Where are the magazines

[Brian Ellis]

I don't think photography is a subset of the entertainement industry at all. Photography is about image making for art, travel, remembrance, although it does provide some entertainement when showing pictures to friends. We have lots of amateurs, prosumers, and pros doing photography, and the industry is stronger then ever with the appearance of the digital darkroom (it's everywhere). The real reason for the decline of magazines is competition (the web). . . . .

I didn't say photography was a subset of the "entertainment" industry. I said it was a subset of the "home entertainment" industry. I meant that today cameras and everything else used by most people to make photographs are for the most part no longer sold by local retail camera stores or camera chains like Ritz, they're sold by places like Best Buy or online stores like New Egg along with computers, TVs, cell phones, iPods, and other such electronics which as a group comprise the home entertainment business. When people want to look at their pictures they go back to Best Buy and get a computer and a card reader, not an enlarger and other darkroom gear, and they don't take film to a photo lab for processing because there's nothing to process. When they want to take pictures they go back to Best Buy and get a flash card, they don't buy film. Etc. etc. For that reason much of what used to comprise the photography industry that advertised in photography magazines has disappeared.

I agree with you that the state of the magazine business in general is also a major cause for the decline of photography magazines and said that in my original message. But the lack of a photography industry to support the magazines is also a significant factor IMHO.

[John Conway]

I was at Barnes and Noble today.Picked up a few magazines,one was B&W magazine.There were quite a few people there and they looked happy.The line was pretty long at the register. I was happy.