The long-running British Journal of Photography has announced that it is to stop printing its magazine after 172 years. Founded back in 1854, the BJP, as it is known by its readers, will now only be available in digital form.
"British Journal of Photography has changed many times, in its design, its frequency and the way it reaches readers, while its focus on photographers and their work has stayed consistent," says BJP's CEO and Creative Director Mike Moore in an email to its readers earlier this week.
"We're writing to share the latest of those changes: from this week and for the time being, BJP will be published in digital form only. The cost of printing a magazine and sending it around the world has risen beyond what we can sustain right now. Rather than put the magazine at risk, we've paused our print edition".d
For someone like me, who used to read The British of Journal of Photography every week like many who worked in the photo industry or who were professional photographers, the news is a sad blow. But it is one that follows a trend of physical magazines becoming unprofitable that has been going on for some time.
At Future Publishing, where I work, we have sadly had to close some of our photography titles in recent years. Some of the best-known titles in the history of photographic publishing have been lost forever, such as Popular Photography, which stopped printing after 70 years in 2017, and Practical Photography, which closed in 2020 after a 61-year run.
The BJP ceased being published as a weekly in 2010, switching to a monthly that abandoned its focus on trade news. This format will continue to be available 12 times a year in digital form. The BJP's current owners, 1854 Media, will also continue with its paid-for photo competitions such as the annual Portrait of Britain awards.
