Do You Like Photography In Print?

A fantastic, highly recommended, print magazine

One product I am always happy with, no complaints. The same goes for the 1940’s 50mm Summitar lens used to make this snapshot.

I love photography books, I own dozens and dozens of them. In the past, I’ve loved photography magazines, especially those that went out of their way to produce high-quality representations of the photography contained within. Too bad most of those monthly or bi-monthly periodicals that contained fantastic photography have gone by the wayside, replaced with endless Instagram scrolling and the assault of tens of thousands of random, uncurated images we’re exposed to every day on the internet. Worse is the over-processed, mostly fake, AI-polished, sterile, inhuman dreck that dominates most of our image intake today.

Recently I received the June issue of the only magazine I still subscribe to. It happened to be the 75th anniversary issue of LFI (Leica Fotografie International). A real honest-to-goodness paper magazine dedicated to photography. No matter if I happen to be shooting a Leica at the moment or not, it’s the only thing I look forward to in the mailbox. It’s great quality, typically packed with diverse photography, and generally inspirational. In today’s world, it’s a genuine bargain. The online-only version seems rather expensive at $53/yr but the combo, print/online version is a bargain at $86/yr. That’s $30 for a paper copy six times a year. Yes, $5 per copy, that’s a 30 years ago price for a print magazine that shows up in your mailbox, of this quality were twice as much. I have no idea why anyone would want the online-only version.

What’s more, complete sets of past years are less than $30, some years are $11 for the whole year! Yes, you have to pay for shipping but still a bargain. The other fantastic thing is that the LFI editorial bent is dominated by what I’ll call plain old pictures rather than adventures in Photoshop and composites or the latest post-processing fad. Here’s a secret, their online user-submitted galleries are so worthwhile and serve as another source of inspiration. The LFI editors consistently highlight contributors’ photos in various categories, a shot of the week, mastershots, and periodic challenges for contributors, take a look at the current challenge….

Two not-so-secret, secrets; First is that the more you use your camera, the better you’ll get at making pictures. Many of us (myself the worst or at least in the ranking) who prefer a particular genre of photography do not practice it if that genre doesn’t readily present itself. If I don’t have a portrait subject, I tend not to shoot. If you gravitate to travel, wildlife, or landscape there’s a good chance you don’t do much when not traveling to a faraway land. That’s not a good thing unless you are constantly doing that. That “regular old pictures” thing I referred to is that a lot of great work, maybe most of it, published in LFI is done by people where they happen to be rather than an advertisement for travel or the exotic. This is why it’s inspiring for the everyday rather than the aspirational someday when I go on a trip.

The other secret is that if you want to get better and more creative at making prints, look at more prints. Get a better idea of how various scenes render on paper. Want to learn how to cull your work better into a story or a cohesive body of work? Almost everything featured in LFI is a slice of a larger body of work that you can go look at the whole. I assure you you’ll find something that inspires you and generates your own ideas.

Seventy-five years is a long time. LFI magazine has been published longer than most of us have been alive. I sincerely hope that it goes on for at least another 75 years. It showcases everything I have always loved about photography. LFI continues to provide exposure to great photography in a format that I enjoy far more than my phone or my screen. I read every word and look at every picture. I am in no hurry when I sit down to read it and have no distractions while I do so once every other month.

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Disclaimer: I am not sponsored by, have never been published, and receive zero compensation from LFI or Leica but have loved the company and especially their M cameras since my 20s. There’s never been a time since then when I’ve not owned at least one M camera and lens no matter how meager. There’s never been a year that’s gone by I’ve not made pictures with whichever one I owned. I will always be a fan and hopefully a customer. I’ve always been satisfied with both Leica and LFI magazine even though I do not use their products as my everyday workhorse. I enjoy using my M cameras more than anything else, especially for “regular old pictures” many eventually become my favorites long after the “exciting” thing I just made fades, forgotten into the distant past.