January 2009 Archives

StumbledUpon this list of 25 Top Photo Gallery Websites. Although highly disappointed mine wasn't on there, I did find some cool ideas to steal and make my own.

Jason and Stephanie from Bardot had us out to shoot interiors of their amazing new club in Hollywood. Rony's Photo Booth is out there all the time, along with the usual crop of celebs, cool kids, and TMZ. I highly recommend checking it out...

Note to Galleries: We've seen more or less the same prints and presentations for two years now. There are so many new and talented photographers out there, busting their a**es as we speak, trying to be seen, and yet all that is represented is the same work, over and over. And where was Vincent Borelli? And why was parking $10?
Here's the deal; my criticism comes from my anticipation all year waiting for this event. Photo LA is such a great experience, not just for photographers and collectors, but everyone else. Once a year we get to indulge in what's supposed to be the best of the best, or maybe the newest of the new. We get to hear to and meet great photographers and industry insiders. We get to see our friends.
Sorry, but this year, I was bored. In and out in an hour. Luckily I had a free ticket and got a free calender from Nazrelli Press.
I guess all I really want is a reason to keep going...

Just a reminder that Photo LA is this weekend, a bunch of great lectures, book signings, and print viewing overload. See you there.

Books on Books has this really cool series of rare out of print photo books for under $40.
Check out Atget's Photographe de Paris.

This morning I received the following email from JPG Mag, lets hope this isn't the beginning of other photo mags/websites closing the doors.

Today is a particularly sad day for all of us at JPG and 8020 Media.

We've spent the last few months trying to make the business behind JPG sustain itself, and we've reached the end of the line. We all deeply believe in everything JPG represents, but we just weren't able to raise the money needed to keep JPG alive in these extraordinary economic times. We sought out buyers, spoke with numerous potential investors, and pitched several last-ditch creative efforts, all without success. As a result, jpgmag.com will shut down on Monday, January 5, 2009.

The one thing we've been the most proud of: your amazing talent. We feel honored and humbled to have been able to share jpgmag.com with such a dynamic, warm, and wonderful community of nearly 200,000 photographers. The photography on the website and in the magazine was adored by many, leaving no doubt that this community created work of the highest caliber. The kindness, generosity, and support shared among members made it a community in the truest sense of the word, and one that we have loved being a part of for these past two years.

We wish we could have found a way to leave the site running for the benefit of the amazing folks who have made JPG what it is, and we have spent sleepless nights trying to figure something out, all to no avail. Some things you may want to do before the site closes:

- Download the PDFs of back issues, outtakes, and photo challenge selections. We'll always have the memories!  www.jpgmag.com/downloads/archives.html
- Make note of your favorite photographers. You may want to flip through your favorites list and jot down names and URLs of some of the people you'd like to stay in touch with. You may even want to cut and paste your contacts page into a personal record.
- Catch up with your fellow members. Our roots are in this humble flickr forum and we recommend going back to find fellow members, discuss the situation, or participate in another great photo community. www.flickr.com/groups/jpgmag/
- Keep in touch. This has always been much more than just a job to each of us, and we'll miss you guys! We'll be checking the account jpgletters@gmail.com in our free time going forward. We can't promise to reply to every email (since we'll be busy tuning up our resumes) but we'd love to hear from you.
- Stay posted. Although the magazine is ceasing publication, we'll be updating you on what's happening with your subscription early next week.

We're soggy-eyed messes, but it is what it is. At that, JPGers, we bid you goodbye, and good luck in 2009 and the future.

Laura Brunow Miner
Editor in Chief