Trope Magazine Creates Space for the Creative
By Erika Kuehl
At a university that is heavily based on tradition, the nontraditional can be hard to come by. TROPE Magazine is bending the culture at Baylor — one deeply fascinating photo shoot at a time.
Don’t let the name fool you, nothing about TROPE is cliché. Irving senior Vennela Vattikuti, creative director of TROPE Magazine, started the creative process after working with a similar concept in Austin.
“I was able to act as a stylist in a magazine in Austin called Saffron,” Vattikuti said. “And I did that for about a year. And through that experience, I saw how they’re part of UT. I saw how student-led magazines work. And so I thought of bringing it to Baylor because we don’t have a creative outlet for people of all different artistic mediums to join together and create something.”
Filled with euphoric photos and poetry that leave you longing, the first edition of the magazine, “Ephemera,” was released on Oct. 5 after a year of inventive collaboration. Although it is solely run by Baylor students, the magazine is not affiliated with the university.
“We are not Baylor affiliated, so we don’t need their permissions for anything we do or anything like that,” Vattikuti said. “So yeah, no faculty — just all college students.”
If TROPE were a movie, the executive staff said they give off the same energy as “The Devil Wears Prada” — minus Miranda Priestly.
“It’s a very fun, collaborative environment even though I’m the leader and I can be hard on people to meet deadlines and stuff,” Vattikuti said.
The first edition “Ephemera,” explored what it meant to be human through different art mediums like photography, fashion and prose. Belton senior Justin Demsky, the writing director, was the mastermind behind incorporating writing into the mostly visual magazine.
These photos are all for the TROPE Magazine Issue 01, which was published on Oct.21, 2024. Dallas senior Vennela Vattikuti is the stylist and also the founder, editor and creative director of the magazine. Montgomery senior Nate Willis, Jacksonville, Fla, senior Easton Mahepaul and Ewa Beach Oahu, Hawaii, senior Xavier Crooms are models for this shoot.
“The editorial explores what makes us human in ways that are deviant according to the norms in society,” Demsky said. “Because it’s TROPE, but it’s kind of an ironic title because we’re trying to break boundaries — break types — and go directly against people’s expectations. We just try to tap into something that isn’t normally seen mainstream or on social media. We try to see what makes people human, and the things that people are sometimes afraid to talk about or don’t really want to discuss. We just try to bring out these kinds of smaller conversations through evocative writing and imagery.”
TROPE models Boston, Massachusetts senior Lily Romano and Houston senior Hector Rucoba express creativity during an editorial photo shoot.
TROPE magazine allows each member to be creative in their respective mediums. Bentley, Louisiana senior Madalynne Meeker, photography director, said she is frequently inspired by photographer Tim Walker.
“He’s known as a fashion photographer, but he creates really, insanely surreal images that are kind of bizarre — expanding more beyond like the garment of clothing, and so I try to pull some inspiration from that,”
Meeker said.
Other members of the executive staff noted finding inspiration through people like Michèle Lamy, Kali Uchis and R&B artists. Vattikuti said she plans to leave TROPE at Baylor when she graduates instead of taking it with her.
“I think the main purpose I created TROPE was so that students in Waco and a very lackluster place like Baylor can have a creative outlet and have the same opportunities as students from bigger cities,” Vattikuti said. “So, I don’t feel it’s appropriate for me to take it with me. I think the appropriate thing to do would leave it here and hopefully have somebody that wants to take it over and continue doing this for other students.”
The second edition of TROPE magazine is set to be released in
this spring 2025.
