Printed photographic press

[p.giannakis]

A bit of a trip down the memory lane this one. More recently, I have started thinking more and more of the piles of photographic magazines kept in my parent's house in Greece. That pile consists mostly of the first 100 issues of the Greek photographic magazine "Φωτογραφος" but also plenty of 1990s issues of "Practical Photography" (containing some articles by the late Roger Hicks) together with some issues of the French "Foto".

Back in the late 80s and throughout the 90s, these magazines were my internet, my tv and my radio at the same time. My love for photography started with the third issue of "Φωτογράφος", the back pages were full of short reviews of all 35mm cameras. Once I saw it, all I wanted was to get a camera. They also publiced a letter I sent them which was a big thing for a teenager like me then.



The fate of the printed photographic magazines followed the fate of the printed press in general - it declined and faded in the era of the internet.

But I have very fond memories of those magazines. I don't have access to them now but very often I think about them and the role they played during my first steps in the world of photography. Nowadays I read old issues of Popular Photography that I find online and I get a sense of nostalgia. There is something about those 1980s camera adverts, I get a tingling sensation on my spine.

Out of curiosity - how was it for you guys? Did you ever get involved with the photographic press? Did it play any role in your photographic life?

 

[Dogman]

I actually learned photography by reading the photo magazines available on the news stands in the 1970s. I sought out each issue of everything and every year two or three of the magazines would have a magazine sized "annual". That's where I first saw work by some of the greats like Ralph Gibson, Duane Michels, Elliott Erwitt, Walker Evans, Cartier-Bresson, Willy Ronis and on and on. These annuals were more photo oriented than gear oriented and seeing photos by great photographers inspired me. Both Modern and Popular put out end of year issues devoted to gear and I drooled over the cameras reviewed. And, of course, each monthly issue had those wonderful, lust-inspiring advertisements in the back pages. Over time I mail-ordered several lenses using US Postal money orders. There was no internet, hardly anyone had credit cards and I had no telephone--we wrote letters back then.

Other great magazines included Peterson's Photography and Camera 35. I was hooked by then. I had my Nikon and a couple of lenses and thought I was on top of the world. I also subscribed to the Life Library of Photography book series. This was back when the books were printed on a beautiful velvety matte paper stock and the photos were beautiful. Somewhere along the line, I sold the whole set because I was moving, needed cash and didn't want to move the heavy books. Kicking myself today.

 

[p.giannakis]

Somewhere along the line, I sold the whole set because I was moving, needed cash and didn't want to move the heavy books. Kicking myself today.

This is exactly what a friend told me - he sold his collection of computer magazines and now he cannot forgive himself for doing so.

 

[santino]

A bit of a trip down the memory lane this one. More recently, I have started thinking more and more of the piles of photographic magazines kept in my parent's house in Greece. That pile consists mostly of the first 100 issues of the Greek photographic magazine "Φωτογραφος" but also plenty of 1990s issues of "Practical Photography" (containing some articles by the late Roger Hicks) together with some issues of the French "Foto".

Back in the late 80s and throughout the 90s, these magazines were my internet, my tv and my radio at the same time. My love for photography started with the third issue of "Φωτογράφος", the back pages were full of short reviews of all 35mm cameras. Once I saw it, all I wanted was to get a camera. They also publiced a letter I sent them which was a big thing for a teenager like me then.

View attachment 4826965

The fate of the printed photographic magazines followed the fate of the printed press in general - it declined and faded in the era of the internet.

But I have very fond memories of those magazines. I don't have access to them now but very often I think about them and the role they played during my first steps in the world of photography. Nowadays I read old issues of Popular Photography that I find online and I get a sense of nostalgia. There is something about those 1980s camera adverts, I get a tingling sensation on my spine.

Out of curiosity - how was it for you guys? Did you ever get involved with the photographic press? Did it play any role in your photographic life?

I feel you. Similar story here only that it’s basketball magazines (I kinda can’t get rid off them). Nothing on the internet is as exciting as magazines were in the 80s/90s and probably earlier too. I think that it has something to do with the fact that you had to wait for every issue and the authors were real experts. Mind posting the letter you sent them (once you get access to your magazines)?

