I had a look through B&W UK yesterday in WH Smiths and it really isn't up to the previous standards, circa 2005. Too many historical articles and non-useful reviews were my initial impressions. I've recently read an article on using the Colorstar 3000 by Frances Schultz from 'Darkroom User' magazine dated 1997. I cannot imagine an article like this or a serious "art" piece getting published in the current Black & White Photography (UK) magazine.
PS) I realise the Colorstar is a product primarily for colour work, but the example still stands as an in-depth article of some use to the reader.
PS) I realise the Colorstar is a product primarily for colour work, but the example still stands as an in-depth article of some use to the reader.
Tom
Many of us use the Colorstar also as an b&w analyser.
The article of Frances Schultz is from an outstanding quality even after so many years. It was this article who learned me to use the Colorstar in all his advantages.
Getting back on topic, is UK B&W even worth looking for? Glancing through the recent posts I get the feeling that this magazine is past it's prime.
Currently my baseline is B&W (US) and Silvershotz.
There is a parallel to online reports of gear problems - for everyone complaining there are hundreds or thousands out without any problem.
For everyone complaining in this thread there are many who do not complain because they like it as it is.
There is no alternative to get hold of a copy and get your own impression for decision.
Fo me this meant subscribing, because this is the only practical way to get it here. And I re-subscibed for 24 months and so far did not regret it.
And it meant that I had to subscribe to a magazine in a foreign language to get what I wanted.
We have a saying here in Germany - when it is soccer world championship there are over 80 million coaches for the national team - and every single knows "how to do it right".
Andreas
I think what you are suffering from is what I like to call " The Pavarotti Syndrome". This is where you pay a lot of money to see or hear somebody famous and then you are expected to be objective about what you have experienced. Who is going to admit that they have wasted their money on something substandard.
Anyway good luck with your reading over the next 2 years and I hope that you won't be disappointed.
I must say that I have continued to buy the magazine, but its only because of some kind of Pavlovian conditioning. I see the mag in the shops here and immediately buy it because I associate it with a fond memory rather than its present insipid reality.
Living in Australia I have yet to see any of the post Corfield magazines so I don't know how things are shaping up, but I certainly felt that if he was allowed to continue it would have ended up as the typical lads consumerist pap as many once good publications have now become. Unfortunately the only content that is now valued is advertising. Even the equipment reviews that Corfield wrote were so superficial that you could get more impartial information off of the manufacturers websites. The advertorials were so badly done that they were insulting the intelligence of the reader.
What the answer is I don't know. If the magazine returns to its roots it will not attract the advertising that it needs to remain commercially viable, but if it continues the way it is it will alienate its readership so much that they will cease to buy it. The tragedy is that there have been calls from the mag wanting pieces and ideas, but when you actually send that in you get no response, not even an email.
Perhaps some of the previous correspondents are right, special interest magazines like B&W have been made redundant with the advent of forums such as this one. Does any one know of a good therapist who could help me overcome my addiction.
The tragedy is that there have been calls from the mag wanting pieces and ideas, but when you actually send that in you get no response, not even an email.
Paul, if it's any consolation even as a regular contributor I don't always get a reply to stuff I send in on spec. Sometimes it's many months before I get the 'nod' that a piece is going to be used. So please don't give up sending material in.
I would agree in that I think B&W has turned a corner. I haven't been on APUG for ages and life is too short to go back and read 70-odd pages, but I can imagine what the feeling on APUG has been about the magazine's recent direction.
Personally, I didn't like the style and the 'Amateur Photography (B&W edition)' that the magazine I'd bought from issue 1 was fast turning into. I appreciate it must have been difficult to breathe new life into something, especially when the photographic world has changes since back then.
I'm probably not alone here in thinking that black & white photography and digital photography is a contradiction in terms, but the magazine has to attract new readers. I can't help thinking though, that B&W Magazine has probably been instrumental on many mono photographers turning their backs on the darkroom due to the digital spin. The Reader's Gallery must have been at least 90% digitally shot/printed of late.
As for the letters page, I don't miss it. It usually was full of 'what-a-great-magazine/it's-got-me-back-into-photography-after-20-years-off' type of thing. Which is OK when you think that their letter sack must be more than half full of anti-digital ramblings (a bit like this really).
Anyway, hopefully I'll be looking forward to B&W coming through the letterbox once again and not remembering to get around to reading the last issue once the latest one is on the doormat.
A few months ago I wasn't sure if I would continue with my subscription but now Liz has taken over the helm I am encouraged.
We should reserve judgement until she has found her feet and hit her stride
I am sure that the editors’ job is a tricky balancing act and as Les McLean put it - your damned if you do & damned if you don't
There have been a few casualties in the articles I liked best - Golden Oldies was always a favourite, I found the "5 Things" articles fascinating and I am another to add my voice to the return of the Letters page.
We need to be careful that we don't become to elitist – people who subscribe to APUG are probably a long way up the photographic food chain. I for one am not keen to move the Mag out of reach of the beginner – we all were there once.
To keep the Mag economically viable there has to be some Digital content – we Analogues just are not a big enough share of the market to justify our own publication – however much we all wish we were. I for one just skip those bits that are Digital only – it’s a surprisingly small amount of the publication
Only by continuing to buy the Magazine in large numbers can we hope to influence the content and push the Analogue side of the game we all hold so dear and the contributors we hold in such high esteem
Abandon the Mag and it will inevitably slip over to the Dark Side
Linear Mode
