View Camera Magazine suggestions?

[gdmcclintock]

I certainly did not intend my post about not receiving View Camera to cause a flame session. Flaming is a waste of everyone's time and I apologize for being a catalyst for such nonsense. If View Camera is anything like Steve's excellent "Using the View Camera" book, I am sure I will be a delighted subscriber.

[David Spivak-Focus Magazine]

Running a magazine is about as easy as performing brain surgery with a fork and knife. Very, very few people can do it correctly and those that can are bound to make mistakes along the way. I should know - I've made many of them. But that's life -- you make mistakes, you learn. View Camera has become an essential publication that any large format photographer MUST have. How many years has View Camera been around for? 21 years? I think he's gotta be doing something right.

[steve simmons]

David,

I have a policy of staying out of threads about other magazines. Can you do me the same favor.

thanks

steve simmons

[christopher walrath]

As a newcomer to Large Format I would like to see a good LF primer.

[steve simmons]

There are several books out there that I recommend

Jack Dykinga's Large Format Nature Photography
Jim Stone's User's Guide to the View Camera
my book Using the View Camera

check your local library

There are several articles in the Free Articles section of the View Camera web site

www.viewcamera.com


steve simmons

[David Karp]

In addition to those three books, try the main site, to which this forum is linked: http://www.largeformatphotography.info.

[John Kasaian]

View Camera is one of my very favorite magazines and I've learned a lot from the past articles and I've been inspired by many, very many of the portfolios. Here are some more thoughts:
Things I like:

Articles that review and "how to" to use/restore/ old equiptment (cameras, lenses, enlargers, light meters etc...) As a "bottom feeder" in the photgraphy sea I find these types of articles very useful. Many contributors here such as Kerry Thalmann have written many superb articles. I realize there is only so much one can write about restoration and old optics but I've got to say, I love this stuff!

Portfolios shot by people I've never heard of who use minimal gear. These put an emphasis on a person's creativity which I find inspiring. I still recollect some of the stunning images I've seen in issues from years past. Such articles covered subjects like biological marine speciments, culverts in Japan, and panoramas shot with a Widelux, IIRC. There has been tons more of course and it's all brilliant stuff!

Historical Topics such as pioneers such as Bradford Washburn, Weegee, Vittorio Sella., and many others. I can't begin to say how these kinds of articles provide a feeling of community and identity (for me anyway!) with large format photographers of the past. I know this is POMOically incorrect, but the respect these guys deserve for being true to what they set out to accomplish has a bearing on how I look at my own work and the work of other photographers as well.

Reviews of materials like film emulsions. Products seem to come and go so quickly these days!


Things I'd like to see (besides more of the above)

Logistical considerations (shooting in extreme cold or heat, wet weather, wilderness areas, big cities etc...)

Museums (reviews of noteable photography collections of interest in the US and abroad)

Portfolios of photographers who work close to home (finding beauty in less exotic places than the usual Paris/Venice/ Yosemite type locations---lets see what's being done back yards and nieghborhood parks etc... ) Of course Paris etc... is nice too, but a steady diet of that stuff lends itself to the banal.

Projects! VC has published several in the past, but I really enjoy seeing projects where a photographer takes on the documentation of stuff like people, places, roads, rivers, highways and historic architectural.

Thanks, Mr. Simmons, for a wonderful publication. I really do treasure every back issue!

[jetcode]

VC has never held my interest for more than a day or two, no offense but I find it dry and uneventful to some degree and most likely because of it's limited target topology. I am a visual person and BW and LensWork cater more to what I like in a photography magazine.

[Frank Petronio]

Sometimes I actually consider subscribing and contributing to VC -- until I read Steve's responses on these sorts of threads and decide to pass.

[steve simmons]

This thread is about View Camera magazine. I am happy to hear any constructive comments - good, bad or indifferent.

I appreciate all the comments that have been made and the time people have taken to make them.

steve