View Camera Magazine suggestions?

[neil_poulsen1]

I like the idea of doing a swimsuit edition. I've heard that Playboy

used an 8x10 view camera for their center-folds. How 'bout doing

something on that.

[dave_willison]

How about an extreme approach! Edit VC like an academic journal by

publishing only work that contributes to the building of what might be

described as a "theory of large format photography." First, eliminate

all articles on equipment and technique unless they can be tied

directly to new and innovate work. These articles would be similar to

scholarly articles on methodology. Second, Exclude all work that is

derrivitive, redundant, or simply replicates past work. This would

have the effect of eliminating most nudes, pictures of the national

parks, sea shells, etc. Third, begin to eliminate work that can be

linked to either the pictorialist or modern (f64) schools. If work can

be described as "post-modern" or a similar category it would be

included. Again, anything that moves the discipline forward! Finally,

develop a new way of publishing the "journal" which eliminates the

overreliance on advertising and the potential subserviance to

equipment manufacturers. Beyond that, develop of system of "blind"

reviewers who decide what work is published.

 

<p>

 

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[doremus_scudder1]

This is off-thread, and directed specifically to Micah about the post

above: When I was studying singing at university, one of my greatest

influences and guides was a book called "Great Singers on Great

Singing" by bass Jerome Hines consisting of interviews with

established and renowned artists about the "nuts and bolts" of their

technique. It seems to ma a similar book about LF photography would

be in great demand and fill a much-needed niche. Micah's post above

could easily be adapted for serious interviews with notable LF

photographers as a basis for such a work. All the right questions

(and then some) are already there. How 'bout it Micah? Game for a

literary project? I'm sure the potential interviewees would be

willing. Just a thought. Regards, ;^D)

[james___]

I want to give a hand to Steve for publishing a great magazine. It is

very hard to publish an all inclusive magazine which meets the varied

interest of a varied readership. I think there are some real

interesting and worthwhile suggestions in this thread. One of the

suggestions that I feel fell flat was the suggestion that the magazine

throw out all material already done and only include seminal work that

is new and cutting edge. I find the monikers "new" and "cutting edge"

in describing work as very boring. Remember that at one time Michael

Fatali's work and Michael Kenna's work was cutting edge. I like to

revisit established photographers to see what new work they are doing.

And I love to see the work of new photographers. I also really like to

see images. The philosophy behind work and vision is very interesting

but a picture is worth a thousand words. A lot of the philosophical

writing says the same thing over and over. I like the photographer to

talk about what the idea is about and how it evolved. Technique is

nice also. And as old hands at photography, large format in

particular, we need to remember that the magazine is published for us

as well as the new up and coming large format photographer. Quite a

few of us looked upon VC as a bible of sorts when we first delved into

the format. So I say to Steve, keep up the good work but take some of

the suggestions offered here and make VC a better magazine. My one

real complaint with the magazine is the deteriorating quality of the

images as printed on paper. James

[ellis_vener_photography]

I too think Simmons does an excellent job with View Camera. he

has good writers who ask (usually) smart questions and who

understand it isn't about gear but about vision.<P>An article I'd

like to see is a follow up on the Fatali profile that covers at least

the same length, the damage Michael Fatali did, both to the site

and to the cause of photography in the National Parks, and

perhaps damage caused by other over eager photographers

who think common sense rules don't apply to them, that they are

more special than the next person.

[alpshiker]

I have long considered a subscription, but the price of international mail has prevented me so far. Would there

be a way of making the magazine available in Europe at a better rate?

[fw1]

Paul, I now get my copy from Robert White in the UK (who is the UK

distributor) for GBP6.50 including postage. It probably wouldn't be

much more to send it to Switzerland. In Japan, this magazine was

available off the shelf from Tower Records in Shibuya!<p>I'm looking

forward to the upcoming issue given the previous discussions on this

board (!), and it is disappointing that Tuan appears to have deleted

that thread, although it did appear to be bordering on the litigious

towards the end.<p> Overall, <i>View Camera</i> oscillates between

very high quality (e.g portfolios such as David Fokos), and fairly

banal and badly written word-spinning, but it has an overall air of

zealous honesty which I find endearing. The current approach and

balance would be difficult to change, but Steve Simmons could do well

to introduce some non-American photographers - there are many

Japanese LF photographers who produce excellent work - if Steve were

to contact the Tokyo Museum of photography at Ebisu, I am sure that

they would be very helpful in arranging introductions, etc.

[alpshiker]

Thanks David! I'll have a look at this offer.

[tim_klein1]

OK, I'll throw my 2 cents worth in...

 

<p>

 

I have to say, I really like the magazine's format. It's impossible

to come up with a publication that covers everything, but I think

Steve does a good job of touching on a lot of different things.

 

<p>

 

The portfolios and discussions with the photographers are interesting

and pretty well done. I wouldn't change that much, except I'd really

like to see a bit more discussion about how each photographer makes

their images. As another poster said, a "day in the life" type of

thing with a little more technical information about why a specific

lens/film/process combination wwas chosen. It might also be nice to

see a section later in the magazine with a couple of the images that

didn't make the cut and a small description of why the photographer

chose one version of an image over another. These images could

obviously be smaller and of lower quality reproduction. The effect

would be something similar to other magazines that have smaller

thumbnails near the end of the publication with a description of how

the image was made.

