Scenery issue 5 is a mini world tour of interiors

Scenery – Issue 5

For all the chat about the decline of print (and by chat I mean The Devil Wears Prada 2), independent publishing is booming. According to a new report, niche and luxury titles now make up 35 per cent of print circulation, up from 8 per cent in 2011.

One independent publication that is going from strength to strength is the interiors magazine Scenery, which was launched in 2023 by Simon B Mørch alongside creative director Alister Mackie and art director Aiden Miller. Straddling the worlds of fashion, art and design, Scenery offers a look inside romantic, rarefied spaces and the people who occupy them.

The latest issue of the magazine, out this week, is no exception. In it, we travel from London to Paris, Beirut, and the remote island of Orkney, visiting the homes of design legend Jasper Conran, artists Cécile Daladier and Nabil Nahas, as well as a mansion recently acquired by interior designer Ben Pentreath and gardener Charlie McCormick.

“This year, I decided not to shoot any stories in January or February – not because of the cold and the gloominess of those first months of the year, but because of the light,” Morch says of the latter, speaking in his editor’s letter. “The light leads the way, and if you work in photography, it’s possible that you (like me) fear the winter months. A few hours of daylight with hardly any sun often crushes the possibility of the dream photo.

“So I waited – not for spring, but for the first light of the new year. Then, on March 1st, we travelled to the Orkney Islands: far up in the northernmost reaches of Scotland, to stay (and photograph) a magical house on the edge of the water on the island of Rousay,” he continues “After two flights and a boat journey, we saw Westness House from the water. A tough-looking house, with a walled garden and a lawn running all the way down to the pebbled shore.

Elsewhere in the issue, we also get a glimpse behind the curtain of the Royal Opera House in a portfolio of very grand photographs by Nikolai Von Bismarck, and an insight into the life and work of Polish expressionist painter Feliks Topolski. It’s magazine you’ll pore over now – and hold onto forever.

Preview the magazine in the gallery above, see the rest of the covers below, and order a copy here.