Aperture (magazine)
Aperture is a quarterly
photography magazine based in
New York,
USA. The magazine is published by
Aperture Foundation, a not-for-profit foundation devoted to fine photogrpahy. The foundation also publishes books on
fine art photography.
Inspired by the unrivaled production-quality of
Alfred Stieglitz's then defunct
Camerawork,
Aperture magazine was founded by
Minor White,
Ansel Adams,
Dorothea Lange, Barbara Morgan,
Nancy Newhall &
Beaumont Newhall,
Melton Ferris and
Dody Warren. Photographer Minor White edited the magazine, from its first issue in
1952 until
1975. White died in 1976.
Both
Aperture magazine and its book publishing arm are now run by the not-for-profit arts institution the
Aperture Foundation. In
2003 the Foundation instituted the first Aperture/Michael E. Hoffman Award, in memory of
Michael E. Hoffman (d. 2001), who was Aperture's Publisher for thirty-seven years.
The magazine was forced to close in
1964, owing $25,000 in debts. Hoffman, a close friend of then editor Minor White, later restored the magazine, adopting a quarterly format.
Aperture's book publication program began a year later in
1965, with
Edward Weston: The Flame of Recognition.
The magazine helped publish a catalogue by photographer
Diane Arbus. MoMA curator
John Szarkowski was organising a Arbus retrospective in
1972, but the catalogue but had been rejected by all the major publishing houses in the United States and Europe. Aperture agreed to publish Arbus' catalogue and it was released in time for the show.
In
1984, Aperture also published
The Golden Age of British Photography, 1839-1900, which featured restored, British
Victorian era photography.
The Aperture Foundation now sponsors limited edition portfolios, lectures, conferences and touring gallery exhibitions. In 2005, it opened a gallery for fine art photography in New York. It has a strong anti-
censorship stance and supports photographers who create pictures that risk legal prosecution.
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Aperture Foundation
