Comments on: Dispatches- A Magazine For The Future

By: Percocet.

Percocet. — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:40:14 +0000

Percocet….

Percocet….

By: M. Scott Brauer

M. Scott Brauer — Sat, 24 May 2008 10:46:13 +0000

It’ll be a few months before I’m stateside again, but I can’t wait to get a copy of this. Got excited when I saw the website pop up a couple months ago, got inspired when I read the mission statement and some of the essay; can’t wait to see the whole thing in my hands.

Hopefully this does succeed. I think there could be a lot of readers for a magazine like this just as there are readers for the literary magazines that dot newsstands around the country. I sure hope something a little more long-form can survive; may not sit on the grocery store shelf next to Danielle Steele but there is a place for it.

By: STONER

STONER — Thu, 22 May 2008 15:34:40 +0000

@14: doug, you’ve probably seen “lots of magazines like this come and go over the years” because of an overwhelmingly red balance sheet, not for lack of great content.

Buy a $60 subscription and buy two for every one of your friends and convince everyone you work with to do the same. It’s really the only way a great magazine like this will survive – the usual business model for a newsstand magazine (advertising sales combined with circulation) just won’t work with this one, so you’ve got to put your money where your mouth is.

Can you imagine Levitra and Captain Morgan and DKNY pulling ads in “dispatches?” No. And you’d probably find that advertising would somehow cheapen the book, so the only way Gary and Co. are going to make a go of this is from our support.

Coming from an “indie” publisher POV and as a survivor of the Independent Press Association implosion, I’m sorry to say I’ve seen it all before.

But there’s no reason “dispatches” can’t be a raging success!

By: Christopher Wise

Christopher Wise — Wed, 21 May 2008 07:15:22 +0000

17$? That's cheaper than a good steak frites and will sustain you a lot longer. Good luck to Gary and the team.

By: chris kargotis

chris kargotis — Tue, 20 May 2008 09:06:23 +0000

Its a different time, but maybe some aspect are relevant today from Bill Jays memoirs of editing a quality photo magazine and another essay which possibly points to his thought process in editing and image/photographer choice:

http://www.billjayonphotography.com/Magazine%20Memoirs.pdf

http://www.billjayonphotography.com/Uncaring%20Camera%20-%20morality.pdf

By: Debra Weiss

Debra Weiss — Tue, 20 May 2008 08:05:41 +0000

It’s more like 72 or 73 pages and most images are double truck. I purchased some while in NYC this past week at the VII Photo Conference. I would urge everyone to subscribe, as I would love to see a vehicle for photojournalism survive in this country. In addition to the great work on the pages, Gary Knight and all at VII are an incredible group of people.

By: doug

doug — Tue, 20 May 2008 04:15:04 +0000

This is really great. I’ve seen lots of magazines like this come and go over the years I hope this one finds the support it deserves. Anyone remember Nautical Quarterly that was a sweet one, hard cover lots of big beautiful images. I have a couple years worth that I still keep that are over 20 years old.

By: Bob Scott

Bob Scott — Tue, 20 May 2008 03:09:55 +0000

THis magazine is amazing., Anton is a friend, and these are the projects that keep him ticking, He’s snapping away at the american heartland using b and w film. Kicking it old school. I’ll be buying this mag for sure and also keeping it on the bookshelf.

By: Tony Stringer

Tony Stringer — Tue, 20 May 2008 01:13:17 +0000

Looks absolutely tremendous.I can’t wait to see a copy.
Hopefully this magazine receives all the support it most rightly deserves and will give other stuck in the mud mags the kick in the bum they need to wake up.

As far as being expensive is concerned; it certainly is not.
Just under 16 euro(£12.50) for a quarterly works out at less than 6 euro a month.This is the same price as all the fair to crummy photo rags on sale.Here however you have a quality product that goes in the bookshelf,not in the rubbish bin.

Success.

