The Secret Issue

Volume 10 Issue 3, October 2010



From the perverse thrill of reading someone’s diary to schoolyard gossip to long-silenced confessions, there is something inherently thrilling about learning the secrets of another. It is from these voyeuristic and deeply personal admissions that the true character of an individual comes to light.

I had no deep-seated agenda or ideological drive when I originally hypothesized “secret” as a possible theme for an issue; I simply believed that the topic would produce engaging content to read and view. In sum, I decided to capitalize on a secret’s inherently interesting value by editing an entire issue about them.

Secrets are a unifying force – be they dark, repressed or completely benign, every person has one – but by virtue of their existence as private, a shared identity or solidarity cannot be formed by them. A publication like Blueprint therefore provides an interesting platform by which secrets can be discussed. Though contributors lay bare their secrets in an open space, the semi-anonymity of a magazine’s readership allows the author or artist to maintain a partial veil of secrecy. Secrets become a simultaneously public and private affair.

Though secrets may be clung to for certainty and security, I firmly believe the axiom that the truth is never in bad taste. Freeing your secrets, especially in this space, can be a liberating experience.

- Morgan Alan, Editor-in-Chief