Emulsion Magazine Status Update

[Doug Howk]

I subscribed and have received issues 1-3. Wishing Aggie a speedy recovery.

I have to wonder, though, about the paper & distribution model for magazines. It seems that much of the aggravation with Emulsion by those who created it revolved around printing. Then there is the aggravation of those who didn't receive their copy. Even the best-printed magazines usually winds up the the landfill. I currently only keep View Camera & discard the rest. With a decent monitor & computer (even libraries now have that level), a pdf/internet distribution model seems far more practical.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Internet distribution is more practical for folks like us, who are keyed into internet forums and such, but even in this day and age there are many people who don't really use the internet or computers if they don't have to, and I suspect that may be a disproportionate number among traditional photographers, who would be the audience of _Emulsion_ magazine.

[Wayne]

There has not been an overwhelming amount of support from the photography community. She does not feel that the level of support she received before she landed in the hospital warrants a feeling that no one really cared about Emulsion. I don't have specifics as to who is "no one", however; it can be assumed that a large majority of people who are in this community have not felt that Emulsion does not offer the content it wants.

Could you translate this into something that makes sense, without the double negatives? Whatever you are saying is clear as mud.

I subscribed to emulsion for 2 years, or so I thought. It turned out they didnt charge my card at that time and I just assumed they would. They also had made a mistake in the 2 years subscription price that I signed on for. Later, when I found out they didnt charge my card I was in a worse financial situation and couldnt afford it at that time, plus they wanted more money for the 2 years subscription that I had originally signed on for, so I never received an issue. I was pretty upset, because I really wanted to get the magazine. The fact that Aggie could be quite abrasive and irrational on forums (is this a prerequisite for photo magazine editors?) at times didnt make me want to give her my money either, and I kind of had a bad feeling that the mag wasnt under the best management, so I never bothered to resubscribe.

Nevertheless I certainly hope that Aggie recovers fully whether she continues the mag or not. I do hope that the magazine continues and succeeds for a long time, even though I have never seen an issue. I would definitely let bygones be bygones and I would like to subscribe if it started up again. I'm not going to subscribe on speculation though, I'm not that rich.

Wayne

[timbo10ca]

I received issues 1-3 as well, and had always wondered why the 4th never came. I enjoyed what I received and hope Aggie has a full speedy recovery.

Personally, I do not like to spend any more time in front of the computer than I have to. I especially don't like looking at pictures on a computer monitor- they just don't live up to their potential. I always wonder what the print actually looks like. A magazine is a far cry from the print, but it's heads and tails above a computer monitor. Well-printed magazines are the closest I will get to pretty much all of these great images. As a beginner on a very steep learning curve (well, seems steep to me, anyway) I subscribe to a few photo magazines and keep every issue to go back to, either for reference or inspiration. I feel the print quality of Emulsion makes it quite worthy to hang onto, and continue to receive.

I guess the only negative I would say is that there doesn't seem to be alot of content for the price, compared to other mags I get (but a heck of alot better than the ad- packed mainstream photo rags). I figured this was just due to it's infancy, and eventually content would come up to the price point as the magazine evolved and grew.

Tim

[Witold Grabiec]

Just wondering how to interpret this thread. I understand one needs to feel there is a market for a product before continuing, especially in such a hard to deal with times of personal illness. However, I've just visited Emulsion's web site. There is not a single word about contemplating dropping it or any other problems. Subscription page in all of its glory too. I can see how one might not want to tell the world about (at least) some of it, but from above posts I'm getting an impression that some subscribers have already not received everything they've paid for and they don't seem to have received any notification. Wouldn't one want to at least notify subscribers about delays? I think that under the described circumstances, a well balanced message should be posted on Emulsion's web site.

[John Powers]

Try to imagine how complex life must be for a one person magazine relying on so many people who probably don't always deliver on time or at all. Now throw in, a stop you in your tracks, medical situation. I would guess that her life is a little different from most of ours. We all have expectations. They probably aren't the same as Aggie's. The two issues I saw were pretty good. I hope there will be more, but I am trying to be patient. If she fails we have nothing. Everything above that is an improvement.

John

[Witold Grabiec]

I mentioned the "medical" situation in my post and I'm fully aware of what Aggie must be going through. There is nothing however, to stop someone from issuing a short message on the website. Website, that in spite of the personal situation, appears to be pushing the sale of the magazine. To me that's not a good business practice or a good way to find followers or supporters.

[David Spivak-Focus Magazine]

I mentioned the "medical" situation in my post and I'm fully aware of what Aggie must be going through. There is nothing however, to stop someone from issuing a short message on the website. Website, that in spite of the personal situation, appears to be pushing the sale of the magazine. To me that's not a good business practice or a good way to find followers or supporters.

I don't think you can do much work on a website when you're in the hospital with tubes stuck down your throat.... nor do I think it's priority #1. And yes, without going into specifics about her situation or her condition which is very serious, that is what is happening to her. I'm sure when someone is able to do so, a refund can be issued. It's quite easy to do so in paypal. I think we need to focus less on what the website is doing and more on what we'd like to see from Emulsion once Aggie gets better. I think in the grand scheme of things, someone spending and then being refunded $30 or so compared to the inability of the owner of the website/magazine to do pretty much anything. I think some people don't understand the severity of this... this is a situation in which she has been sick for a great deal of months now and does not seem to be getting better. Returning to the hospital to get tubes stuck down your throat isn't something they do for fun.

[Witold Grabiec]

FocusMag,
Your comments are far more out of line than mine. I have no idea how you got that far based on what I said.
You asked for feedback and there was mine. If your intent was to make it something else, please state so. I had no idea a magazine like Emulsions existed until I read your thread. Magazine itself sounds interesting and I wish I had a chance to see it. However, I did not get an impression from your post that this was a ONE person operation. If it were, I would have never expressed my feelings about a business that takes my money, does not deliver and does not even tell me about it. It's that simple. And again, I had stated my understanding of Aggie's personal situation. There was no need to delve into specifics of what's happening to her. I wish her full recovery (somehow, if one does not state, he/she must not mean it) . My comments however, remain.

[Dave Parker]

Most of us, that service the film photography business now a days are ONE man operations.....

Dave