The Story Behind the Cover of VICE Magazine's March Issue

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The Story Behind the Cover of VICE Magazine's March Issue

We tried about nine different options, but unanimously agreed the frog was our favorite.

This story appears in the March issue of VICE magazine. Click HERE to subscribe.

For this cover, we tried about nine different options from Bobby Doherty's portfolio, but unanimously agreed the frog was our favorite. We liked the potential of bringing out the texture of the animal's skin through embossing.

VICE: What's the story behind our cover image? Where did that frog come from?
Bobby Doherty: I found the frog when I was on a hike with my boyfriend, Zach, while we were camping in the Adirondacks. He's the one holding it.

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Is your portfolio in this issue made up of found objects, or do you mostly set up your shots?
Both. I definitely put the lil' waffles on a pie Zach made. But I also do a lot of walking around with my camera and find things.

All of the photos you sent to us were set up as diptychs. How do you come up with the pairing of each image? 
Gut feelings.

Is your approach to personal work different from your editorial work?  
When I'm out and taking photos in the real world, I see myself as a little spy, but when I'm in the studio taking photos, I'm a little scientist.

Where do you get your day-to-day inspiration?
I try to look down a lot, to see interesting things happening on the ground. I don't like to focus too much on what I like or don't like. I try to stay open.

Bobby Doherty is a photographer and one of the best interns we've ever had at VICE. He is currently the staff photographer at New York, where he creates weird, beautiful imagery for each issue. In what spare time he has left, he also serves as the art director for American Chordata, a biannual indie magazine, and works on his personal photography, sampled here.

Doherty and his boyfriend, Zach, hike in the Adirondacks, where they found the frog used on the cover.