injury that gave him a new perspective on his talent and the art form.