Publisher: Gareth Powell Publishing, Sydney [or] Sungravure Publishing, Sydney.

Format: Sixteen softcover octavo magazines, glossy wrappers, approx. 80pp each, 27.2 x 21cm.

Issues included are:
Vol. 1: Numbers 7, 8.
Vol. 2: Numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 11.
Vol. 3: Number 5.
Vol. 4: Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10.

“POL is a perfectly pulsatingly pleasurably purely palatably plainly palpitatingly Pandora’s Box of Goodies!”

One of the early standout publications of Australia’s magazine scene, POL pushed the boundaries for a magazine with mainstream appeal. Growing out of the spirit of the 1960s revolution, it had Richard Walsh of OZ Magazine as its founding editor, no stranger to controversy. POL magazine ran from 1969 to 1982 and quickly became a distinct voice of Australia’s developing cultural scene. It’s high-quality printing and design were a first for Australian magazine publishing, and it platformed some of the most influential voices and photographers of the era.

POL had a roster of photographers including Wesley Stacey, Anthony Crowell, Colin Beard, Lewis Morley, Greg Weight, Greg Barrett, Jacqueline Mitelman, Robin Stacey, Brett Hilder, Dieter Muller and Rennie Ellis; all of whom were given relative freedom for their editorial shoots, resulting in spreads that seem distinctly of their time and concurrently completely undated for the modern reader.

While POL straddled the line of a magazine containing serious articles about women’s issues, politics, and censorship, it is the fashion pages that are a true highlight. Spotlight features on designers such as Zandra Rhodes, Mary Quant, Kansai Yamamoto, Courreges, and Marimekko are given pride of location and styling, and sit alongside a host of Australian designers such as Prue Acton, House of Merivale, Carla Zampatti, etc.

Guest editors and writers include Germaine Greer, Barbara Blackman, Richard Walsh, and Charmaine Clift, on subjects as various as abortion, censorship, sex work, wine, counterculture, religion, career girls’ expense accounts, reincarnation, assault, and motoring. POL pushed the boat out and became a worthy artefact for Australia’s changing face of the 1970s.

Get in contact for more images or details about each issue.

Minor scuffs overall, creases, tears, and foxing to some covers, wrappers coming away from 1-2 issues, some annotated in ink on cover.