Quote of the Month:

"...whether a million monkeys with a million digital cameras would eventually shoot the work of Henri Cartier-Bresson?"

Sunday 4 December 2011

Photography and The Magazine

I am not sure whether it is just me, or whether I have been particularly unlucky, but photography magazine subscriptions are not exactly reliable. I take out a fair few subscriptions over the year, and so keeping track of what should have come and when is a challenge.
  • PHOTOICON magazine - After taking out a year's subscription to the magazine back in 2009, I received only one copy before they decided that it was financially impractical to print anymore. Two years on, no more copies have arrived, but their website is still raking in the money from advertisements. Only one word for the people over at PHOTOICON: charlatans.
  • Turning Pro magazine - A yearly direct debit taken out in 2010 when the magazine was quarterly, it soon became more expensive with the switch to bi-monthly. Today I discovered that they have stopped printing the magazine as of two months ago, but hadn't bothered to contact me to organise a refund for the money I have already paid. Shocking and appalling behaviour to say the least.
  • Amateur Photographer - The recent copy dated 03/12/2011 arrived in a less than perfect manner. The pages had not been cut properly, so they all required careful 'ripping' apart before the magazine could be read. A short email prompted a quick response the following day. "We can confirm that your subscription will be extended by 1 issue by way of compensation." On top of this, I received a letter the other month informing me that I was being switched to their cheapest subscription price. The magazine might use the word amateur in it's title, but they are one of the best companies for treating their subscribers.
  • British Journal of Photography - I am not the most organised of people, but about this time last year took it upon myself to sort my magazines and journals into some kind of order. I promptly noticed that my August 2010 copy of BJP was missing, emailed them and was told that another was being dispatched immediately. I am still waiting over a year later for it to arrive. I guess someone must really like the work of Lee Friedlander, featured in the edition in question, and decided to keep the replacement meant for me along with the original copy. Considering how expensive BJP is, I'm still a little gutted about this.
  • Ag Photography Journal - The death of Chris Dickie is unfortunate, which is what makes Ag's ability to offer brief (almost bi-monthly) updates via their website all the more remarkable. Ag 64 - The Memorial Issue will be something to treasure, no doubt.
Apologies for the rant. I have decided to trim back on subscriptions in the year coming, both to help out my pocket and to minimise stress. I am also in the process of producing a newspaper for the Dinner A Day series which should be ready around mid-January.

[EDIT / UPDATE]
  • I take back all those nice things that I said about Amateur Photographer, shortly after I posted this, they sent me a letter confirming my new quarterly direct debit was to increase to £26.52, which is significantly more than the £18.99 that new subscribers are currently being offered. What price loyalty? £7.53 clearly. Suffice to say, I cancelled my subscription, their loss really.
Chris

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