Over the past few months, I’ve been noticing a rise in independent, curated and appealing photography “magazines” emerging from the huge mass of images that surround us.
Some are being published as books, some as traditional magazines, some as well designed online presences and some for ipad. I thought I’d take a quick look at a few of them and see whether this is the start of a new resurgence in outlets for quality photography and longform storytelling, or simply another round of hopeless idealists destined for a glorious but short existence.
Burn Magazine
Burn is curated and created by Magnum photographer David Alan Harvey and has been running since late 2008. It calls itself an evolving journal for emerging photographers and publishes new stories or singles at least 3 times a week via their online presence at www.burnmagazine.org. It is funded by direct donations and I assume some specific sponsorships.
As David says on his about page “burn is born from an educational imperative and to bring strong photographic essays and powerful text to not only photographers, but to anyone fascinated by a visual and literary interpretation of our complex planet. Your interpretations may be either journalistic in nature or esoteric subjective pieces. I hold all artists in high regard. With me as editor/curator you need never think “what does he want or like?” I will push you to do your thing, not mine…
We will do something very special right here on burn. A collaboration between thee and me. Adventure. Always exploring new territory. With YOU as the authors.”
Burn is interesting not just because of the high quality of stories that regularly emerge from the website, but also because they have begun to publish an online magazine/book. They are now up to edition 02 – which can be purchased worldwide for EUR35 + shipping – http://www.burnmagazine.org/essays/2011/10/buy-burn-02-in-print/
“Burn 02 is not a repeat of Burn online. Burn 02 is its own original work. A 1500 copy limited editon. Online is terrific, but when you hold 02 in your hand, you will know what photography is all about from our perspective. I am not published in it. I wish I was. The place to be published for sure”.
Also of note is the emerging photographer grant which they fund, details of which can be found here – http://www.burnmagazine.org/emerging-photographer-grant/
TAKE Photography Magazine
TAKE is a new venture by the guys and gals at Sydney design house DESIGN IS KINKY , and published it’s first edition on July 2011 – http://www.takephotomag.com/. It features a strong lineup of mostly well established Australian Photographers, with the first issue containing work by Tamara Dean, Stephen Dupont, Adam Ferguson, James Brickwood, Lee Grant, Martin Mischkulnig, Toby Dixon,
Lisa Wiltse and others and a preview can be viewed here – http://issuu.com/emptymag/docs/take_one_preview
Issue Two is currently available for pre-sale (which is helping fund the second edition) and they threw submissions for that edition open on facebook and then received a fairly overwhelming selection (duh!). Hopefully we’ll see it soon and as per issue 1 I’m assuming it will be available both online and at decent quality newsagents.
Timemachine
Timemachine is one I recently came across and is published by Lee Grant (formerly of Light Journeys) and Tom Williams. Also in it’s second bimonthly edition, it provides online galleries only at this stage. Submissions are loosely based on the current editions theme and encouraged from a wide pool of contributors. To date those published include Fiona Morris, Katrin Koenning, Michael Corridore, Ingvar kenne and Loiuse Porter – http://timemachinemag.com/
“Timemachine publishes contemporary photography from Australia and elsewhere in the world. Our emphasis is on showing new work and longer term projects; and bringing the concerns of photographers and their colleagues to wider attention. Do countries or cultures breed different ways of thinking and seeing? This is a place to look at new Australian image making alongside a selection of what’s emerging from around the globe.”
They are currently online only but would seem a great candidate for print at some point. Also it is well worthwhile checking out their Links page for a high quality list of Magazines, Festivals, Galleries, Agencies and Competitions.
MARTYN JOLLY: Facial Velocities
MICHAEL CORRIDORE: Today's your birthday
TERESA COS: I was there
ELENA DORFMAN: The Pleasure Park
CLAIRE MARTIN: Femme Fatale
FIONA MORRIS: Miss South Sudan Australia
ZED NELSON: Love Me
SUSANA RAAB: Consumed
SASHA WOOLLEY: Limelight
Once magazine
Once Magazine is taking the ipad angle with a premise built on a simple idea:
“It started with a simple realization: photographs look great on the iPad. And the problem? We couldn’t find any to look at.
The more we dug the worse things seemed. While photographs impact more people than ever before, outlets for visual storytelling weren’t keeping pace with either technology or shifting reader habits. The entire concept of curated photography, we realized, was ripe for a serious rethinking.
The product of our ensuing efforts is Once, a new magazine for the iPad that shares subscription revenue 50/50 with each issue’s contributors. This is, no doubt, something different. But Once is more than a magazine on a device and more than a new model. We’re excited to bring the photo story into the age of the app, and have an amazing set of features in development for both readers and photographers.”
Once Magazine — Available Now from Once Magazine on Vimeo.
The other interesting part here is that they split the app store revenue for each issue with contributors in a 50:50 split. They seem to be getting some good collaborative partners on-board as well, including Agence VU and LUCEO for the first edition. It’s got great photojournalism work and with the right social media marketing approach maybe they can cut through and generate a loyal subscriber base. I’d suggest checking out their blog - http://blog.oncemagazine.com/
If you’ve got a favourite photography magazine, hit it up in the comments….
