Life

A Magazine For Redheads? Heck Yes!

by Eliza Castile

Attention, gingers: We're finally getting the attention we crave — nay, the attention we deserve. MC1R is the all-redhead magazine we never knew we needed in our lives, and I, for one, am planning on getting at least 12 subscriptions. Magazines can come and go as they please, but this is one that I don't plan on allowing to fail.

MC1R is the brainchild of lighting design student and fellow redhead Tristan Rodgers. Redheads comprise only around 1 to 2 percent of the population, and their very uniqueness undoubtedly contributes to the magazine's surprising success so far. Rodgers, who lives in Hamburg, Germany, told Vice that although it started out as a small photography project, he had no trouble crowdfunding the first issue.

"The print cost for 20 copies was very close to that of 500 copies, so I started a crowdfunding campaign to see whether anyone else would be interested in reading something like this," he said. In fact, he ended up with "more than enough pre-orders" to print 1600 copies.

Not bad for a group of people who were the focus of an entire hate speech on South Park . It almost makes all the "gingers have no souls!" jokes worth it.

(I only bring this up because my therapist says it's time.)

Over the course of MC1R's first three issues, Rodgers has worked with a surprisingly varied group of photographers — some are more well known than others, but the current issue features an editorial from Jens Kaesemann.

Even if the magazine remains a niche publication, Rodgers says he's learned a surprising amount about "redhead culture" through the process. "I discovered that there's a big network of and for redheads emerging around the world, and I'm now a part of this movement," he told Vice, adding that "people really connect at redhead festivals." One such festival includes the Irish Redhead Convention, which Rodger plans on attending later this year, but he also mentioned connecting with redheads in less expected places, like Southern Africa, Israel, and Italy.

To support MC1R, head over to its website. Even if you don't pick up a copy just yet, though, Rodgers plans on continuing the project no matter how much (or little) money it makes. "This project is a matter of heart," he told Vice. "I will always work on it."