LOL, I'm willing to bet that they are moving towards more digital coverage BECAUSE they are losing many readers. The fact is that if you don't cater to what most photographers are interested in, you will go out of business...
Isaac
Back in one of the first issues (No. 2 I think) they had an article about IR the digital way so its no news for them to include articles about digital B&W this&that. The reason I started bying the mag was that it was so different from the rest of the mags on the shelf. It was not monthly back then but came every two months.
There are dozens of magazines covering digital photography in the newsstands, many of them covering some B&W stuff from time to time. If B&W Photography does not stand out from the crowd why buy it? It has to be different to make a difference to the readers not copy what the other mags do.
B&W is already a niche title. You can make a tidy profit by catering for a niche market. Taking it into the mainstream will lose their existing readership whilst not attracting the vast majority of digital shooters who are only interested in B&W as something they can do occasionally in Photoshop.
If it continues down the digital road at the expense of film it will die: there is simply nomarket for a digital B&W magazine. There is a small market for a B&W magazine that keeps to the narrow path of the B&W speciality interest, both film and digital where appropriate.
It would be interesting to find out how many purchasers are mostly digital and how many are traditional. I suspect the loss of the latter will be sufficient to force the magazine to fold. B&W film users are dedicated to the medium whereas for digital capture users, B&W is likely to be an occasional change of pace from colour. This, I am sure, is reflected in their monthly sales figures.
Hello everyone, it's David Corfield here, the new editor of Black & White Photography magazine.
I have read all the threads on this post with interest and at a time of change on the magazine I totally understand your concerns. But I'm here to tell you that I certainly have no intention of taking this well-established magazine down a route that doesn't suit it. Yes, we are a niche title but we are also a commercial enterprise. To survive means that we have to take on board modern technology and reflect the majority interest. We are a magazine that champions the monochrome image, and digital is a part of the photographic landscape just as any other process.
It is true that my background is mass-market consumer magazines, but I don't want you thinking that I'm going to make this magazine a pastiche of all that I have served under. Far from it. I will certainly use the 10-year experience I have gleaned to introduce some really exciting features that big magazines do so well - like reader workshops, challenges, and so on - and look forward to working with you all on those over the coming months. But Black & White Photography magazine has its own flavour and I love it for that.
This is a really exciting time for us. It is a magazine we are passionate about and I am glad to see you are all passionate about it too. From the next issue we will be firing on all cylinders and I want you to write to me at davidc at thegmcgroup dot com and suggest ideas that perhaps haven't been covered before.
This is YOUR magazine and you should play a part on it - new contributors, images, ideas - they are all welcome here. I grew up with the smell of Hypam around my house and still have funny coloured fingernails! I am a devout monochrome fan and feel so lucky and privileged that I get to take this magazine forward and keep it focused on what it does best.
All the best to you and I look forward to hearing from you.
Excellent that you take an interest in the views expressed on APUG, I can assure you I have learnt a great deal in my time as a 'contributor' and the feedback I have received has been exceptional, knowledgeble and valuable.
Good luck in your new role, I can assure you B&W is the first magazine I read each month.
welcome aboard and thanks for your statement.
I've been a bit worried, since I renewed my subscription for 24 additional issues just a few days before Ailsa announced, that she will leave. And I'm still waiting here in Germany for the september issue - it's two weeks late - which added more to worry about.
I subscribed to B&W although here in Germany the ads are next to useless for me, the exhibition calender nearly too.
For me it's all about the image, preferably coming from film and printet wet.
Just keep us happy and we buy your magazine.
__________________
Regards,
Andreas
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Many thanks for joining the discussion, David, and welcome to APUG.
Speaking purely for myself, I can only justify a subscription to a magazine where the majority of the articles are of interest to me. Up until this issue B&WP UK has easily managed that.
For the future, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. As you may have gathered, quite a few of us will be watching the evolution of the magazine with interest.
Quote:
Originally Posted by David_Corfield
Yes, we are a niche title but we are also a commercial enterprise. To survive means that we have to take on board modern technology and reflect the majority interest.
EDIT - I appreciate the commercial necessities involved, but does the above mean that this new ratio of digital to traditional in the magazine is here to stay?
Regards,
Frank
__________________ The destination is important, but so is the journey
Welcome to APUG David, thank you for taking the time to reply to our concerns.
Regarding the future content of the magazine, I have to agree with Frank, I can only justify buying a photographic magazine where the majority of the content is of interest to me.
Digital imaging is a continuation of the lack of veracity that pervades our modern society. The opportunity to palm off fictional images without the use of a single photon suggests that it should be removed from the definition of photography. We will all become rich teaching workshops on lost science.
Just my thoughts before I mow the grass
Mark
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Mark Layne
Nova Scotia
and Barbados
I hope you'll stick around here. Many APUG members are or have been contributers to B&W as well as subscribers. I suspect that many of your overseas subscribers were first alerted to B&W through this website.
You have a very difficult path to tread as editor, keeping everyone happy. I really feel that if the mag continues to review mainstream DSLRS, printers etc then it will die. It's main strength has been the quality of the journalism, writers such as Eamonn McCabe, Roger and Frances, Les McLean etc.
lt's emphasis on the image rather than the equipment. The excellent portfolios and especially the reportage features, not just from the Getty archives but also new work.
Please continue to review the quirky, unusual or non mainstream products that no one else touches.
Don't have endless Photoshop technique articles -- they're boring and are in every other magazine.
It took me a while to get into Mike Johnson's column but I grew to like it, culminating in his story and portfolio on his son, one of the best articles ever in B&W. However, his recent stuff has been very poor. The latest article has no relevance to B&W. It's just a DSLR review with a colour photo. That needs to be stamped out.
A review on the new Adox MCC fibre paper comparing it to the old Agfa version would be great.
If you want to keep the attention of both sets of readers then how about articles on combining the traditional with digital? I see that you have a review of the new DeVere digital enlarger next month, but what about hybrid techniques such as producing digital negatives for alternative processes? How to produce the negatives, creating adjustment curves in Photoshop, best printers/film for the negatives and then articles on producing cyanotypes, van dykes, platinum/palladium etc. This hybrid technique is very popular at the moment see APUG's sister site www.hybridphoto.com for some great work. I'm sure Fotospeed would support you with adverts for their alternative process kits.
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