 

[Out to Lunch]

I gave away huge volumes of books and magazines. No regrets since I was moving around a lot and moving stuff around costs a lot of money. As a counterpoint, I recently saw a clip of primary school kids in a room with the Encyclopedia Britannica. They were mesmerized by how anyone could use it... Cheers, OtL

 

[Darthfeeble]

This got me to thinking that I hadn't seen my Outdoor Photographer magazine latelyl. Yep, they went under too. I get Black and White magazine but I will need to get a monthly, any suggestions?

 

[PRJ]

I miss those days too. My favorite back in the 90s was Camera and Darkroom which later changed to Darkroom and Creative Camera Techniques I think. When I was just starting out I would get C&D and read it cover to cover, then start again. I stupidly sold most of them a decade ago. I did keep some that had work of friends or for an interesting article.

As Santino mentioned, back then you had to be some kind of expert to get attention and get past the editors. These days any idiot can just push nonsense because of the internet. Kinda sad.

 

[p.giannakis]

This got me to thinking that I hadn't seen my Outdoor Photographer magazine latelyl. Yep, they went under too. I get Black and White magazine but I will need to get a monthly, any suggestions?

I am not sure if any have survived. 10 years ago some magazines moved online - you were paying a subscription and they were emailing a PDF. I don't think they do it any more.
Surprisingly, the Greek photographic magazine still survives and does very well. It is published once a month and is part of a newspaper. I am looking on their website and see they have gone back to about 200 pages. That looks great .

 

[p.giannakis]

I feel you. Similar story here only that it’s basketball magazines (I kinda can’t get rid off them). Nothing on the internet is as exciting as magazines were in the 80s/90s and probably earlier too. I think that it has something to do with the fact that you had to wait for every issue and the authors were real experts. Mind posting the letter you sent them (once you get access to your magazines)?

I am planning to visit Greece at Christmas. I will bring a few slides and magazines back with me. I can post a pic of the letter although it was written in Greek.
I had two question to ask regarding the emergence of the APS system. I asked if it means that the 35mm film will be obsolete and therefore we have to buy new cameras (I had just bought my Praktica) and the second question was why they don't use the APS technology to improve current films.
The editor did not share my worry regarding the first question (and rightly so, we know what happened to APS). The answer to the second question was very obscure, they asked me to consider what happened when Mao made obligatory for all citizens to wear the same clothes. Maybe it made a lot of sense to them but it confused the hell out of me at the age of 14-15.

 

[p.giannakis]

I gave away huge volumes of books and magazines. No regrets since I was moving around a lot and moving stuff around costs a lot of money. As a counterpoint, I recently saw a clip of primary school kids in a room with the Encyclopedia Britannica. They were mesmerized by how anyone could use it... Cheers, OtL

My room in Greece is kind of a time capsule. I still have the encyclopedias bought by my father in 1975. As a small child, I was terrified when I opened the first volume (AB-), it had an article about the fish living in the abyss. I was so terrified that that volume had to be taken out of my room. I did not open it again.
In 2017, whilst in my 40s, I decided to face my fears. I could feel my hands shaking as I approached "ab-". To my surprise, the picture was not even a picture. It was a drawing. Here is a pic of it. A good example of beliefs that grow in my head and occupy valuable space.

 

[raydm6]

We were fortunate to have two large newsstands in Cambridge's Harvard Square - near Harvard University: Nini’s Corner and Out of Town News. I used to peruse the photo magazines there in the 70's.

The only collection (which I still have) are all of Fred Picker's Zone VI Newsletters.

Zone VI Newsletters: Issues 1 - 83 : Fred Picker : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Zone VI NewslettersByFred PickerIssues 1 - 831973 - 1995Including All SupplementsWill provide better images soon

archive.org

 

[p.giannakis]

Somewhere in the mid-90s the crew in "Φωτογράφος" split in two different magazines and it never recovered. At that point I started looking for photographic alternatives. I found a small bookshop in Athens City centre which was willing to receive subscription for Practical Photography magazine and post it from UK. I paid a year subscription and I was blown away by the quality. William Cheung became the editor and a lot of people consider it it's best period.

They were doing things unheard of. I remember taking 7 readers on a trip and giving them the 7 most expensive SLRs of that time (F4, EOS1, Contax RTSIII, Leica R6.2 etc) to shot a film with each and rate it (the F4 came top). I was green with envy!
They also run over an FM2 with a Challenge tank to see if it still works (see pic). It felt to me like photography press in a whole new level.

