“LensWork” – a magazine recommendation

I think I already wrote on the blog that I am an avid reader of “LensWork”. It is a very unique photography magazine, indeed.
First, it is all black and white, and color portfolios are published only if they can be turned into black and white without loosing the appeal. And I remember it happening at least in more then one case (issue 88, “Kampala Boxing Club” was originally B&W).
Secondly, it really is about photography, and not about advertisement like any of the color magazines, my favorite “Outdoor photographer” included. There are absolutely no gear or software ads, and you don’t have to wonder, when you read and article, if it is a real article or sponsored feature. You really are getting pages of useful stuff.
Third, it provides a completely unique view on the photograph, not from gear and software perspective, which I find in other magazines I read and on many blogs. In fact, there is no mention on technical aspects. The “LensWork” focuses on projects. And make you think about your photography in terms of building a small projects, portfolios of thematically related photos. The subject can be just about anything, some recent favorites are water surface in Michael Berman’s “Open Ocean” or Bill Youngs “Dune Abstracts”.

Another great feature of the magazine is its publishing schedule. The printed version, half of letter size bound booklet is coming out bimonthly. But then every other month there is CD released with electronic version of the magazine. The PDF contains full portfolios from the authors introduced in the hardcopy, in color, if originals were in color, and sometimes additional bodies of work from those photographers. There are also interviews with those photographers and my favorite podcast “Photography and the Creative Process”, which by itself can be a subject of the full review. The podcasts are short (2-5 minutes), single subject essays by Brooks Jensen, who is the editor. Really thought provoking, opinionated sometimes, but with great observations.

Overall, the “LensWork” magazine is a unique product on the current market, for serious photographers with fine art interest.