Description
STAF Magazine #51 — The California Issue
STAF Magazine #51 — The California Issue is a 192-page journey through California’s skateboarding, surfing, photography, music, art, illustration, publishing and independent culture.
California has been part of STAF’s visual and cultural imagination since the magazine began in Málaga in 1997. For issue #51, however, we wanted to move beyond the familiar images and mythology of the West Coast.
Instead, The California Issue approaches the state through the people who live, create and build things there. Across 23 conversations, the magazine moves between different cities, generations, disciplines and creative communities.
The result is not one California, but many.
23 conversations across California
At the heart of STAF Magazine #51 are 23 interviews and stories featuring artists, photographers, musicians, skateboarders, publishers, galleries and independent cultural projects.
Featuring:
Lara Botto · Top Jimmy & The Rhythm Pigs · Diana Matar · Adler Smith Gallery · Ethan Swope · Elizabeth Waterman · Paskowitz Van Museum · Eye & Hand Society · California Locos · Jeff Cheung · Cynthia Connolly · Craig Stecyk · Andy Jenkins · Siri Kaur · Chad Eaton · Nazraeli Press · Dave Tourje · Pilar O’Connor · Ray Barbee · Ayda Gragossian · Paskowitz Family · Deanna Templeton · Kent Uyehara
Some of the people featured in these pages helped define scenes that later became global cultural references. Others belong to younger generations developing their own visual languages today.
Together, they create a broader portrait of California and the independent communities that continue to grow within it.
Skateboarding, surfing, photography and underground culture
The California Issue moves constantly between scenes and disciplines.
There is skateboarding in San Francisco, surf history, Los Angeles punk and contemporary photography. There are independent galleries, DIY spaces, publishing projects, illustration, music and art.
The magazine also explores the people and communities behind these scenes rather than simply reproducing their most recognisable images.
California appears here as a complex and constantly changing place. Its influence reaches far beyond the state itself, yet much of that influence comes from local communities, independent projects and individuals who developed their ideas outside conventional cultural structures.
Beyond the usual California mythology
This is not a nostalgic look at California.
We did not want to reproduce the usual mythology of endless beaches, Hollywood, surfing or West Coast counterculture. Instead, we wanted to understand what California looks like through the experiences of the people who are actually creating there.
Their stories reveal a place full of contradictions, different histories and overlapping cultural scenes.
From established figures to independent projects and younger artists, STAF Magazine #51 connects different generations without presenting California as a single movement or aesthetic.
Chad Eaton creates the cover for STAF Magazine #51
The cover of The California Issue was created exclusively for STAF by Chad Eaton, bringing his unmistakable Timber! universe to the magazine.
Inside, the issue also includes original illustrations by Vanesa Zafra created for the California Locos and Nazraeli Press features.
Photography, illustration and editorial design run throughout the 192 pages, creating a publication conceived not only to be read but also as a physical object to keep.
Independent publishing since 1997
Founded in Málaga in 1997, STAF has always approached culture through the people behind it.
STAF Magazine #51 — The California Issue continues that independent editorial line through long-form conversations, photography, visual culture and stories developed directly with the artists, musicians, photographers, publishers and creative communities featured in its pages.
The magazine is published entirely in English.
STAF Magazine #51 — Technical details
– Published in october 2026
– 168 x 235 mm
– 192 pages
– English edition
– Publisher & Founder: Juanjo M. Fuentes
– Editorial Direction & Design: morenoclara
– Interior paper: Coral Book White Offset, 120 gsm
– Cover: Creator Silk Semi-Matte, 250 gsm, matte laminated
– Binding: Thread-sewn paperback