 

<p>

 

Also, I'd disagree with some here who said they'd like less reading

material and more photos. I love examining the photos, but I always

feel like I'm finished with the magazine much too soon for a

publication that only comes out every other month. I'd like a little

more substance to tide me over until my next ViewCamera "fix"!

 

<p>

 

(and like several others, Thank you Steve for putting out this fine

magazine)

[david_goldfarb]

The "swimsuit issue" idea may have been a bit tongue-in-cheek, but I

think it might be interesting to do a piece from the _VC_ perspective

on Peter Gowland. Aside from his influence on commercial glamour and

advertising photography in defining the _Playboy_ style of the 1970s,

he wrote many popular books for amateur photographers that affected

the way ordinary people looked at themselves through the camera, and

he's designed some very interesting large format cameras (Gowlandflex

TLR, the ultralight Pocket View, some arial cameras, and others).

 

<p>

 

I have an 8x10" Pocket View, and have ordered some parts from him, and

he's a very accessible, generous guy who loves to talk about his

cameras and to help people with them. He is always making

improvements to them.

[sal_santamaura]

Steve, my only input concerns an aspect you have virtually no control

over. This thread (and the one that spawned it) have been around for

how long now? My issue only arrived with yesterday's mail delivery!

Since the USPS has caved in and made a deal with FedEx, maybe you

could negotiate one with them too?

[wayne__]

Boy, what a thread. A fair number of reasonably good suggestions and

several incredibly dorky ones that are almost embarrassing to read.

 

<p>

 

I'd like to see more articles about what LF photographers eat for

breakfast. Edward Weston liked Rice Chex. I like Wheaties mixed with

Rice Chex, especially after its sat for a while and gets a little

soppy. I'm guessing Ansel didnt shy away from the bacon and eggs

[wayne__]

I'm sorry, that should have been wheat chex. tsk, tsk. So I'm also

fond of hops.

[david_munson]

Just found this thread, but I thought I'd contribute a few thoughts

of my own.

<p>

For one thing, I can actually attribute some of my original interest

in large format photography to a single issue of <u>View Camera</u>

my father got for me while on a business trip about 2 1/2 years ago

(during my sophmore year in high school). Since then, I have bought

and devoured every issue and have gained much from the magazine.

Yeah, some issues are better than others, but when you compare it to

other, more mainstream photography magazines (<u>Popular

Photography</u> and the like), it's pretty easy to tell that it

really is on a much higher level overall. Steve Simmons has done a

great job of creating a wonderful publication and has managed to keep

it going strongly despite the relatively small number of

photographers that it goes to.

<p>

What kind of articles would I like to see? I think Micah pretty much

addressed everything I would like to see, and quite well I might

add. I understand the amount of effort and time required to create a

magazine like <u>View Camera</u>, and that <i>will</i> limit what can

be done with it, but I'm sure that there are plenty of people who

would be happy to volunteer their time and effort if it meant making

an already great publication even better. I really like the idea of

a single photograph from and a paragraph about lesser known, not

necessarily professional, but still talented LF shooters. Also, and

it might seem sort of amateurish, but as Bill Lange pointed out

above, a critique of a few photos from readers might be nice.

<u>Practical Photography</u>, a British photography magazine, does

this in every issue and it's actually pretty interesting to read.

<p>

Finally, as far as photographers I'd like to see profiled, I think

there's only one that I can think of that I'd really like to see

something about- Clyde Butcher. If you're not familiar with him, he

does pretty amazing stuff in the Florida Everglades with cameras up

to 12x20, which is no simple task.

<p>

That's about it from me.

[dan_smith]

A swimsuit edition???!!!

 

<p>

 

How in the hell would I find a swimsuit to fit my Deardorff?

[qtluong]

This is a remark on Dave's comment. If you are going to volunteer

your time and effort, do it to help this site, not View Camera.

View Camera, like any magazine, has already advertising revenue

and of course charges subcription fees, so if you do something for

them, it wouldn't be fair for you not to be compensated. On the

other hand, I maintain this site without any compensation (besides

the amazon referal fees, which are pocket money), do not resort to

commercialization (in particular banner adds), take care of this

forum despite the abuse that I receive periodically, format

contributions in HTML, write articles, all this just for the

satisfaction of serving the Large Format community. I would certainly

welcome any help.

<p>

The main difference that I see between View Camera and this site

is that View Camera has an easier access to established photographers.

They are happy to be featured in the magazine, which has a high

standard of quality, but they would not be interested by being

featured on this site for a variety of reasons.

Besides that, I don't see why some

of the excellent suggestions of Micah couldn't be used here as well.

[james___]

No no Dan! You're supposed to wear the swim suit. Not the 8x10. James

[wayne__]

My first suggestion is for someone at VC (and Michael Fatali) to learn

how to spell ILFOCHROME! There are no "A"s in it, anywhere! Getting it

right once and wrong 3 times in one article is pretty embarrassing to

those of us who can both do it and spell it.

 

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Other than that I'd like to see pictures-all kinds of pictures, good

pictures, bad pictures, straight pictures and "other" (although

digital gets old), alternate processes, articles (and PICTURES) on

little-known, overlooked LF photographers, both present and past. As

long as there are a variety of pictures, i dont care. I dont think

every issue will please everyone, so variety is the key

[steve_simmons1]

Thanks for your comments. I am printing them and will go over them

carefully.

 

<p>

 

There is a followup to the Fatali article in the May/June issue

 

<p>

 

steve simmons