These Are Changing Times for the Magazine Industry

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens - 1/125 second, f/5, ISO 100

Today's images are ones I shot last month for a regional magazine. The portraits are of Kinetic Artist Andrew Smith and were taken in his studio in Lehi, Utah. The assignment I was given from the magazine was to create a portrait of Andrew within his studio. The image was to run full-page accompanying the feature article about him and his artwork.

The reason I am posting the images today is that I recently found out that the article will not run in the magazine. The magazine is shifting from a quarterly to biannual publication schedule and has canceled the next issue. While I don't know all the details on what precipitated this change, I can only assume that it is a combination of the current economic situation affecting advertising dollars combined with the ever-present shift of readers from print to online sources.

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/125 second, f/4, ISO 100

Another indication that we will be seeing more-and-more publications cutting back or eliminating their print edition is a blog I follow in my RSS reader. It is called Magazine Death Pool and chronicles print magazines shuttering their operations. I am sad to say that the blog reports of several magazines a week shutting down.

Even though I will still be paid for the assignment, I am disappointed that Andrew's story will not be published. It was a pleasure to meet him and hear about the extremely creative kinetic sculptures that he creates.

On the photography side of things, here is a quick behind-the-scenes image I shot to show the environment I was working in while creating Andrew's portrait.