Aperture Magazine

[Brian Moore]

Looks like a good read!

 

[Gary R. Smith]

Looks like a good read!

So far it has been much more enjoyable than the first issue that I received. It has articles that I can relate to whereas the earlier issue seemed too full of itself. Who knows? Maybe it's me too full of myself?

 

[Paul Taylor]

I am a damned, dirty pirate with magazines. I download them off newsgroups. This includes all the generic "digital photographer" magazines which there seems to be a never ending stream of different titles - where I find the most interesting content to be the reader submissions. I usually thumb through Aperture as well - and have mixed "mehs" about it as well. Perhaps I am just not artsy-smarts enough to "get it." Occasionally I will stumble across a magazine like "Photo Insights" - and I do rather like that one, and other similar small publisher magazines.

I worked with magazines for years, and watching how many of them were killed off was disappointing. I think I have replaced the missing magazines with YouTube creators however, and I do like the myriad of different photographers I watch on that service.

 

[Gary R. Smith]

I usually thumb through Aperture as well

So far I've actually enjoyed this issue but it's only the second one I've received. Unlike the first one, this one seems to be about photographers and their photographic projects.

I may need to search out "Photo Insights".

 

[Gary R. Smith]

The Fall issue arrived the other day and after browsing the whole thing once, I read one article, browsed it again and it's now in the pile to take to the library. I can't say that subscribing to this has enriched my appreciation of photography or photographers. So far, each issue has included at least a couple of interesting photographs but the signal to noise ratio is not quite worth what it's cost.

My 2 cents (so you don't have to spend yours).

 

[Pete Askew]

I used to subscribe to Aperture and enjoyed it while I did. I found myself drowning in magazines though and pared my subscriptions back. I now only subscribe to LFI and Studies in Photography (a quarterly journal of the Scottish Society for the History of Photography) and keep all of the back-issues. I have still got my copies of Aperture though as well as a select few others, but the rest have mostly gone. I do have a few years of Black and White Photography and BJP stored at work looking for a good home (free, but limited to the UK due to the cost of shipping) if anyone is interested).

 

[Gary R. Smith]

The current Winter 2024 issue contains 10 articles dealing with the application of AI to photography and the copyright issues of the same.

 

[Gianluca Drago]

This sounds like an interesting issue. AI has been everywhere for years/decades now, in your phone, your camera or photo editing software, your online searches, your bank account, your shop... What is probably exploding now is generative AI and I see that it is already present not only in images on websites or in web magazines and newspapers, but also in strictly called photo galleries (e.g. in The Guardian). The important thing is that it is explicitly stated and this is not always the case.

 

[Gary R. Smith]

Unlike most of the previous issues, I found this one interesting.

 

[Tony Warren]

What an interesting post. I think magazines and many other things are moving on from the time when doing something, including photography, involved a lot of study and application on technical matters. These are now largely taken care of by the equipment used. The result of this is that artists, artisans or whatever you call a tool user these days can be more expressive.

The lengths Bill Brandt had to go to to produce his striking wide angle nudes included assembling his own camera. Now we can just go out buy an inexpensive lens for any camera. I am not belittling anything done today - that was the Luddite's problem. If progress isn't at least recognised for its benefits, it is just that sort of thing that can occur. It doesn't mean you have to abandon everything else. just let it get on with it. Something good usually transpires, even AI might.

As to magazines, I recently learned that the UK Amateur Photographer has recently changed publishers. It has disappeared from the local library publications section no doubt as a result. I don't read many photography magazines myself but one that you might like Gary is D-Photo, a New Zealand publication, which is printed on good quality stock to a high standard. And I think the content is more photographer biased than photography connoisseur.

 

[Gary R. Smith]

a New Zealand publication,

Thanks for the tip Tony!

I enjoy reading printed material (just like I did when I learned to read). I don't enjoy reading long pieces online. I'd also prefer to view images in print rather than on-line although the ability to up-size and pixel peep online is nice.

If you've slagged through all of my input to this thread you'll likely get that I've not been overly impressed with aperture.

I've looked at several UK photography magazines at the (bricks-and-mortar) bookstore and they're always more expensive due likely to shipping them across the pond. They're likely to get more expensive once Trump extracts his tariff.

[5 minutes later] - I wonder if they're still publishing? I don't see anything on their website re: subscriptions to their print magazine. And images suggest that there hasn't been anything since 2022-23?

 

[Tony Warren]

Thanks for the tip Tony!

I enjoy reading printed material (just like I did when I learned to read). I don't enjoy reading long pieces online. I'd also prefer to view images in print rather than on-line although the ability to up-size and pixel peep online is nice.

If you've slagged through all of my input to this thread you'll likely get that I've not been overly impressed with aperture.

I've looked at several UK photography magazines at the (bricks-and-mortar) bookstore and they're always more expensive due likely to shipping them across the pond. They're likely to get more expensive once Trump extracts his tariff.

[5 minutes later] - I wonder if they're still publishing? I don't see anything on their website re: subscriptions to their print magazine. And images suggest that there hasn't been anything since 2022-23?

Hi Gary, yes, after posting that I went to the library on my regular weekly visit only to find the magazine had disappeared! Checking the web, I have found a web site which suggests it has changed publisher, possibly recently, and have morphed into a quarterly rather than the earlier two monthly form. I found them at:- https://dphoto.co.nz/ so that may help.

I remember Aperture as quite a respected publication but from what your post has shown it seems to have changed somewhat and not for the better.

Hope you can have a look at D-Photo. It may not appeal but no stone unturned and all that.

 

[Gary R. Smith]

It does appear that individual print issues may be available but I can't figure out what may be their latest. D-Photo #106 appears to be the newest available but it is "The best of 2022" - a bit stale.