For our Discover Issue, we’ve seriously gone far and wide. 

Amanda Villarosa takes us to Manila, where her uncle Ramon runs a booming gay bar that doubles as a resource for the queer community. We join Eric Junker and his son, Rye, for a road trip from California to Montana, with Eric painting murals and making art along the way. Chris Noltekuhlmann pictures an imagined romance at an empty carnival that could be in Anywhere, USA. On a cruise from Hong Kong to Singapore, João Canziani ponders ship life. In Los Angeles, Todd Cole introduces us to Zola Zappa, a 17-year-old model whose star is on the rise. Katy Schlemmer, aka the Short-Form Queen, shares her journey to becoming a top content creator. And the animation you see here and on our homepage? I adapted it from video I shot underwater in New York’s Hudson River this summer. 

We also have “Artificial Flavor,” in which Jonpaul Douglass responds to the AI craze by making wild images with zero AI. Lucas Garrido shares his intimate photo project “Amore e Psique,” which was inspired by an intense affair. Brad Torchia illuminates a daily art practice that prizes creative freedom over perfection. And Rudy Willingham brings it all home with “Thirst Trap,” a playlist to get your heart racing.

Happy exploring.

—Kristina Feliciano