Welcome to Teller, a magazine of stories. Stories told in pictures, in words, in both; short sharp stories, ‘so I once heard this story’ stories, stories of pure invention and stories that might just be true.

Flavie Guerrand’s pictures, culled from hundreds of all-nighters in Paris and Berlin, tell the story of the ultimate party. Charles Trotter, a commercial photographer based in Nairobi in the 1950s, shows us the decadence of colonial rule in its dying days, while Damien Poulain pictures a congregation that has already passed away.

Julia Hayes commemorates a ritual cleansing performed in a 1930s London slum and Joe Dilworth introduces the bucolic disciplines of Hungary’s Peasant Olympics. Will Carruthers, Crispin Dowler, and Augustine Obeyeskera tell implausible tales of real life. Nina Mangalanayagam opens the doors to a gathering of her Tamil family in Europe, Lee Scrivner disturbs the peace of the American backyard, and Thomas Rees goes for a ride in Russia.

It’s a miscellany, a platter for your enjoyment. Like an old sea dog accosting you at a wedding, fugitives from the plague passing time around the campfire, or just the rambling oracle propping up the bar, Teller will tell you the stories you always wanted to hear.

London and Berlin, October 2010