Photographer Nicolas Guérin shoots a beautiful cover and editorial 'The Sheltering Sky' for the debut issue of The Forest Magazine. Model Paula Bulczynska is lensed on location in Mongolia, wearing the designs of Tsolo Munkh, now based in Oulan Bator./ Hair & makeup by Sonia Duchaussoy

Based in Berlin, The Forest describes itself as:

"timeless, bright and dark, pleasant and gloomy, friendly and hostile; magnificent in its duality as nature is. Metaphorically, it is a place to immerse ourselves and heighten our senses. In essence, The Forest is an independent publication about the visual arts, focusing on the interplay of light and darkness, of innocence, lust and all the shades of gray that lie in-between.

Our mission is to create a platform which brings together visionary creatives who share our love for enchanting and captivating imagery which stands the test of time. Against the trends of this fast paced era, we intend to focus on quality instead of quantity.

AOC noticed an unusual number of women associated with The Forest and reached out to Guerin colleague, creative director and journalist Sheri Chiu for commentary. Chiu shares the thoughts of editor-in-chief Demetrios:

The team is female, simply put because I trust them more for this particular role. I dont know many men personally, who I think would be suitable, but soon there may be some.

Plus, there is a specific reason why most PR positions are occupied by women, men are positively predisposed when contacting a woman and a woman is more comfortable and trusting when contacted by a woman, instead of a man, whose agenda she may not know. And I have seen this personally, me sending an email, getting no reply, and another team member sending the exact same email some weeks later, only to get a reply.

(I have done my tests :)

Plus, I want to check the material with women, especially if there is nudity involved. I worked on the layout with 4 different female friends of mine and their opinion was very valuable. Men are easily tempted by boobs and ass, so if women also like the set, it s guaranteed that men will definitely like it.

I could say it s a filter for the content, the element of trust, plus I get well along with my female friends.

But no, there is no feminist agenda, if this is implied.

Enjoy this high-quality fashion effort! ~ Anne