If everything fits, nothing belongs.
Yujin Kim for PSM 38 / Zoljargal Ariunbold
One of the hardest parts of publishing PSM is saying no.
Not because every series should be accepted. That would be ridiculous. A magazine without rejection is not a magazine. It is a folder with page numbers.
But still, saying no is hard.
A photographer sends a series. Sometimes it is good. Sometimes very good. It has beautiful images, a strong model, a clear mood, and still, for reasons that are not always easy to explain, it does not quite belong in PSM.
That is where editing begins.
This year, we will publish only three editions of PSM. Around 27 editorials in total. Very little compared with the amount of work that reaches us.
But that is also the point.
Rush Museum exists because we believe certain images deserve more than speed. More than being posted, liked, saved, forgotten, replaced.
Some beauty needs a frame. A sequence. A printed object. Someone willing to say: this stays.
That decision is never neutral.
Curation is not politeness. It is a point of view. Rush Museum is what it is because we choose. Some things enter. Others do not.
Most photographers understand this with more grace than one might expect. Many have become people I genuinely enjoy talking to. Every now and then I receive a message: "Take a look at this series, tell me what you think". Or "What do you think of this model?".
I will not pretend this is a terrible burden. I am Andalusian. Talking does not require heroic effort from me. And giving my opinion about photography, books, models, beauty and everything around this little world is not what I would call hard labour.
There is something very alive in those conversations.
Photographers have freedom. Of course. That has always mattered to PSM. But freedom does not mean that every direction belongs here.
PSM has a frame. Rush Museum has a frame.
Inside it, the artist should feel free. Outside it, the work may still be beautiful, but it may belong somewhere else.
That distinction matters.
Rush Museum was never built to hold everything. It was built to choose what deserves to stay.
If everything fits, nothing belongs.
Hugs,
Fran Domínguez
Founder & Creative Director, Rush Museum