It's hard to believe more than 11 years have passed since I first met Gary Halpern and began editing and writing for PhotoMedia . Though I've never been a professional photographer, I've always been drawn to the exquisitely composed image. I was raised on the impeccable photography of magazines such as National Geographic and old issues of Life, which both inspired me to take some darkroom courses and experiment with....

PhotoMedia has won one of three prestigious 2012 Maggie Award nominations. The win was for Best Single Editorial Photograph/Trade for the opening photo spread in our Summer 2011 issue story on Charles "Flip" Nicklin. The other two nominations were for Best Interview or Profile/Trade and Best Editorial Layout/Trade, both for...

It's hard to believe, but this issue marks the start of our 24th year of publishing PhotoMedia. In all that time, we thought we'd seen everything, newswise. Then, shortly after our Spring issue was distributed, Japan endured one of the worst disasters in history: the earthquake, tsunami and resulting malfunction of the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Our hearts go out to the Japanese as they recover from the challenges they face.

Of course, Japan is the heart of the photo industry's manufacturing sector, so the impact of that event on photographers also has been profound, on top of the effect of an already struggling economy on businesses. This issue of...

The more I speak with photographers, my clients, and other colleagues and friends, the more one thing becomes increasingly clear: Careers aren't what they used to be.

Not long ago, you could get educated, choose a field and expect to work in that field until you retired. Now, as business models change much more rapidly due to technological advancements, you're lucky if a career lasts 10 years. Remember back in the '70s, when cameras would effectively last for 30+ years? Today, in the digital age, you're compelled to replace them every five years or less. As a result, reinvention has become the key to one's survival and success. And as many have experienced, it's tough to make it in the photo business...