 

[Dogman]

When I was a kid my dad would buy me comic books every few days even before I could read. I think it helped me with a head start when I started school. I loved, still love, to read. Now ask me what happened to those comic books. They were kept in an old Zenith TV box in an outbuilding behind the house. Long after my dad had died my mother told me we had to clean out that building and get rid of all those old "funny books". Yep, we disposed of a fortune that day.

I recall the issue of Camera 35 that was devoted totally to W. Eugene Smith's "Minamata" photo essay.

Still kicking myself.

 

[p.giannakis]

Very similar experience here. When my dad died, my mom threw away two bin bags of photographs my dad took in the 60s when they migrated to Australia. It was a massive archive of life of Greek immigrants in Australia. She regretted a few months later but it was too late. I only found out a few years later.

 

[Out to Lunch]

Out of Town News

Not sure why but I first read: "Out to Lunch News". Cheers, OtL

 

[Out to Lunch]

When my dad died, my mom threw away two bin bags of photographs my dad took in the 60s when they migrated to Australia.

Very sad. Perhaps she did not have good memories of her stay in Australia? I was lucky and inherited the family photo albums which go back to the early 20th century. I love the formal portraits: a woman in her finery seated on a high-backed chair with her husband standing with his left or right hand on her shoulder, both staring rather grimly into the lens.

 

[Freakscene]

I am not sure if any have survived. 10 years ago some magazines moved online - you were paying a subscription and they were emailing a PDF. I don't think they do it any more.
Surprisingly, the Greek photographic magazine still survives and does very well. It is published once a month and is part of a newspaper. I am looking on their website and see they have gone back to about 200 pages. That looks great .

There are, or at least before the current mess, there were, a couple of printed magazines in Russian that had survived too. I think the advantage for locally relevant languages is that they can capture markets of people who want to read in their language or who don’t want to or can’t speak English.

In 1994 I was young and not very interested in anything. I bought a copy of Photo Techniques introducing the new editor, Mike Johnston. My photography interest went from there. I still have all the copies of the magazine that he edited.

Very similar experience here. When my dad died, my mom threw away two bin bags of photographs my dad took in the 60s when they migrated to Australia. It was a massive archive of life of Greek immigrants in Australia. She regretted a few months later but it was too late. I only found out a few years later.

Did they return to Greece after retirement or for some other reason? Although we have huge migrant communities here in Australia (despite the current wave of dissent, anyone who is not an indigenous Australian is a migrant) the story of those who returned, sooner or later, isn’t well told.

 

[p.giannakis]

Very sad. Perhaps she did not have good memories of her stay in Australia?

Did they return to Greece after retirement or for some other reason?

They were in Australia for 10 years, from their mid-twenties to their mid-thirties. Those years were recounted as fun years but also very difficult years. No help from family, a small child, they couldn't speak English. I think they were remembering their youth but when they thought a bit harder, all the difficulties came to the surface. They moved back to Greece with the birth of my brother in 1971.

I was lucky and inherited the family photo albums which go back to the early 20th century.

Last Easter we visited some relatives in a small village in Poland. They too had loads of family photos dating a hundred years back. My attention was drawn to some portraits and daily life pictures, it was during nazi occupation. What drew my attention was the fonts on the back of the pictures, those horrible gothic style seeing in the movies. It sent a bad shiver down my spine.

 

[p.giannakis]

They were doing things unheard of. I remember taking 7 readers on a trip and giving them the 7 most expensive SLRs of that time (F4, EOS1, Contax RTSIII, Leica R6.2 etc) to shot a film with each and rate it (the F4 came top). I was green with envy!

Well, look what I found. A picture if that article- this is the end summary, the article was running for a few pages.



And also an Olympus price catalogue for lenses. Look at those prices for the cheap 50f/1.8 !

 

[ooze]

I still have every issue of the British Black & White Photography magazine between 2001-2006, when Ailsa McWhinnie was the editor, and the content was predominantly about analogue. That magazine was huge for me. I still remember how I bought the first issue and immediately went on a longish trip to India with that single issue in my bag.
In 2006 Ailsa left and with the digital tsunami back then the magazine shifted its focus to digital. That's when I stopped buying it. No idea if it still exists.