I recently received my first subscription issue of LensWork, a bi-monthly photography publication out of Anacortes, Washington USA. I had heard about LensWork for some time (I even have an essay by co-editor Brooks Jensen elsewhere on this site: http://www.dpandi.com/essays/jensen.html), but I didn't know what a gem this publication -- it's more like a journal than a magazine -- truly was.
There's this calmness and solidity to LensWork. Not the frenetic frothiness of the mainstream photo rags like POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY, which I can barely crack open or read. (And if you knew that I was once the editor of several sports magazines similar to POP PHOTO, you'd understand the irony of that statement.)
The proof of LensWork's substance is the fact that on the day it arrived in the mail in its stiff, cardboard envelope, I immediately sat down with it on my comfortable sofa next to a large window and proceeded to read the thing straight through. That doesn't happen much.
The format is refreshing: it's not an oversized trade tabloid nor a standard magazine; it's perfect-bound to a pleasant and intimate 7 x 8.5 inches. It fits in your hands very comfortably. The design is open and relaxed with a very readable serif typeface and lots of leading between lines.
The bulk of the content is essay-articles and several long portfolios of B&W images by different photographers (except for the two-color covers, the entire publication is B&W). And talk about portfolios! The images are full page and printed (in Canada) exquisitely on velvety matte white paper. The reproduction quality is to die for: a rich tonal range using what looks to my eye like duotone stochastic screening. The quality is so nice, that you might be tempted to cut out the pages and stick them on the wall (although you don't need to; part of the editors' approach is to offer special edition prints to readers -- these are hand-produced archival silver gelatin prints).
To better understand the raison d'être of LensWork, here's a fragment from its introductory page: "The premise of LensWork is that photography is more than mere craft. Photography is, or can be, a way of life. Beyond cameras and equipment, beyond film and chemistry, beyond pixels and technology lie the mysteries of the creative life shared by those who strive to communicate and express themselves clearly -- fine art photographers, commercial photographers, amateurs and professionals. [...] The focus of LensWork is ideas rather than images, imagination rather than imitation, and an understanding of photography beyond craft. [...]"
A PDF preview of the current issue is available at:
http://www.lenswork.com/overviewcurrentissue.htm.
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DATA SHEET
Product: LensWork: Photography and the Creative Process
Type: photography journal
Publication: published bi-monthly, in even-numbered months
Subscription Rates: $39 USD for 6 issues (one year), $53 Canada/Mexico, $69 oversees (airmail); 4 issues and 12 issues also available.
Contact: LensWork Publishing, 909 Third St., Anacortes, WA 98221 USA; US toll free: 1-800-659-2130; tel: (360) 588-1343; e-mail: customerservice@lenswork.com; Web: http://www.lenswork.com.
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