Photography Magazines

Growing up as the kid of working class family in the 1970s, I had little extra money to spend on my photography hobby. I shot with a borrowed camera, used film frugally and developed it myself in my basement darkroom. The things I did splurge on were photography magazines. Each month, I’d stop at the corner drug store and pick up the latest edition of Popular Photography and Modern Photography. They were a buck a piece in those days.

In those pages, I found inspiration and education. They were also my “wish books” for cameras and lenses I could never afford but lusted over nonetheless. Modern Photography lasted 52 years until it combined with Popular in 1989. Popular was in print for 80 years until 2017 when it folded due to declining ad revenues. I have to admit that I miss reading a magazine. There was always something exciting about seeing a new issue on the shelf, taking it home and flipping slowly through the pages.

I bring this up because just this morning, I see that Outdoor Photographer, a magazine I occasionally picked up in the 80s and 90s, has begun publishing a print edition again. It only comes out quarterly, but the publisher promises a higher quality, image-focused product. I am tempted to subscribe out of nostalgia and maybe to help me cut down on screen time. Just not sure about a magazine that costs more than $13 an issue. Even with inflation, that’s a lot.