By: Thomas Pickard

Thomas Pickard — Mon, 19 May 2008 23:16:25 +0000

People will always pay a premium for premium content. They do it with food, cars and yes, even photographers. Magazines are no different.

This publication reminds me of the Surfer’s Journal. In depth coverage, amazing and diverse photography, beautifully printed, minimal advertising. And something you keep on your shelf as a reference book and inspiration for the years to come. It cost more – a lot more than a normal surfing magazine where I live (Australia/New Zealand), but it was and still is light years ahead of all the other surfing magazines.

Can’t wait to see a real copy of Dispatches.

By: Tamara

Tamara — Mon, 19 May 2008 23:11:02 +0000

Thank you Amber for such a true and concise response!

By: Amber Maitland

Amber Maitland — Mon, 19 May 2008 21:04:27 +0000

I would just like to respond to the issue of price that seems to be cropping up in the comments.
A lot of photographers have been voicing concerns in forums like Lightstalkers and on blog commentaries about the fact that they are paid very little or expected to do work for free because of industry pressures. We are creating a publication that pays its contributors for the work that they do — including the photographers and even the essayists on our website. This costs money, and I would hope that people would be eager to support this move.
We are also producing something that is very high quality. When we show it to people for the first time, they are generally surprised by it because it is the size and shape of a book — 200 pages, A5 size. So it is like buying a paperback book every month, and it is designed to be kept and collected, rather than thrown away to make room for a new issue.
I hope that this answers some questions and perhaps provokes some thought on the cost and perceived value of original content.

By: David Kern

David Kern — Mon, 19 May 2008 20:20:14 +0000

It’s great to see some people who are influential in journalism circles stepping up and putting together what looks to be a great vehicle for addressing important issues that are constantly underreported. It’s also nice seeing photos playing such a big role. I’m troubled by how photography so often plays a secondary role in reporting nowadays. It’d be wonderful if Dispatches could inspire some other magazines to utilize great visual storytelling. Unfortunately, the price of the issue will probably keep it from having as much impact as we hope.

By: Jon T

Jon T — Mon, 19 May 2008 18:35:40 +0000

Hooray!! A distinguished magazine worth subscribing to.

I sincerely hope this is successful and wish them well.

By: nelson d'aires

nelson d'aires — Mon, 19 May 2008 17:48:24 +0000

in lisbon i had a little chat with Gary and when he told me about this/his new project i felt anxious right away to see the coming of the first number. subscribe now is the thig to do!

By: Daniel W

Daniel W — Mon, 19 May 2008 16:25:26 +0000

wow, 80 pages of AK?

By: Tony

Tony — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:23:14 +0000

Looks like a neat magazine, I’ll have to check it out

By: tomé

tomé — Mon, 19 May 2008 15:12:41 +0000

Now here’s one that’s looking great right from the cover. Congrats on the designers.

You’ve referred several truths concerning PJ and documentary, but then we reach the “17 bucks” part and remember why these things are getting rare by the day… People expect things much cheaper now, and that’s simply because things CAN be made cheaper – and still good.

This is where you would link your readers to your previous great post http://aphotoeditor.com/2008/03/19/a-thought-on-the-future-of-photography/

;)

By: John N.

John N. — Mon, 19 May 2008 14:53:45 +0000

Gary is a true-blue photojournalist and eloquently versed in language, culture and politics. It’s heartening to see him push analog and digital reportage sidebyside and give storytelling a richer platform.

At $17 bucks an issue, I’m sure it will detract more than a few buyers, but I’m eager to examine the inaugural essay. Thanks for bringing this up, Rob.

By: Geoff Smith

Geoff Smith — Mon, 19 May 2008 14:28:31 +0000

“leave it to a photographer who’s sick of covering a story for a month and getting 2 pictures published in a magazine that will end up in the garbage can by Wednesday”
— ouch! You can put such a fine point on things sometimes, APE :). True dat.